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10 Famous Pointe Shoe Brands For Your Perfect En-point
A perfect pair of Pointe shoes is required to explore the world of ballet with high precision and balance. Yet, among many Pointe shoe brands, picking a great option can be overwhelming for new ballerinas.
This article will help you understand each well-known ballet footwear brand’s critical value sets and noticeable points.
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10 Best Pointe Shoe Brands For Your Perfect En-point
Bloch
Bloch by Jacob Bloch is among the ideal ballet Pointe shoe brands for young starters, as recommended by dance physios.
From made-to-order shoes in a small workshop in Sydney, Australia, in 1932, Bloch has had 90 years of continuous product improvements.
Bloch is now favored by ballerinas of all levels, with the Hanami, Anya II, and Ballance Elite as its three best-sellers.
Nonetheless, it has also received many awards in the ballet community, including the Best Pointe Shoe Award at the Dance Magazine Award and the Best Pointe Shoe Award at the Dance Teacher Magazine.
Bloch is well-known in the ballet community for its essence of always listening to its customers. The brand collects customer insights and rolls out various shoes for different individual foot shapes and preferences.
The brand continuously improves, innovating its products to better serve ballet dancers globally.
Capezio
Capezio is another market leader in dancewear, including pointe shoes. The company was founded in 1887 in New York City by Salvatore Capezio.
The brand is highly praised for its durable, high-quality pointe shoes. If you are interested in Capezio, check out some of our best-sellers, like the Vari-Flex, Air Dance, and Swan Lake.
Capezio offers a range of Pointe shoe styles catering to each dancer’s preferences. It was also among the Pointe shoe brands that invented a split sole in Pointe shoes for enhanced flexibility and articulation.
The company also rolled out shoes with different heights, allowing ballerinas to choose an appropriate height level that suits their needs.
Capezio is also preferred by young talents for its commitment to sustainability. The company maintains a healthy, ethical working environment where its workers can provide excellent shoes and services.
It has also made various social contributions to the development of dance, theater, and recreation.
Check more: 10 Popular Japanese Shoe Brands
Freed of London
If you are seeking handcrafted pointed shoes, you should have heard of Freed of London. The brand started producing handmade shoes for dancers in 1929 in the heart of London and was founded by Frederick Freed.
Nowadays, it can produce about 250,000 pairs of Classic Pointe shoes annually.
Freed of London provides a rich collection of handmade pointe shoes for dancers of all levels and demands. Each collection aims to meet specific requirements set by the Classic, Classic Pro, Studio Pro, and Aspire.
The shoes come in different shank styles. Yet, they have a mutual point – they are made by skilled shoemakers using the traditional ‘turn-shoe’ method with a high consistency of within 3mm.
Freed of London is among the most reliable pointe shoe brands for wide feet. The brand has a spacious, tapered platform to give the dancers more balance and stability.
Gaynor Minden
Gaynor Minden is another well-known brand among professional ballet dancers. The brand was founded in 1976 by John Minden and Eliza Gaynor Minden and is now headquartered in Los Angeles, USA.
Gaynor Minden shoes are called “the lazy Pointe shoes for dancers,” thanks to their sturdy construction built to maximize dancers’ performance on stage.
For example, the shoes’ shank is made of flexible polymer, a synthetic fabric, with excellent lightweight and durability. As the brand’s laboratory reports, this artificial fabric can withstand 250,000 relevés.
These shoes also come with other strong pluses for added comfort and breathability. Some of them are the textured Poron sock liners, Side open drawstring, pre-arched shank, and pleatless panel with Poron.
Gaynor Minden is an ideal choice if you have wide feet. The shoes have a broad platform with a 38% more usable surface for improved balance and stability.
Grishko
Grishko is another brand choice for wide-footed dancers. However, there are some important notes on the brand’s shoe form.
First, the shoes are stiffer in exchange for their extended appearance. Second, the shoe’s width is unequal from heel to toe. The heel is narrow, while the metatarsals and tapered toes are wider.
All 28 Grishko shoe models follow the brand’s motto – “live your dream.” They are developed to suit different foot types and dancer demands.
The shoes vary in shank, width, and size, allowing dancers of all ages and levels to find their ideal pair for practice or professional training.
Nikolay
Nikolay Pointe shoes by Nikolay Makarov are known for their top-notch quality, support, and durability. They are carefully crafted to perfection with the finest materials by skillful artisans. The shoes are suitable for ballet dancers of all levels.
The most noticeable feature of Nikolay Pointe shoes is their innovative shank design. Since the shoes’ shank is made of natural and synthetic materials, it benefits from the advantages of these two material groups.
The shoes provide enough support and stability that dancers need for their performances.
This shank is flexible and comfortable enough to allow dancers to move in a full range of motion. There are various shank styles catering to the dancer’s preferences.
Repetto
Every ballet dancer should have heard once of Repetto, a Paris-based dancewear manufacturer by Rose Repetto.
This brand is the official ballet shoe provider for many well-known ballet firms in France, notably the Opéra National de Paris.
It also designed the Cendrillon ballerina flat for Brigitte Bardot, a French ballet dancer and actress in the film “Et Dieu… créa la femme” (1956).
Similar to Capezio, Repetto is among the initiators of the split sole. It also provides different platform heights to serve ballerinas with all demands.
If you love to try Repetto shoes, you should learn more about its three top models: Presqu’ile, Brava, and Arabesque.
RP (Russian Pointe Inc.)
There are many reasons why famous ballet dancers prefer Russian Pointe shoe brands over shoes from other countries. Quality is the most important reason.
RP (Russian Pointe Inc.) is among these dance footwear specialists. Although founded in Russia, it is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
As its brand name, RP specializes in Pointe shoes. The shoes are manufactured from the finest materials with extreme craftsmanship. Their patented shank is made of synthetic material, thus reducing the shoe’s weight without sacrificing durability.
In a nutshell, RP Pointe shoes are the perfect blend of design and function. Give the shoes a try! They won’t disappoint you!
Sansha
Sansha pointe shoes are a great option for starters with no long-term serious plan in ballet, or young dancers with a limited budget.
The brand was founded in 1982 by Franck Raoul-Duval, a French man passionate about dance shoe creation.
As the largest producer of dance shoes, especially pointe shoes, Sansha offers shoes for dancers of all levels with outstanding durability and quality.
The Sansha A+, the Sansha E+, and the Sansha S+ are the three most notable models of the brand.
There are a few drawbacks to the Sansha pointe shoes.
First, the shoes have a narrow fit, which can be inappropriate for wide-footed dancers.
Second, some people claim that the shoes are not as supportive and comfortable as others of well-known brands like Bloch or Repetto.
Suffolk
While Suffolk from the United Kingdom is relatively new to the ballet community, its shoes have received many compliments for high quality, support, and comfort.
Suffolk shoes are suitable for beginners, intermediate dancers, and professional ballerinas.
The shank of Suffolk pointe shoes combines synthetic and natural materials, providing dancers with the stability and support they need for their performances without sacrificing comfort.
The overall shape is specially designed for even pressure distribution from heel to toe, reducing the risk of pain and discomfort.
Their construction improves the dancer’s pointe techniques, especially transitioning to en Pointe by sauté or relevé methods.
Suffolk pointe shoes are proudly made in England, featuring the finest materials like leather and satin. However, the shoes have no ribbons or elastics, so you will have to spend extra bucks on the laces.
Final Words
In this captivating ballet world, perfection en pointe results from the most popular Pointe shoe brands.
From the timeless Bloch to the contemporary Gaynor Minden, each brand has not just adorned the ballerina’s feet but is also widely known for precision and grace.
If you have just started ballet or have an ongoing artistic expression with this dance type, the craftsmanship and style of these shoe brands ensure perfection.