Daniel Jones Diary

My Ballet Shoes

Men on Pointe

Recently I was talking to somebody who I didn’t know very well about the world and everything. Somehow, the topic of ballet came up and for the trillionth time I heard the question –
“Is it painful to go on your toes?”
Once again, I witnessed an open mouth reaction when I explained I had been a professional classical dancer for most of my life and I had never been on my toes, not even once. In fact I’ve never even been tempted. While I explained once more that I can jump, turn, lift, etc, it occurred to me that my ballet shoes (aka ballet slippers which I class as a contradictory term) just don’t get the credit they deserve. So I dedicate this diary to my Sansha 15W, and the people who make them.

My treasured ballet shoes. Photo © Daniel Jones

Made in China

I can’t remember the exact day it happened, but one day, early in my career, I found my perfect shoe. Sansha, size 15W, have literally carried me through my career and I couldn’t dance without them. When I recently asked Julie Heggie, English National Ballet’s shoe supervisor, about where my shoes come from, she explained that it’s no longer possible to buy them in the shops and my chosen make and model are only supplied to professionals. She also informed me that they are delivered to her from Le Havre, France, but are made in China.

The Perfect Shoe

As a long term member of a professional ballet company, I have had the luxury of never having to pay, or find my ballet shoes. I have always had a constant supply of shoes provided by the company for daily class, rehearsals, and performances. The shoes that are provided are ultimately chosen by the dancer, but to help the dancer choose the best shoe both the shoe supervisor and the company physiotherapist can be involved. If a dancer wears a shoe that’s the wrong size, shape or even strength, this can lead to an injury, so it can make or break a dancer’s career if they struggle to find their perfect shoe.

Shoe Stress

Finding the perfect shoe is no easy task. Before I became a professional I tried lots of different makes of shoes, for many different reasons. Some makes I tried because I found out that my favourite dancer wore them. It was also a ballet fashion to have small feet, so I would wear shoes that were too small for me which lead to me having a stress fracture in my navicular bone. It took me 17 weeks to recover and I learnt that practicality was more important than idealism. Leather soled shoes were also recommended to me as they could strengthen a dancer’s feet, however they weren’t wide enough for my feet so I decided to go for a wider shoe rather than risk another injury. It was then that I came across my Sanshas.

My crab shoes. Photo © Daniel Jones

Irreplaceable

Since discovering my perfect shoe I have still tried other shoes to see if there was anything better out there for me. But no shoe has ever come close to my Sansha 15W’s. Now that I have been using them for over 15 years, and have had no reason to change them, I appreciate having found the right shoe early in my career. A combination of size, comfort, and look has saved me from a potential nightmare of never finding the right shoe.
Everybody’s feet are different and I can’t emphasise enough the importance of finding the right shoe for a dancer as early in a career as possible. If you are a young dancer out there and are wearing painful shoes but you think they look great, just remember that there are many makes and sizes out there and it is possible to find the right shoe for you. Be prepared to experiment and change, especially if you want to dance for a decent amount of time.

Luggage Confession

Even if I go on holiday and don’t plan on dancing I still take a pair of Sansha 15W’s with me. If ever there was a ballet emergency and I was needed I wouldn’t be able to survive with any other shoe. This diary goes out as a special thank you to whoever makes my Sansha 15W’s. Over the years I’ve got through hundreds of pairs and I’ve had them dyed all sorts of colours. In all my dancing years my dear flatties/ballet slippers/Sansha 15W’s have never let me down.

Thank You.