If I understand your question...shellac and sometimes floor wax is brushed/applied to pointe shoes to further harden the "pointes" and thereby further extend their "life expectancy" (given the high cost of pointe shoes). Some dancers do it when the shoes are new, others when they are starting to get "soft" (ie worn out and not enought support).

To answer Michael's question, the shank is made of a very stiff piece of leather, and there are all kinds of things in the box, such as newspaper, plastic, burlap, and glue (but no wood anywhere). It is nailed and glued together, and then baked, I think. The outsides are made of satin, and the satin on the tip of the shoe must be either darned, cut off, or covered with moleskin so the dancer doesn't slip. <P>Of course, as bek said, Gaynors are all plastic (as far as I know). <P>------------------<BR>~Intuviel~<BR><A HREF="http://www.freetown.com/Uptown/HaightAshbury/1055/ballet.html" TARGET=_blank>Balletica</A><BR>

why thank you, intuviel, and i've never SEEN this thread before! <P>it IS pretty funny - especially bek's contribution about running shoes...*BUT* #@$%!!<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Then there is the matter of Perth. With all due respect to some nice, intelligent rounded people I know in Perth, the city is still comparatively small and not exactly thriving in cultural activities.... Don't get me wrong, Perth is moving forward and is a beautiful, civilized city, but dance is still for the minority to enjoy. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>excuse me all, BUT :-<P>we have very stringent quarantine regulations here, in order to PROTECT precisely the lovely quality of life we have here (i COULD say 'from people like you', but you MIGHT quite understandably take offence!) <P>the fact is that wood-boring beetles DO bore into pointe shoes of certain makes, which is one reason why Freeds are usually no longer sold in australia, except on special order.<P>i am MOST embarassed to admit that i actually HAVE some, complete with the cute little round borer holes, which were given to me from the royal ballet shoe room, years ago, and have the ballerinas' names on the soles (new ones). for sentimental reasons, i didn't want to get rid of them, even tho' i can see they WERE infested - still, actually i'm calming down as i write this, because they came in a shipping container so they WOULD have been fumigated - i was thinking i had better go out and burn them on the barbecue....<P>actaully i don't HAVE a BBQ, folks, ...i'm just having you on. we ALL KNOW what you northern hemisphere types think of downunder!<P>like jenny says, that's YOUR loss - come and see for yourselves one day! <P>p.s. yes jenny, i AM 'rounded' too, (as well as 'nice' and 'intelligent') - and i must DO something about it!! it comes from all this computer-ing, instead of being active. <p>[This message has been edited by grace (edited June 02, 2000).]

But, Grace, how would the beetles get into shoes that have been on an airplane? And if there were insects in their shoes, wouldn't the dancers notice the holes? <P>It's interesting how the article begins with "The delicate egos of an entire troupe of Russian ballet dancers were bruised yesterday..." Well, I'd be a little insulted, too, if a customs officer told me that they would have to confiscate pointe shoes that have been only in my dance bag because they might have wood~boring beetles in them! <P>------------------<BR>~Intuviel~<BR><A HREF="http://www.freetown.com/Uptown/HaightAshbury/1055/ballet.html" TARGET=_blank>Balletica</A><BR>

intuviel, <P>i'm no expert on this, but i ASSUME the beetles (which occur in other 'nasty' countries like european ones, but NOT here in pristine australia) would be in the shoes BEFORE they got ON the plane. (little mental image of pink satin pointe shoes marching up the stairs, tiny suitcases in 'hand')... <P>and you may or may not notice the holes, but the shoes are still perfectly useable. they are TINY holes: perfectly round, which is what makes them 'cute' - i've never seen that actual beetle, though...maybe it's even microscopic?