Ballet dancers feet take sustained abuse in footwear designed to offer the least level of protection.
- No Shock Absorption
- No Arch Support
- No Foot-Comfort Features
Other sports athletes get to wear shoes that are protective and kind to their feet. Dancers are treated to the opposite reality, forced to wear tight-fitting torture chambers known as pointe shoes.
Popping painkillers is widespread. Some cover their feet in glue.
Those pink silk shoes hide a battery of injuries:
- Black Nails
- Purpling Flesh
- Growths
- Cracked Nails
- Bunions
- Black Spots
- Numb Toes
- Inflammation of Joints
- Broken Toes
- Scars
- Hard Skin
- Sprained Ankles
Ask which is the most painful ballet to dance and most will say “Swan Lake”
… and they still smile through every single dance routine.
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Very strong women indeed.
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I thought of redesigning the shoe they wear to be more protective. I bet some booties undertaken this task!! It would be good to do some more research … Maybe someone like Nike does the deed.😗 PS I Love ballet!!
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They suffer for their art…that is for sure.
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There’s always a cost and a compromise!
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Just pitiful.
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Why don’t they just redesign the shoe so that it is comfortable AND is kind to their feet? I’m glad I never went through with my temporary dream of being a ballerina. But they still go up there.
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I don’t know why but I do know this:
In this world for some unknown reason, solutions to problems that cause women to suffer is slow moving.
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Well, it is not entirely about the shoe. It is about the art – How much can one push one’s body to the limit to perform unbelievable feats. That is the “art” of ballet. Wearing supportive shoes would be considered cheating. Just as if someone used a NOS in formula one, I guess, or someone used steroids in olympics. Moreover supportive shoes, may hinder the movement of the feet for performing ballet.
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Interesting response but it begs the question:
Is it right to force children to take ballet classes knowing the damage it does to feet?
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Never thought about that. You do have a point.
But if it is damaging the ballerinas feet, then they do need to redesign them.
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Agreed
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Absolutely.
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Never knew that. Sad.
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PS you might find this interesting:
https://www.grunge.com/125898/actors-who-died-after-filming-horror-movies/
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This looks great thanks!
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Watching them dance gracefully, you would not know the pain and discomfort they are suffering.
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Suffering for your art
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And my 9 year old granddaughter has wanted to be a ballet dancer when she grows up, since her first ballet class at 4 years of age! Ugh
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The show must go on
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So I was in ballet from age 5 to about 13 before I finally came to my senses and quit, lol. I was competent at it but never mastered it, although I did go on point for a few years toward the end
before I quit, and I did hate it with a passion. I’m sure my being a novice at it contributed to that, but after I was on for a few years, the pain diminished. You actually do get used to the shoes, the pain, everything. And the better you get (which I wasn’t very, but did make some headway) the more the pain dims and the foot strength grows. But I definitely wasn’t hammered like the veterans and can’t even imagine the torture they go through, whether they’re used to the pain or not. I can’t imagine what design they could come up with to aid foot health but let the dancers keep doing what they do. It’s almost like you’d need an engineer for that.
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