Setting the Stage

When choosing an object for a material culture study, I felt it was important to select something with which I had some experience. I decided that pointe shoes would make a good choice for several reasons but primarily through my own intense memories of practising ballet. I remember waiting for the day when I would be strong enough as a dancer to dance 'en pointe.' I also remeber how disillusioned I was when I first put them on, or more importantly, took them off to find my feet reduced to bloody stumps. I often wondered why anyone would have invented these things, let alone wore them. Pointe shoes, despite appearances, are extremely cumbersome and it would be an understatement to call them "uncomfortable." While I would agree that technique done en pointe has a ethereal, 'floating' effect, I couldn't help but wonder if suffering for the sake of one's art wasn't being taken to far in this instance.

It also struck me as peculiar that only women practise techniques en pointe. Perhaps there were practical reasons for this that I was unaware of but I couldn't help but wonder why it was that women would train in this art specifically and almost entirely to the exclusion of men.

Undoubtedly, this material culture study will help me explore some of these issues as well as give rise to numerous other questions. Perhaps with a greater understanding of how these objects function practically, socially and culturally, I'll be willing to brave the blisters, calluses and scars again, having a rational explanation for their necessity. However, as valuable as this study of pointe shoes will be, I think my feet have suffered enough for art.