Fit Tip Friday, is DRN’s monthly column where pointe shoe fitters share their go-to advice. For our fourth installment, Riley Thomas Weber—dancer, teacher, and pointe shoe therapist—shares why pointe shoe twisting often has less to do with the shoe and more to do with how dancers put it on. —Emily May, Editor, Dance Retailer News.
“Twisting” is a trigger word for dancers and parents that have been researching pointe shoe fittings. Theoretically, the shank shouldn’t twist away from the foot at all. Anatomically, some feet will displace the shank no matter what you do. But a lot of times, it’s actually about how the shoe is put on.
When I’m fitting a dancer, sometimes I think “There’s no way the shoe will twist, everything’s lining up,” but every time they go up on pointe, it twists. Over the years, I’ve realised it’s because dancers these days are putting shoes on wrong. I’ve seen it all—dancers just putting their feet in like it’s a normal shoe and wiggling, and I’m like “No, no, no, no, no!” I think even in normal athletic shoes, people aren’t wearing them as snugly as they should—they always want extra room. As a result, younger dancers aren’t used to the pressure of a pointe shoe and often put them on incorrectly, since they’re accustomed to simply slipping their feet into footwear.
Personally, I don’t like to actively put the shoe on a dancer themselves, unless I’m showing them for the first time. I’m not going to be there to do it for them every day when they’re putting them on in class, so I like to teach them right away. What I do is have them wing the shoe on their foot as they put it on. By doing it at an angle, it slides across the foot to line up straight. Then, when they step up on it, the shank is usually aligned correctly. Another way to think of it is that the big toe joint should skim the inside of the box as it’s going on.
I know this works from my own experience as a dancer. I have really big bunions because I broke my toe. I try on all the pointe shoes that brands send me so I know how they feel and how to work in them. This helps me to understand them better when fitting. On my left foot specifically, if I don’t wing it like crazy and then adjust it, it’ll look sickled because of my previous injury.
Riley Thomas Weber is a dancer, teacher, and pointe shoe therapist based in Orlando, FL. He shares his knowledge on his TikTok and Instagram channels. You can find out more about him in this DRN article.