Why do dancers wear such funny shoes?
Do you mean ordinary ballet shoes or women’s pointe shoes? Ordinary ballet shoes are peculiar in two respects: they have no heels and paper-thin soles, and the shoes are identical for right and left feet. They have had no heels since the time of Camargo (about 1720), who had her shoes made without heels so she could pass her legs from front to back more easily and so her heels would be right on the floor and provide a more solid impetus for jumps. The custom of making separate shoes for left and right feet in general is only a little more than a century old; this innovation was somehow never picked up by the makers of ballet shoes. The shoes acquire left- or right-footedness through use. For pointe shoes, see the next question. • Do women really dance on their toes? Why? Yes, in ballet they do dance literally on their toes, wearing special reenforced shoes to help the toes bear the weight of the body. (The technical term is the French “en pointe,” usually Englished as “on pointe.”) Dan
