Often trending on TikTok over the past year or two has been pointe shoe preparation, or “pointe shoe ASMR.” Videos of dancers sewing, cutting, ripping, darning, burning, smacking, and stomping on their pointe shoes have garnered equal parts interest and confusion, a process wholly unknown to those who have never danced or are unfamiliar with pointe shoes.

The comment sections of pointe shoe prep videos are filled with comments along the lines of “Why don’t pointe shoes come broken in already?” or “Why do you need to tear them apart to dance?”

For a pointe shoe to be danced in, it first must undergo a rigorous cycle of abuse and sewing to last for… not very long at all. Generally, for professional dancers, one pair lasts little more than one full-length performance because the materials of a pointe shoe break down very quickly. “Why is this?” many ask.

The short answer to the “Why?” of pointe shoe prep is that every dancer has specific preferences for their shoes; this is based on years of experience in modifying pointe shoes to fit their feet and unique dancing styles. Pointe shoes cannot be bought or made already broken in, because those shoes would not fit most dancers’ preferences.

The composition of pointe shoes gives insight into why they need to be broken in so rigorously. When dancers leap gracefully through the air or seam to float across the stage en pointe, they are essentially dancing on layers of hard, compact cardboard with minimal cushioning, and so their shoes must be modified for maximum comfort and ease.

Pointe shoes may look dainty and delicate, but they are rock-hard to support a dancer’s entire body weight and require years of extensive training to become comfortable in. There is little padding in the shoes at all, and dancers must manually sew on elastic ankle bands and ribbons so that the shoes stay on their feet.

Some dancers choose to wear toe pads or other layers of comfort, and some do not. Some dancers break in pointe shoes faster than others, but it also depends on the performance. Each dancer is different, so each pointe shoe must be different as well.

For all, however, it takes years of trial and error to perfect their pointe shoe customization.

Léa Fleytoux, a Soloist with American Ballet Theatre, has been dancing since she was four years old and began pointe at the age of nine. Her dance teacher brought her and her dance class to a store and helped them select pointe shoes before demonstrating how to lightly break in the shoes by bending them in half.

“When you’re so young, you don’t have enough force in your feet to actually break the shoe,” said Fleytoux. “But of course, after that, everybody kind of finds whatever is best for them.”

According to Fleytoux, finding and modifying pointe shoes is a process that changes for the entirety of a dancer’s career.

“I’m wearing Bloch [shoes] at the moment, custom Alphas,” said Fleytoux. “I’m still trialing, because our feet also change as we work in different ways. We all change and change the way that we dance, so those are the ones I have for now.”

To break in her pointe shoes, Fleytoux likes to modify the shank first. From about midway in the pointe shoe to the very back, Fleytoux removes the inside shank because she likes her feet to sit more on top of her toes and upper arch.

The shank of the pointe shoe, which runs along the bottom of a dancer’s foot to support their arch, is made primarily of cardboard or a similar material.

She then breaks in the wings, which support the sides of the dancers’ feet, and the toe box (which happens in a crunch-like fashion) of her shoes, and as far as modifications to the structural integrity of the shoe, that’s as far as she goes.

The toe box, or the hard cup of a pointe shoe that encases the dancer’s toes, is primarily made of layers of cardboard, paper, and fabric that are packed and hardened with a glue-like fluid.

“I don’t really break [my shoes] in that much because I like to be supported,” said Fleytoux. “I like harder shoes.”

The exterior of a pointe shoe is typically satin, with an elastic drawstring binding that the dancer can tighten the shoe with. In terms of external modifications, the vamp, or the distance from the tip of the shoe to the drawstring that covers the tops of the toes and foot, is too low for Fleytoux as she has naturally longer toes. As a result, Fleytoux sews a piece of elastic perpendicular to the vamp to give herself extra support.

She also darns her pointe shoes to prevent the tip of the shoe from getting too soft too quickly when she dances. Darning pointe shoes consists of sewing, with a thick needle, along the perimeter of the platform of shoe’s toe box to provide extra support; Fleytoux said that darning also helps her to balance better. To darn her pointe shoes, Fleytoux traces the tips of her shoes with a pencil, darns with a thick needle on the line, and finally uses Jet Glue to make them last even longer.

She sews ribbons and elastics together across the shoes so that she can tie her foot into the shoe, as is necessary for all dancers.

For comfort, she also modifies what goes into her pointe shoes, other than her feet. Fleytoux uses PerfectFit pointe shoe inserts, which she says are “everything for me.” She discovered PerfectFit when she first moved to the United States.

PerfectFit inserts go into the toe box of a pointe shoe and are filled with a play-doh like filling that dancers put their foot in to mold. Once the inside filling is set and hardened, the insert is perfectly molded to their feet and can slip right into any pointe shoe.

“You do have to remake them, I would say, every couple of months because they get a little bit worn out,” said Fleytoux. “But that’s probably the best invention.”

In total, prepping her pointe shoes from start to finish takes Fleytoux about an hour and a half per pair. Because it takes so long, she tends to do it on an as needed basis rather than bulk prepping shoes.

Another popular question from curious TikTokers is how long pointe shoes last, given the amount of preparation time required. For Fleytoux, it depends on a variety of factors.

“I think depends on the weather, as well. If it’s humid, the shoes don’t dry well, so it’s really difficult to keep them harder,” said Fleytoux. “[My shoes] can usually last, if I alternate them, for a couple of weeks.”

She also alternates her shoes depending on her schedule for the day.

“I usually wear harder shoes for class and softer shoes for rehearsal. In the morning, I wear the harder shoes and then I switch to softer ones, which I think helps in keeping them a little longer,” said Fleytoux.

While “pointe shoe ASMR” TikTok offers captivating visuals for those interested in or fascinated by ballet, it is more than just a series of satisfying sounds and visuals; pointe shoe routines reflect the discipline and dedication required for ballet, as well as the many years of training that go into defining a dancer’s artistry.

The writer, Paige Shea, was an ABT Press Intern for Summer 2024.