Neneka Yoshida's Story —
Pointe Shoe Appeal
In 2015 I had the opportunity to dance the pas de deux from Le Corsaire in Noosa, Canberra and Brisbane. It is a beautiful pas de deux between Medora and Ali featuring the stunning music of Riccardo Drigo.
The solo I perform in the beginning of the piece includes a lot of port de bras, balance steps, jumps and turns. The piece then ends with 32 fouettes. In order to perform this challenging work I need to make my pointes very comfortable, they need to almost feel like I am not wearing shoes to control all of the foot work.
To prepare my shoes I cut the inside sole to 3/4 shank in order to feel more of the floor. I then sew 2 elastics and ribbons on to each shoe to get the best fit on my feet even when I am required to move very fast. I then put a white foundation all over the shoes and ribbons to match my tights.
For performances I usually wear pointe shoes that I have used previously in a Company Class two or three times. This is because I want to be quiet when I jump but also keep them hard enough to support the pose en pointe and ensure I can execute the turns. I usually bring two or three pairs of pointes to the theatre and during warm up before the performance I choose the pointes that I feel confident and happy to go on stage with!