I was a dancer for 10 years, and one of my main goals was to be able to put on a silky pair of pointe shoes. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Don’t all ballerinas wear the toe shoes? Though most professional ballerinas are, what we call, “on pointe”, many younger dancers have to wait until they are around 12 or 13. There are two main reasons behind this, the first being skill. When I first started out, I didn’t exactly move gracefully, like a good ballerina should. Unseasoned dancers would end up with a twisted ankle if they tried pointe right away. The second reason for such a long wait is because of foot size. The Pointe shoes sort of form to a dancer’s feet as she wears them. If a younger girl purchased pointe shoes and her feet were still growing, she wouldn’t be able to dance in them for very long. That wouldn’t be ideal because, believe me, pointe shoes are very expensive!
Now, ballet wasn’t the only type of dance I did. I was also a tap dancer! Oh I really loved tap! It was hard at first, but after a couple of years it almost became second nature. I enjoyed it so much that I competed in group tap for a couple of years. That was a lot of fun! We always saw interesting dances and costumes when we were at competitions. I didn’t compete in ballet because they didn’t really have a group ballet division. But I did do both tap and ballet at our annual dance recitals. I have so many old dance costumes from over the years! Some of them are too small for me (because I was 5 when I wore them), but some actually still fit me. I think some of my favorites were my ballet costumes. They were so elegant and pretty. The crazy part is I only have one costume with the traditional leotard and “pancake tutu”. This was the one I wore when I finally got on pointe.
Personally, I feel like I was better at tap than ballet. Ballet is hard because you have to be very strong and very precise with your movements while still maintaining some form of grace. That’s why I wanted to be able to wear pointe shoes; I thought I would be more graceful in them. I was soooo excited when I finally got my first pair. I loved going up on my toes! It took a while to get used to the pinching on the sides of my feet and of course the balancing part. I think I liked being on pointe better than regular ballet.
After about a year on pointe, the owner sold our dance studio. I decided to seek different horizons instead of finding a different studio. It’s not that I didn’t love dance. I did, but I wasn’t a dancer at heart. Instead, I found Speech and Debate at my high school and loved it! But I will always have fond memories of my dance studio, my instructors, my friends, my costume, and, of course, my pointe shoes.
I still like to be reminded of all the good times I had as a dancer. That’s why I love our Nocturnal Prototype pointe shoe custom graphic t-shirt – beauty on blistered feet. It reminds me of my excitement when I was finally able to put on those shoes! It relates to other dancers as well. Some of my friends still live and breathe dance and now their constant search for the perfect ballet dance graphic t-shirt is over! This pointe shoe t-shirt is both feminine and stylish. It connects all of the ballerinas together with one simple, yet effective, design. You don’t just have to be a dancer to love this shirt. If you want the perfect girly graphic tee, you’ve come to the right place! It is displayed in pink, but you can customize your color and style. I believe, dancer or not, Nocturnal Prototype’s fun pointe shoe custom graphic t-shirt brings out the ballerina girl in all of us.
Happy dancing!
Price: $25.52
A tribute to the technique, endurance, devotion, sweat and tears of the ballet dancer.
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