What is the history of the ballet slipper?
by 
Highlander is semi-retired from AB
ANSWERS: 1
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Sir, sir, sir, I know this! I was ballet mad when I was little and had a book that gave me the history. The first ballet was performed at the court of France. The dancers wore the normal heeled shoes of the day, and there was no jumping or leaping. Then in the 1700s, Marie Camargo of the Royal Ballet decided to take the heels off shoes, and shorten/lighten clothing so that dancers could perform more easily. She was famous for her jumps. These shoes developed into the practice type of shoes still worn now. Wikipedia has this to say about the next development: When Marie Taglioni first danced La Sylphide en pointe, her shoes were nothing more than satin slippers, darned at the ends. The sole was made of leather and the sides and toe were darned to keep its shape. Dancers relied heavily on their own strength, in the feet and ankles, without the support of a hard pointe shoe. They most likely padded the toes for some comfort. Since then there have been a lot of developments in pointe shoes. Anna Pavlova is credited with the type of pointe shoe used now, though there have been updates of this too.
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