The Ballet Shop

For all your dancewear, shoes and accessories

Dancing - General Info

We are accepting the European Youth Card!

About Ballet and the Dance World, Buying dancewear and shoes, Dancing - General Info, News

Yes, you read right! We are accepting the European Youth Card (EYCA) to offer special discounts.

For Malta, this offers a wide range of discounts to youth and students from all European countries. Click here to find out about the discounts you can receive!

Dancers who are also still studying or maybe are still working their way up the career ladder will need any help they can get.

The European Youth Card is all about giving everyone the opportunity to do more so they can reach their full potential.

With the EYCA, you can travel across Europe, meet different people and make many friends. It also gives you great opportunities to learn new things and kick-start or boost your career. The card gives you the opportunity to make a real change in your community and become a well-informed and active citizen that shapes society.

How does the EYCA work?

The EYCA offers tens of thousands of discounts on travel, culture, accommodation, education, services and products in 36 countries across Europe.

What’s more, in every country there are hundreds of programmes and opportunities for volunteering, learning, employment, entrepreneurship and many exciting activities.

Wherever you are in Europe, whatever the card is called, as long as the European Youth Card logo is on the card you can access all the thousands of opportunities in all 36 countries. If your country does not offer the card, you will still be able to get the card and use it when travelling to one of the member countries.

The card is issued and managed by organisations that are members of the European Youth Card Association (EYCA). Agenzija Zghazagh, the Maltese member of the EYCA, has signed us up for this exciting iniative.

We are delighted to participate in the EYCA initiative. We are even more delighted to participate in an initiative that opens doors to young people – dancers in particular! For the moment, we are offering discounts on items such as sneakers, jazz shoes and ballet shoes.

Note that for uniforms of dance schools (as opposed to free wear), this discount will not be available.

Apply here for your card now!

How are pointe shoes made?

Dancing - General Info, Pointe Shoes

Pointe shoes are ballet shoes designed for advanced ballet dancers to dance on the tips of their toes. Pointe shoes are handmade and are a combination of several materials such as satin, leather, cotton, and glue.

The process of making pointe shoes is a highly skilled and time-consuming process, with each shoe taking several hours to complete. The shoes are designed to be lightweight and durable, providing the necessary support for the dancer to perform the intricate and demanding movements of ballet.

Sansha white pointe shoes
Sansha white Deco pointe shoes

The process of making pointe shoes typically involves the following steps:

  1. Taking measurements: The dancer’s feet are measured to determine the correct size and shape of the pointe shoe. The correct fit is crucial to avoid injury and ensure proper support.

2. Cutting the materials: The various materials such as satin, leather, and cotton are cut into the appropriate shapes and sizes for the different parts of the shoe. These bits are stretched out over a mold and the different parts need to be put together.

3. Stitching: The parts of the shoe are stitched together by hand using a strong thread. The seams are reinforced to ensure the shoes can withstand the stress of dancing. In more recent times, some of the parts are machine-stitched.

4. Attaching the shank: The shank is a stiff piece of material that provides support to the dancer’s foot. It is sewn onto the sole of the shoe and is typically made of materials such as leather or plastic. In some pointe shoes, the shank can be removed (e.g. to use the shoes as demi-pointes) or replaced.

5. Applying the resin: A special glue, called resin, is applied to the inner sole and upper part of the shoe to help it maintain its shape and provide additional support. In some cases, the shoes are also baked to harden the resin, so that the shoe takes the shape of the mould and keeps that shape. This is, in fact, why you need to air out your pointe shoes: if they become humid, they will soften.

6. Adding the elastics: Ribbons and elastic are attached to the shoe to help keep it securely in place on the dancer’s foot. The elastic drawstrings are there to ensure the shoes fit properly. The invisible elastic is optional – but they to help, together with the ribbons, to give a really secure fit.

Finishing touches: The shoes are trimmed and any loose threads are removed.

Ribbons are sewn on the pointe shoes – this is something that the dancer will normally do, to give the ribbons the correct angle. Some dancers also darn the tip, although there are solutions such as leather patches or ready-made darn patches you attach to the shoe. We prefer the old-fashioned darning as there is less of a chance of that coming off, causing slipping and injury.

How do I care for my dance shoes ?

Buying dancewear and shoes, Dancing - General Info, Uncategorized

Caring for dance shoes is important for the dancer – they are the tools of his or her trade.

Sansha Partenaire pointe shoes
Sansha pointe shoes

Whether talking of ballet shoes, jazz shoes, dance sneakers, show shoes, ballroom shoes – they don’t come cheap (even if we have good bargains instore! ) and they deserve to be treated well.

Ballet shoes and pointe shoes, being the lightest in colour, are probably the most delicate. These should not be worn outside – unless that is part of the performance.

To clean ballet shoes, simply wipe down with a moist cloth with some gentle soap if you like but then wipe down again with a rinsed cloth. While regularly using leather ballet shoes, I would also sometimes use expired moisturiser on the leather, to keep it soft and supple.

Sansha Dynamo black and blue sneakers

Never use a damp – or worse, wet – cloth on pointe shoes, whether canvas or satin. These are made of layers of cardboard and resin, and baked. Definitely, they should not be cleaned with a wet cloth: you cannot really clean these shoes at all.

Canvas ballet and jazz shoes cannot be cleaned with a wet cloth, either. Black canvas ballet or jazz shoes can be sprayed with some suede spray. This gives them back their vivid black colour. They will need to be left to dry thoroughly so that the dye does not leak onto socks or tights. There still is a danger that sweaty feet will cause the spray colour to leak – you’re warned!

Leather jazz shoes and sneakers can be wiped down in the same way as leather ballet shoes. Again, one may use black leather shoe polish. Care should be used: the colour may leak if the feet are sweaty or in humid temperatures. Do this carefully as when being used, the sweaty feet can cause colour leak. Suede sneakers can be sprayed with neutral suede spray – your safest option.

Ballroom shoes can be cleaned very much like normal shoes. Water is still not really an option. However, it might be safe to clean the soles with a slightly damp cloth, especially if the shoes have rubber soles.

I used to wear my dance sneakers to hang out. I figured that the rubber soles made it ok to do so. However, the truth is that the rubber on dance shoes isn’t really made for street / outdoor wear. The rubber will wear away pretty fast. Try to avoid doing that.

In short – dance shoes are the tools of the art – or of the trade. They should be properly cared for and used only as appropriate . This means, on the proper dance flooring and during class.

Keep an eye on our pages for more care tips!

The new scholastic year has started

Buying dancewear and shoes, Dancing - General Info, Jazz Shoes, leotards, Pointe Shoes

… and ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop classes have started again.  People are turning up to classes in numbers that seem like normal and COVID seems to be a thing of the past.

At The Ballet Shop, we have most of our traditional items in stock.  From pointe shoes, to dance sneakers, jazz pants, leotards, ballet shoes jazz shoes….

We have had some issues with receiving goods from outside the EU, so bear with us.  We had sufficient stock so far, but items are running low and we are trying to source alternatives rather than procure the more expensive stuff.  Please watch this space!

 

 

 

How old – or young – do you have to be to start ballet lessons?

Dancing - General Info

How old must my daughter be when I send her to her first ballet / jazz / other dance class?

I am 15 years old, am I too old to being dance classes?

How young were you when you started ballet?  I was 3 years old – I could dance as soon as I could toddle.  And there began a lifelong – if rocky – relationship with the art form.  That was ballet.  Many ballet classes are available at the age of 3.  Usually called Babies  Class, the one before pre-primary.  Sometimes there is Baby Ballet – for the real toddlers in their terrible two’s. I ventured into other forms of dance as well – ballet remains my personal favourite, but other forms work well for me too, especially neoclassical / jazz.

You are never too late to begin to dance – in any shape or form, and any discipline.  You may still have a chance of working your way up to a very advanced level if you have what it takes – and that includes perseverance,  as I was always told. Perseverance is the determination that keeps you going in the face of all adversity, and the will and energy to keep going, to get better and to learn.  Because, like life, dance is a constant journey of learning.  When we stop learning, we grind to a halt.

 

 

A little girl in a tutu
Sansha little girls’ tutu

 

To my mind, ballet is the basis for all other forms of dance: you first learn the rules before you can break them. Ballet gave me suppleness, a sense of rhythm, strong legs and a dancer’s back.  Not that I’m any form of ballerina, but the stance never leaves you.  I still remember wearing a crown on my head with Ms Jenny Delicata, my first and most loved ballet teacher, wearing a tutu for the first time with Ms Alison White, going en pointe for the first time with Ms Joanna Rummolino and performing at the Manoel for the first time ever in full ballet tutus, sylphides and so on with Ms Brigitte Gauci Borda.

With other forms of dance, it is common to start later – say aged 7 or 8.  This is when the young dancer begins to discern between different types of dance, favourite forms of movement, and preferred modes of expressing their artistic talent. Children should be allowed to experiment, but we still think that ballet forms the basis for most forms: and that those students who have a ballet background have an advantage over those who don’t.

In short – starting as young as the age of 3 gives the proper stance that will last a lifetime, whether or not they continue to dance.  Of course, starting later is an option – and with other forms of dance, it’s probably the way to go as classes would not be available at such an early age.

Whatever the age, our shop provides a wide range of dancewear, and you can always contact us if you don’t see what you want.

But wait … toe caps?

Buying dancewear and shoes, Dancing - General Info, Uncategorized

I never really used toe caps when I first started pointe work.

Toe Caps
Foam toe pads for pointe shoes

 

There is a fine difference between the different types of toe pads – foam, silicone, neoprene seem to be the most common ones. And then there is the old-fashioned animal wool.

Sansha Silicone Toe Pads
A pair of toe pads in silicone

 

Our silicone toe pads, by Sansha, are probably your best choice because, protecting your toes doesn’t come at the expense of your shoe size! Here’s why.

Foam Toe Pads – they’re cheap and provide quite a cushion for your toes.  Being cheap, they are easily changed (no money concerns there).  Being foam, easily washed.  The downside is that you will move up by one or two shoe sizes, and possibly even two widths and your shoes will look too big for your feet.  Still, they do the job and are great for beginners whose toes are still really tender compared to the more experience dancer.

Neoprene toe pads – similar to foam, but slightly slimmer which means that you have less of a difference in shoe size; we’d say they are the next step, when your toes become a little more accustomed to pointe work.  Price is somewhere in between.

Silicone toe pads – these are made of soft, washable silicone and provided you don’t touch them with oils or alcohols, they will last and can be cleaned.  They make almost no difference to the shoe size and are a comfortable fit (like a second sock, but covering only your toes).  Downside might be the price, but it’s well worth your investment.

You may want to ask your teacher what’s best for you – every dancer might have his or her own needs.  With time, you will learn to choose what suits you best but feel free to ask us if you have questions.  Happy dancing!

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