Buying your first pair of pointe shoes is a huge milestone. Below, ThePointeShop's Josephine Lee gives some of her top tips on finding the best fit for first time pointe shoe wearers.
In this video ThePointeShop's Josephine Lee may not be giving her usual pointe shoe advice, but she is putting pointe shoes to good use... in the classic wedding shoe game. She plays with newly engaged Ballet West dancers Beckanne Sisk and Chase O'Connell to find out how well the couple knows each other.
Noëlla Pontois, the striking, lithe and fiercely technical former étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, was renown for her interpretation of aristocratic roles in 19th-century ballets. In this 1983 performance from Rudolf Nureyev's production of Raymonda, Pontois is at her most imperious and entrancing in the title role's wedding variation.
Have small heels? Josephine Lee of the California-based ThePointeShop gives her top tips on finding the best fitting pointe shoes for when your heel tends to slide around.
Further showing that whatever mere humans can do, ballerinas can do more gracefully, the Australian Ballet created the most beautiful obstacle course we've ever seen, and then put their dancers to the test. Naturally, when it came to execution, the company members went above and beyond: Why jump over a hurdle when you could pas de chat, or run to the finish when you could chaîné?
Watch the full video (which first premiered on World Ballet Day) below, featuring soloist Nicola Curry and dancers of the Australian Ballet.
Master pointe shoe fitter Josephine Lee of the California-based ThePointeShop chats with Colorado Ballet soloist Tracy Jones to hear all about her pointe shoe hacks (particularly for dancers with sensitive skin), her darning tips and the differences between what students and pros are looking for in their shoes.
Sir Anthony Dowell dedicated four decades for his life to The Royal Ballet, first as a principal dancer, and then as the company's artistic director. His monumental career is a testament to his love for the art form. That love can also be seen in this solo from a 1980 performance of Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen's Four Schumann Pieces, created for the company five years earlier. Van Manen's choreography slips in and out of pedestrian and balletic vocabulary. Dowell demonstrates his virtuosity by ascending into sublime classical shapes without an intimation of effort.
Josephine Lee of the California-based ThePointeShop explains how to find the best fitting pointe shoes when recovering from a broken metatarsal, plus extra tips on recurring injuries, and getting over the box of your shoes.
Argentinian ballerina Paloma Herrera, who is now the artistic director of Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón in her home country, joined American Ballet Theatre at just 16 years old and was promoted to principal at 19. Over the course of her 24-year career with ABT, she became known for her maturity and range as an artist. Still, ingenue roles remained one of her hallmarks due to her ability to portray youth with honesty. She even danced Giselle for her ABT retirement performance. In this clip highlighting the first act variation in Giselle, she conveys the character's innocence with unaffected sincerity.
(From left) Gonzalo Garcia, Sara Mearns, Isabella Boylston, and Calvin Royal III in Ezra Hurwitz's "Mobile Devices," courtesy Ezra Hurwitz
Apple—continuing their sensational streak of geniusdancecollabs—has done it again, with a sleek promo video for the new iPhone that features the ballet world's best and brightest.
The beautiful short film, titled "Mobile Devices" (we see what they did there!), is directed by former Miami City Ballet dancer Ezra Hurwitz. It follows a day in the life of American Ballet Theatre soloist Calvin Royal III and New York City Ballet principal Sara Mearns, and also includes appearances by NYCB principal Gonzalo Garcia and ABT principal Isabella Boylston. "I wanted to showcase the experience of an African American male ballet dancer alongside the more traditionally featured white female ballerina," says Hurwitz, who frequently collaborates with stars of the dance world. "That said, I also wanted to keep it fun and visually driven, and make it a real celebration of these dancers' artistry, athleticism and determination."
Master pointe shoe fitter Josephine Lee of the California-based ThePointeShop chats with Cincinnati Ballet principal Sirui Liu to hear all about her journey to find the perfect pointe shoes, and the additional customizations that she makes.
Royal Danish Ballet principal Ida Praetorius shares how she personalizes her pointe shoes. First up, she goes into her unique darning technique, followed by an explanation of the extra special ribbons she loves. Click here for more on what's in Praetorius' dance bag.
