Pointe Shoes

Tutu's 2 Tap Shoes has already been acknowledged by the industry as having the only fully qualified Pointe fitting service outside of the capital. Trained fitters Majella Owens and Eimear Kiely travelled to the UK last year to be trained by Linda Reid Lobatto who is renowned for her precision and skill in fitting Pointe’s and who was trained by the fabulous Ester Juan Veitch. Linda works directly with Grishko UK, who undertook five years of medical research into the main causes of injuries to dancers' feet. Grishko then designed their Pointe shoes based on the results of this research.
 
Each pair of Grishko Pointe shoes are handmade using traditional methods and are designed to give each dancer ultimate support, placement, and comfort, something both ladies feel very strongly about. Majella, as a theatre nurse, a dancer in her teenage years and a mother of two, stresses the importance of correctly fitting shoes “Ill-fitting shoes don't only feel uncomfortable, they can cause a lot of pain, blisters and even permanent damage to the feet” she says, “so we commit to giving each dancer the time necessary to fit each Pointe shoe correctly and to consider each individual’s needs and requirements”.

As the only dance shop outside of Dublin to offer this service they advise customers to make an appointment in advance and follow the steps below before arriving for each appointment to ensure each dancer is properly prepared for their fitting.

Important things to consider before starting on pointe:

1. Are you strong? As you dance on pointe you rely on your legs, hips and abdominal muscles as well as on the shoe for support so you need to have good strength in your legs.

2. Has your teacher given you permission to go on pointe? You cannot be fitted for pointe's without being fully prepared and ready. It will be obvious to the fitter if you are not prepared.

3. Have you had your second growth spurt? The bones are much stronger after the second growth spurt which occurs around the same time as menstruation.
 

Before your fitting:
 

1. Please allow plenty of time for your fitting especially if it is your first fitting as you will need to try on lots of different sizes and widths.

2. Make sure your toenails are cut short, but not on the day of the fitting as sharp nails may cause pain to other toes.

3. Please ensure your feet are clean and any blisters you may have had are healed.

4. Please wear or bring clean convertible ballet tights so we have full access to your bare feet. They are available to purchase if you do not have convertible tights.

5. If you already wear pointe shoes please bring old pair with you along with any pads, wool etc. that you use.

If you have a group to be fitted please contact Majella or Eimear at 051 330220 to arrange suitable times, or for us to travel to your dance school to fit the dancers there as we are in the process of launching a mobile service which will enable us to travel to any dance school in the country in order to provide both point fittings and to satisfy any other dance wear needs the dancers may have. This will apply to groups of 10 or more.

 

Ribbons & Elastic

Grishko Pointe Shoes