how pointe shoes were made 70 years ago
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 เม.ย. 2023
- something's never change...do they need to?
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Produced, Filmed & Edited by: Jazley Faith @jazzleyfaith @jazleyfaithphoto
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The narrator of this video was the British radio and newsreel announcer Bob Danvers-Walker (1906-1990) who was the famous off-screen voice of Pathé News cinema newsreels during World War II and for many other post-WW2 voiceover works.
His voice is in almost every older video😭
@@keti.rg.editzzz Quite. His voice is in just about every British/British Pathé newsreel. He is amongst the canon of British radio announcers.
The British actor, Sir Kenneth Branagh, even mimics his voice in the style of Danvers-Walker in the 2000 film, LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST with newsreel footage featured in the film.
Thanks for telling us...his voice was part of my young life in New Zealand!
He sounded so familiar! I’ve been hearing his voiceover for as long as i can remember. Thankyou for the history.
Thank you!
I bought my first pointe shoes in September of 1967. I was 12 years old. The shoes cost $10.00! We didn’t have Jet glue then. When the box became soft my teacher poured spirit gum into the shoe and then rolled it around to distribute the glue all over the inside of the box. Made them last quite a while longer.
Whaaaa- luuuuuccckkkyyyyy! They cost like, $100 each now! 😂😭😭😭😭
@zhenchen2655 $10 in 1967 had the same buying power as $92 today. So not much of price difference.
Ballet shoes are the perfect example of "if it's not broken, don't fix it"
"If it's not broken, don't fix it, because in 8 hours it will be correctly broken anyway." 🤣
Both the shoes and our feet are broken 😂
They’ll probably end up being 3D printed for the exact shape of a dancers foot.
Can we get a “Josephine Becomes a Pointe Shoe Maker’s Apprentice for a Day” video?
LIke yesterday !
I love that sometimes we get happy, joyful reactions like this. It's a great contrast to the cup shoe reactions.
The clips of the Freed factory, I just love them! So much respect for the skill!
It's not Freed. The description on the original video says the company is Anello & Davide.
I know nothing about ballet aside from what I've learned from your channel that the algorithm suggested one fine day... And I'm still loving your videos!
It always struck me as very odd that there seems to have been some innovation concerning the fit of the shoe or how to make the shoes "healthier" for the dancers' feet, but nobody seems to have invented the material that would make the shoe more durable. Instead, it looks like the ballet shoe industry has an interest in keeping the quality low enough so that that dancers are required to buy buy buy new shoes all the time. That's absolutely unimaginable in any other job that requires special clothes/shoes (e.g. safety shoes). Maybe I'm missing some of the information here? Educate me, ballet people!
The shoes are made of glue and natural materials. Eventually, the sweat breaks it down. This happens faster or slower depending on your level, any moderations you do and how often you wear them. I can make a pair last a month but my friend who is a professional gets through 3-4 pairs a week and some people in her company get through a pair a day because of the moderations they do. There are some brands that use more modern materials and they don’t break down as fast but they do break down quickly still. Dancers will end up with a shoe that works for them and then they’ll stick to it regardless of the time it takes for them to break down. If you change the material, it changes the way a dancer can support themselves and dance on pointe so isn’t desirable for a lot of people in the ballet world.
They also cost so much because of the manual Labour that goes into them. Freeds, as an example, are all handmade in London by a group of people in a relatively small workshop. Dancers can customise their own shoes if they want and this can cost extra as well. My friend has custom freeds and likes a harder shank but a softer box so gets them to make the shank harder for her (she has very flexible feet and needs the extra support) and when she was a student, this cost her more (now she gets them for free in her company).
@@milliejay1451 What happens to all those used shoes? Do they get recycled in some way or do they pile up in a landfill?
There are a few things to take in considerations.
We're talking about professionnal dancers.
And one of the first things professionnals do, is to break the shoes. That's the mean reason the sh oes don't last long.
And since you're suscriber to this channel, you must know Josephine don't recommand not professionals dancers to do the same, for that soul
reason.
Also, you have the weight of the all body on a tiny surface.
And we're talking about dance, so people would turn or jump mostly on one feet.
And in most companies, dancers have class all day and perform at night. That's a lot of time spend in thoses shoes.
Last point, what would be the point of wearing those shoes if you don't show off.
The one I had in mind right now is Esmeralda variation, but they are others variarions...
Ballerinas and stars must have their own tricks to make the shoes last longer.
My wild guess would be to swap shoes during the day, and save somes for the show.
And also to alternate right and left, when possible...
At the end the day, it's not such a bad thing the shoes don't last long.
The human body is heavy, the plateform very small, and the ground is tough.
That's the law of physics.
If one thing has to break, better be the shoe than the dancer's feet.
Unfortunately, injuries happens.
There are some companies that have made pointe shoes with a synthetic shank, or that have developed their own glues that tend to last longer than others. I don't know why there hasn't been more progress or focus on this after so long. However, I do know that a lot of dancers can't use them or may not like them! The synthetic shoes don't behave in the same way. Having a shoe that is quite thin but supportive, rolls through properly, is stable but soft enough for most dancers manipulate, etc, is a very fine balance. Having a strong, resilient material used, instead of the traditional, maleable materials, will definitely affect the feel and movement and even the safety of a shoe for certain dancers. Developping a synthetic alternative that lasts longer for cheaper but gives the same maleability etc. that a natural fiber has is pretty challenging. Or maybe the dancers like the synthetic shank but the rest of the shoe isn't what they need/want and there aren't an abundance of styles and shapes and strengths with the synthetic options yet, not like the traditional methods. And the synthetic shank or alternative glues and materials may not be as customizable! Most dancers, especially professionals, sew and customize their own shoes beyond the production line, so they're preciesly what they need etc. It'd be a lot harder to shave down and cut a plastic shank accurately. Mostly, it comes down to the specific dancer's preferences, strength, and flexibility. While I'm sure there will be more development for longer lasting pointe shoes that can accommodate more people, for now, the traditional pointe shoes are more available, accommodating, and personable than the synthetic options
@@kayemallory117 The used shoes get left on Diaghelev's grave stone in Venice!
Would love to see more ballet/pointe shoe history videos.
You ever going back to filming fittings? I miss those.
The music, the voice, the shoes! Did you see the big Pearl earring? Everything ballet is elegant!
I love how geeked out you are, nothing better than doing what you love for a living! Thank you!🐦🐦✌️❤️🤗
Yes Thank you for sharing this. I've never known how they were made. This warms my heart. Love it.😍
Josephine, do you have a comment on the box shapes? Most dancers in the 50s appear to have a tiny little box on their shoes - Fonteyn is a good example.
Yes, I noticed that. I don't think that Josephine would fit that type of shoe on pointe beginners. (Their knees are bent and they are having trouble stretching their backs. Ouch, poor little ones).
I would like to know this too
I believe that one particular maker has a glue formula which wasn’t passed on and today’s glue isn’t as good, however that may be different now. Were Marie Taglioni’s shoes glued or darned to make them as hard as possible? She’d be astounded at what today’s dancers acheive.
The “glue” is actually called cement. It doesn’t behave the same way as glue which is why it’s safe for the workers to cover their hands in it. Most commercially made shoes now days use glue, there are very few who still use cement. (The product is called cement but it’s nothing like the cement used in the building industry).
@@RR4711 have you ever seen the warning labels on rubber cement? I wouldn’t call it safe, but it is easier to remove from unwanted surfaces including hands.
Absolutely agree, not everything needs to get reinvented. That was awesome.
Omg I love your videos I’m huge fun it’s so fun to watch!!!
I love watching pointe shoes being made.
Lovely video, loved the narrator voice and its beautiful colours. Thanks a lot for sharing it with us ❤❤❤
This is amazing!!!!! I wanted the makers to slow down so they didn't hurt themselves! So fast!
it’s so cool seeing how pointe shoes are made, and I love how it’s still pretty low-tech!
this was so cool!!
You’re making me really excited for when I’m able to wear pointe shoes(which is in while,but still)
This is awesome! I'd love to know if any of these makers are still alive. I'd love to hear their stories and commentary on this video
Big fan I love watching your videos!
This was great to see.
I can truly tell that when you go to this shoe place that you really never work. The old saying if you enjoy what you do you never work. I hope the industry understands your passionate contribution.
My Mom gave me ballet lessons at the age of 5. This is so reminiscent!
I’m looking at my mother’s point shoes from the 1950s. They’re still beautiful!
Interesting they were using kidskin in violent colours, canvas and 'even' satin. I wonder why they moved to just satin.
Splendid.
Hi I loveeee your vids
Can you leave a link to this video? l would like to watch the whole thing. thanks :)
I think you have a great voice!
The Freed factory video is really cool.
You're so interesting! Really enjoy your videos and interesting comments and information 🏆💐👏
I had my first pointy shoes 58 years ago (France, Repetto), the last ones about 35 years ago...I looked at somebody's shoes recently: I recognised them...
Luv u and ballet
Omg, this quality :o
How can the shoes be turned insude out if the box is hard? Has it not dried yet?
It hasn’t dried. They are left over night before turning, so that they hold their shape a bit, but they are dried after turning, sometimes in an oven, and/or left for some days.
The first one ❤
So when "Bob" is on vacation and "Fred" is smearing glue the shoes will feel different. And each batch of glue is probably a bit different.
Facinating.
I read an article about a British shoe maker that preferred workers that knew nothing about pointe shoes so they didn't have to "break 'bad' habits".
I tagged your IG in a video this morning and you've gotta see it! I hope you haven't seen it before because it's kinda mind blowing and I'd love to see your reaction!
Is there any way to figure out which company this is? Like is it Freed because they made shoes for Pavlova who was mentioned?
They mention it's a company in the "heart of London", so I have no serious doubt it's Freed. (But I don't *know* ;-))
The original video is here on YT and the description from Pathé says the company is Anello & Davide. The company is still in operation, based in Kensington. They specialise in footwear for theatre and film, but I don't know if they still make pointe shoes.
woow interesting!
It's interesting to see older ballet and how they don't really seem to push over the box on pointe. I wonder what caused that to change. You'll get yelled at in class these days for not pushing more forward.
These are exactly the way our shoes were when I was dancing 1960s - 1970s. There was Capezio, Freeds and one other American company (name escapes me presently)…and Repetto if you were very snobbish as they were only available in France. Freeds had one style but lots of different makers (like now) and if you were in a company they would be made especially for you). Capezio had about three models. No different cuts and depths and shapes of boxes. The shoes were smaller and sleeker but they were not at all customized to the shape of your foot. Nobody wore toe pads. We cracked our shanks and cut them if we wanted. The boxes were small and the glue wore out very quickly. You felt everything. Hopping on pointe was a wretched experience. Lambs wool was actually useless. Bleeding toes - tops of toes bled right through the satin. Pointe shoes today appear the size of sneakers compared to pointe shoes from that era
Selva. I loved Selva Ballerinas and was devastated when they went bankrupt. I switched to Block afterwards. Capezio was impossible for me and Freeds was too soft and the vamp too low and the box was wrong for my foot.
Can we talk about, how stunning Josephine is looking is this video 🎉
This would have been a B movie shown before the main picture instead of all the annoying adverts we get now. Iconic voice too.
Josephine❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😄
You have a nice voice!
It would honestly be nice to have a pointe shoe that lasts longer than a few hours though. Watching videos of ballerinas summarizing what they do to customize each shoe, it looks like they spend maybe 8 hours sleeping, an hour to eat all 3 meals, and then half of that time dancing while the other half goes to preparing pointe shoes. The pointe shoes are one deterrent for me to do ballet classes or to let any daughter of mine take ballet classes because it's such a definitive milestone for ballet as a dance form and dances are so SO dependent on them, yet it's something that is independent of the dancers themselves. I don't think any other dance form is THAT dependent on the customized fit of something external to the dancer; obviously you want good dance shoes for any dance, but ballet is the only one where the shoe and more importantly its fit to the dancer's foot so profoundly defines the quality of that dance. Even something like tap dancing which is all about the tap shoes can really be danced via regular shoes, I mean tap dancing had started as a street dance, and even if you go pro Irish Riverdance style you don't need to practically do a cast mold of your foot to create a danceable tap shoe. For ballet shoes that are so unforgiving, the fact that you're forcing dancers to basically do 50% of the work for every one of the 20k or whatever pairs of shoes they go through in a professional career, even if each pair takes 40 minutes, that's still years of their lives devoted to nothing but customizing these shoes. And then if you're a student who has to buy your own shoes, you have to be cognizant of the price and therefore you're discouraged from fully customizing these shoes, which may compromise your performance. And then each shoe can't even be standardized to the same dimensions since they're hand made, so you're playing a game of chance with how and how much to customize each shoe, which, again, only lasts a few hours with robust dancing. So while it's fascinating and great for business to see this long-running tradition of shoe-making, I'd argue that the longevity IS something to be fixed and improved upon, and it's disappointing that there's been either no incentive or no innovative advancement for this.
The comment about cheap ballet shoes needs to be explained: back then, "normal" shoes were also still made by hand and were considerably more expensive than today. (But they also lasted longer and could be repaired)
1:04 ✨✨Josephine and the pointe factory ✨✨
_all the ladies now wearing G&M, feeling like futuristic space folks_
Is that the Freed factory ?
Has she seen the underwater ballet? Its amazing! Here on TH-cam. :D
Figure skates have been overhauled. I don’t know why there hasn’t been more of an evolution with ballet shoes.
Figure skates evolved to allow more and more tricks (triples and quads, even just doubles) whereas ballet moves haven't really changed much over time. At one time, a single axel was considered revolutionary as it's 1 1/2 'turns'. Now, triple axels are par for the course. Skates evolved to allow that a bit. Same reason gymnastic apparatuses have changed.
Figure skaters don’t manipulate their skates with their feet the way dancers manipulate their shoes, like rolling through from flat footed to up on their toes. Comparing figure skates to pointe shoes is comparing apples to roast beef.
My mom was on pointe in the late 50's and early 60's. And I still have her pointe shoes for keep sake. They are interesting to see how they were made compare to now. 🩰
Has anyone noticed that the workers were wearing suits and ties for work? Loved this vid
Early 1 hour
You should watch the film ballet shoes
Hi first!
Hate to ruin the fun, but wouldn't it be better if we made shoes that last longer ? Although the respect of tradition is important, I think that economy and ecology (and of course making sure the shoes fit and don't hurt the dancer) is the priority.
I’m not a ballerina, but after watching hours and hours of Josephine, I really think if there were a way to make a cheaper shoe that lasts longer, someone would have done it by now.
These shoes are primarily made from cardboard, leather and lots of glue plus a bit of elastic and some nice fabric to cover them, so it is not the materials that are expensive, it is the labor. And I doubt that there is a way to make the production any less laborious due to the nature of the shoe.
Which is where synthetic shoes come in. But it's still difficult to get the needed flexibility and support at the same time. For a pointe shoe to work it has to be as close and naturally fitting as possible.
I think of it like hiking boots / shoes. For a very long time, heavy, tall, stiff hiking boots were the standard. But hikers discovered that the closer to a natural feel possible worked better longer. But they might wear out a bit faster.
The average hobby dancer goes through a pair or two of shoes in a dance year and that's going to be the vast majority of dancers. The more skilled students and professionals do rip through them at a tremendous pace, but in the great grand scheme of the ecology, it's such a tiny impact compared to everything else that humans do, that it's like getting mad at a fly for blinking and causing a draft when you've got the window open. Close the window and the big drafts will go away, then deal with the fly.
Did you notice the red point shoes for those who didn't see go back and rewatch
The shoes take longer to make than it takes for a professional dancer to wear them out to the point(e) of needing replacement. Pun absolutely intended, lol.
This stuff shouldn't be nearly so interesting, but it is.
"Cheap to buy..." 😳 If only...
Do you realize that you spoke over Danvers when he was speaking and was silent when he was silent?
Maybe helps reduce risk of copystrike?
Don’t some ballet dancers only wear pointe shoes made only by ONE SPECIFIC craftsman?
🌴☀️🌴
Why are they called blocks in the shoes when it is really just layers like paper mache?
I don't think anyone calls them blocks. maybe you misheard? the front part that covers your toes is called the box. and there is a brand of pointe shoe makers called Bloch.
I love these videos and you Josephine but you talk over too much. If we listened to the video we would know what was going on. You could stop the playback to comment.
It is disgusting - children's dance has been turned into a fake, drama-laden meat market.
No wonder the shoes are so freaking expensive. All hand made. Yikes🩰🩰🩰