Satin
ballet shoes used by ballet dancers, also known as toe shoes. They are for dancing
sur les pointes.
The ballet
shoes of
Marie Taglioni, the first major
ballerina to dance
on her points, were not blocked but were padded with
cotton wool. Later on (about 1862) the toes of the
ballet slippers were stiffened (blocked) with glue and
darned
to give the dancer additional support.
Nowadays, the toes of pointe shoes are
reinforced with a box made of several layers of strong
glue in between layers of
material.