- Hi friends, welcome back.
We are still at the Pointe Shop.
- We've been here for a whole week.
- We haven't slept. - No.
- We haven't eaten. - Mm-mmm.
We're dying.
- We're alive, we haven't eaten.
Yeah. (laughter)
We're dying but we're here for the sake of you
and for pointe shoes.
(laughter)
Today we're gonna be talking about,
we as in Josephine,
is gonna be telling us the anatomy of a pointe shoe
and kind of, you know, what makes up the shoe
and what's inside of it because there's a huge myth
of what is inside the box of a pointe shoe.
- It's true.
- So, take it away.
- Okay, so we're gonna talk about
different parts of the pointe shoes first
and then we'll talk about the different materials
that the shoe is made out of.
So pointe shoes generally, there are two major parts.
There's the box that encapsulates your toes
and then there's the backbone
which is the shank of the shoe.
And those two parts is what allows you to dance on pointe
because it supports you to stay on pointe.
So let's talk about the box first then.
- On pointe.
- I know, on pointe.
(laughter)
So let's talk about the box.
So the box consists of the vamp,
that's how long this part is.
The wings which is the sides of the shoes,
and the platform which is where you balance.
So you can see this one's a pretty wide platform
and it's pretty sharp so that is the part
where you are going to basically stand on pointe.
So depending on how big or small this part is
the easier or harder it is going to be to balance.
So that's the box,
and then the shank is this hard backbone of the shoe
where it supports the back of your foot,
or the bottom of your foot to stay on your toes like this.
So if you look at the different types of shanks
you're gonna have soft shanks, medium shanks,
hard shanks, you're gonna have half shanks,
three quarter shanks, and full shanks.
- What?!
- So, so many different types of shanks
and depending on what you like
and depending on how your feet are,
it's gonna help you show off your feet,
it's gonna help you support better,
it's gonna help you dance a little bit longer on pointe
and depends on how long your pointe shoes last.
- Yes.
- So those are the two parts of the pointe shoe.
Now let's talk about the material of the shoe.
- Okay.
- So basically there's the inner sole like this
and the outer sole.
And pointe shoes are actually made like paper mache.
So it's layers of glue and material
like paper, burlap, all this stuff
that's kind of layered and molded and hardened
so that it turns into this hard wood-like material.
- Wood-like, people.
Wood-like. - But not wood.
(laughter)
- Not wood, that's the myth that we're busting today.
(laughter)
- So it's actually a lot of different types of materials
that are packed in this little shoe.
- Okay.
- And most of them, pointe shoes are still handmade.
So when you go to a factory you see this dude
like layering pointe shoes and paste and burlap
and they just kind of like harden it,
they like put it in this giant oven
and they cook it for like a day so it dries.
- I love that.
It think it's so cool that they're still handmade.
- Yes.
- It's really unique nowadays.
- It is!
- I feel like it's usually just machines making everything.
- Yes.
- But these are made with love.
- Love, and this is such a privilege
to have something that is this wonderful
and handmade and every single shoe is like-
- Yeah, customized and it's just really cool.
- Yes, so this is a pretty narrow shoe
but there's all these different specs of a pointe shoe
that you can have and of course
the outside of the shoe is beautiful satin.
- Shiny, shiny satin.
- Beautiful.
(angelic singing) (laughter)
- That's amazing.
Okay and then on the inside we have these guys,
the drawstrings. - The drawstrings.
So some of the shoes will have drawstrings
and some pointe shoes will not.
So it depends on what type of pointe shoes you have
and what brand you have
and this part is called the drawstring.
Some of them are elastic and some of them
are non-stretchy cotton drawstring.
Those will kind of pull on your heel.
- Not a fan of those at all.
- Yeah, it kind of like cuts you off a little bit.
But if you're fitted correctly
you don't have to pull it that hard.
So it's good.
The drawstring, it's gonna basically
be double knotted and cut off
so you're not gonna see this guy.
So you know how you-
- Just tuck the little baby in.
- Yeah, tuck the little baby in.
You see these Google images or like
the images on the internet where they have this
like giant bow on the pointe shoe-
- Noo, I know exactly what you're talking about!
- Don't do this!
It hurts me! (laughs)
- Yeah, that's painful.
- So don't do that.
- Please tuck it in.
- Please tuck it, it's supposed to be functional.
So it pulls the little extra fabric on the side
to make sure that everything is streamlined and beautiful
and it kinda keeps your foot inside of your shoes.
- Yeah, I love that.
Can you talk about, so with the box
you can either have a taper or is a square?
- Mm-hmm.
- Okay, and that's just dependent on-
- Each dancer and their feet.
- Okay.
- So depending on what your toe shape looks like
you can either have a wide platform,
like a more square shoe.
This is pretty square even though it's a narrow shoe.
And then you can have a shoe
that's a little bit more tapered like this
and we talked about the platform already.
The tapered platform or the tapered box
is gonna have a smaller platform.
- So small!
- So it's like dancing on a needle.
- Yeah. (laughs)
- But it's kind of fun to turn in those.
- So easy.
- So easy to turn, just like.
- Yeah.
- Okay and then I remember
when I was in my pointe shoes a lot,
I always got a higher heel,
which is just the amount of this fabric in the back, right?
- Yes.
- But some have a lower profile.
- Mm-hmm.
- Would you mind explaining that a tiny bit?
- Yes.
So depending on what brand or what model you are wearing,
you can either have a high heel like this
or you can have a low heel that comes up lower.
So the benefit of a higher heel
is that usually it grips onto your heel a little bit better
because there's more material that hugs your foot.
- Yeah, yeah.
- But the benefit to having the lower heel is that you
can show off your feet a little bit more,
'cause it's more of your foot than your shoe.
- Shoe.
- But a lot of people feel kind of insecure
with the low heel 'cause it feels like
they're gonna slip off.
But if you get used to it it's actually a prettier line
because it's less fabric and more your foot.
- Less fabric and more you.
- More you.
- Okay, love that.
(laughter)
You guys, I hope that kind of clarified
what is really in a pointe shoe or the anatomy of it.
I know a lot of people think
that there's wood inside of the shoe.
- No.
- But there ain't.
- No there ain't.
- It's just a whole bunch of different materials
that glue together to support your foot to stand up on it.
IF you have any questions about pointe shoes
feel free to DM me, DM Josephine on Instagram.
Ask us, comment on this video,
and I can shoot 'em over to you
and you can answer whatever questions you guys have.
- Yeah.
- I know these are super exciting.
If you are in the area,
kind of anywhere really in Southern California for now
since she's back from traveling-
- Yes.
- Come get fitted at the Pointe Shop
and do you wanna tell them about
your YouTube and your Instagram?
- Yes, so we have a YouTube channel.
We talk about pointe shoes in all of our videos obviously.
We do a lot of pointe shoe fitting videos
so if you are curious about what is a pointe shoe,
how they're fitted, then go to our YouTube channel.
Also follow us on Instagram @thepointeshop.
- With an e.
- Yes, with an e at the end.
(laughter)
- Okay thank you so much!
- You're so welcome!
(electronic hip-hop music)
Okay, so guys, I hired these models
and uh, they were terrible.
So, we're gonna have a model search on May third and fourth
picking our model for 2019.
- Woo!
- We've had amazing models in the past
and I don't know how these guys got the job
but we're gonna have to fix this.
- You want me to do this right?
This is what you wanted?
- I don't know.
- This is what you hired me for.
- And plus I can't find a size for these guys either so um-
- [Auti] They're giants.
- We're gonna do that.
So it's gonna be on May fourth,
the finals are gonna be at the Yost Theater
in Santa Ana in Orange County and we're super excited
because there's gonna be a ton of contestants-
- Yeah! - Yeah!
- Who are real ballerinas.
- Yeah!
(laughter)
Gotta compete against me!
Oh god!
- [Josephine and Auti] Tiara down!
- It's fine, we're doing great.
(laughter)
- [Auti] Alright, so May fourth at the Yost Theater
in Santa Ana.
- In Santa Ana.
If you want tickets, go on our website thepointeshop.com
and you can find all of the information there.
Come watch the finals,
the semifinalists this year are amazing.
- [Auti] Woo-hoo!
- Alright guys, you guys are fired.
- Are we-
- Fired!
- [Auti] Give us your best pageant wave.
- I was told we were the semi-finalists.
Oh, oh man!
- It's okay, and we're done.
(electronic hip-hop music)