How do I find professional pointe shoe fitting?

There was a time when only high-level, professional and pre-professional ballet dancers had access to detailed, professional pointe shoe fitting. Dancers outside professional schools and companies often had to make do with simply buying a pair of shoes based on their street-shoe size, with a choice among only a few pointe shoe models. Fortunately for dancers everywhere, today there are many pointe models, to accommodate the full variety of foot shapes. There are also hundreds of dedicated professional pointe fitters who are able to make a perfect match between the dancer’s feet and technical needs and a pair of shoes that will fit her and support her properly.

Expertise That level of expertise doesn’t happen automatically when a store begins to sell pointe shoes, of course. Dance retailers who become expert fitters devote a great deal of time to learning about dancers and pointe shoes. Russian Pointe’s Retail Affiliates have a wealth of training options and ongoing support to help them learn to provide a perfect fit to every dancer.

What is a professional pointe fitting? A truly personal, professional fitting takes many factors into account. The dancer’s feet are evaluated for shape and size, but also for strength and flexibility. The fitter observes the dancer’s basic ballet technique, including core strength and alignment on demi-pointe (and on pointe, for non-beginners).

How do you find a professional pointe fitter? One place to start is the pointe shoe manufacturer’s website. Russian Pointe maintains a database of our Retail Affiliates, which dancers may consult to find fitters in their local areas.

If you would like to learn more about what you should experience in professional fitting, please feel free to browse our Retail Affiliate pages, including the section “How to Fit Russian Pointe.”