Trunk Show at Artful Dancewear

As any pointe shoe fitter knows, the challenge of finding the perfect fit for every foot is part of the fun.

That was definitely the case at the recent Russian Pointe trunk show, held on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Artful Dancewear in Dallas. Despite the fact that many of the dancers who came in for pointe shoe fittings had unusually sized or shaped feet, the Russian Pointe experts were able to find the right shoe for each of them.

One girl, for example, had two different size feet and ended up wearing shoes in the same model but in different lengths on each foot. Another dancer had previously bought both a pair of Luminas and a pair of Bravas in different sizes and came in to be fitted to determine which shoe was actually the better cut.

Because owner Kay Dalziel already carries every model that Russian Pointe makes, except for the newest style, Entrada Pro, their wide variety of items in stock made it easy for the Russian Pointe fitters to find the right shoe for each customer, no matter how strange the situation.

Dalziel says it’s precisely the fact that Russian Pointe makes so many different options of widths, shanks, vamps and more that make them such a popular shoe. “They’re beautiful on the feet and I just like the variety you can get,” she says.

Unlike many stores, Artful Dance also carries several Russian Pointe models in both the U-shaped cut with a drawstring as well as in the V-cut without a drawstring. Although most Americans tend to wear the U-cut shoes, Dalziel says there is one local dance school in her area that requires that their students to wear V-cut only, and other dancers simply like the more elegant, refined look that comes without a drawstring.

One of the highlights of the trunk show was fitting a professional dancer who is a frequent customer in the store. The dancer was already wearing the Russian Pointe Rubin model, but Megan Bentz, Business Development Manager for Russian Pointe, suggested that she go with a shoe with a lower vamp for performances so she would show off more of her leg and slightly less shoe.

Dalziel said she thought the entire trunk show was very successful. “I thought it was a really good event,” she said. “All of the customers were really excited.”

Dalziel said having the chance to watch the Russian Pointe experts – Bentz and Sofia Konstance Urlasly, Russian Pointe sales manager Sofia Konstance Uralsky – performing pointe shoe fittings, especially on complicated feet, was an invaluable training tool. “As long as I’ve been doing this, and as long as my assistant’s been doing this, you’re never too old to pick up something new,” Dalziel said.