Why pointe shoes?  Mark is an engineer by trade.  He went to university for engineering before going to work on jet engines, making parts for Rolls Royce engines.  Due to economic ups and downs, engine-making was not as stable a profession as could have been hoped.  Shortly after being laid off, Mark was hired by a pointe shoe company as one of their craftsmen.  In addition to making shoes, he worked with the machinery, eventually becoming Technical Development Manager.  His job took him to ballet companies, where he would help fit shoes and develop new models.  In 2000, he left to start his own “Solo” act.

“Solo” is the name of his original student shoe.  He was going solo, and there was a perfect correlation within ballet.  The second, sister shoe to the “Solo” was named the “Ensemble” – where there is a solo, there is usually also an ensemble.  The name was apt.  His own factory has grown from one shoemaker, Mark himself, to fifteen.  Each craftsman has a specific duty in the making of a pointe shoe, based on skills and abilities, which means that each pair of shoes represents the work of several individuals.  From start to finish, it takes approximately one hour to make a single pair of pointe shoes.  That pair of shoes will last a dancer approximately one week.

The question inevitably asked about pointe shoes is, “What makes the tips hard?”  It is not, despite whatever anyone else may say, wood.  Mark uses a combination of burlap, flour and dextrin to build the box of the shoe and make it sufficiently hard.  The question I wanted to ask was, “How do you name the shoes?”  I’ve always wondered.  Initially, of course, there was just the Solo.  There is a whole range of shoes now, with names dreamt up by a think tank and decided upon based on a sample group’s reactions.  For example, a group of students aged twelve to eighteen were presented with a list of about 100 names.  “Captivate” and “Inspiration” received the most positive reactions.  Every once in a while, he’ll name a shoe after a person.  Which shoe and what dancer, you may wonder?  We’ll let that be his secret.

My final question for Mark was, “How do you build a shoe?”  He starts in his head.  He can visualize what is needed, and using his years of experience, he is able to imagine the various combinations possible and come up with a shoe.  One of the major issues is the shape of the inside of the shoe versus the outside of the shoe.  It may look one way, but in fact fit another.  A shoe that is outwardly tapered in appearance may be relatively wide inside.  But what you see is what you expect – dancers need to assess the shoe based on both look and feel.

As Suffolk Pointe Company celebrates its 10^th Anniversary, Nashville Ballet in its 25^th is delighted to join them in a comprehensive partnership.  Suffolk will be the official pointe shoe of Nashville Ballet, and Suffolk will be our audition tour sponsor. To see Suffolk’s shoes take flight, our dancers take to the stage in Swan Lake, October 29-21.  Single tickets go on sale September 7.   For more information on Suffolk, visit their website at www.suffolkpointe.com.

Looks like Suffolk will be keeping us on our toes!

Donna Delseni

Frankfurt, Germany – my first job! So many new things to absorb, the language, the people, the country, it was all so exciting and a little scary.  But my teacher said, “you will go from plie here to plie there – nothing to worry about”.  So I land in Frankfurt and there is no one to meet me…luckily a fellow passenger was kind enough to accompany me to the center of the city and check me into the Frankfurter Hof (the most expensive hotel in Frankfurt!)  I got in touch with Alfonso the next day and he got me into a more modest hotel with another new American dancer who would become my room mate.  Five of us moved into the same complex and we dubbed ourselves “the American Colony”. It was me, Michelle Farr, Ronald Darden, Robbie Woods, and Sean Lavery. We shared lots of great moments in our careers and had lots of fun living abroad over the next seasons.

The Frankfurter Ballet was housed in the Stadtische Buhnen (State Theater) with all the performance art forms. Actors, dancers, musicians, opera singers, costumers, set designers and shoemakers, mingled as we went about our days. There were 3 theaters: The Opera Stage, Schauspielhaus, and the Kammerspiele. The main theater had the largest revolving stage in the world. We performed on all three stages.  We had one studio, a large room with a wooden floor. Our daily schedule was 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. for class and rehearsal, a break, and then more rehearsals from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.  It took a little getting used to but the break in the middle of the day is standard in Germany.  Rudi Franz was our accompanist for class and some rehearsals, a great musician with a warm heart and a smile for everyone. The first day we started learning Balanchine’s Four Temperaments, I was one of the “battement girls” in Melancholic. I didn’t want that day to end, youth and energy! Kent Stowall was our ballet master and his wife, Francia Russell (both former NYCB dancers) set 4T’s and Serenade on us. I loved dancing the Balanchine ballets – it felt like home.

We also learned Alfonso’s Ragtime which was our first performance in the main square on a raised stage, during a festival of some kind and we had a blast. Willie Burman danced the lead and looked quite dashing as always. We ladies had rose colored leotards with a bit of rhinestone decoration, black tights & pointe shoes, a black velvet choker and a feather in our hair….the audience loved it. 

Everything in that first couple of weeks seemed almost magical. Sitting on the edge of the stage listening to the orchestra rehearse Serenade in preparation for our opening, meeting the theater crew and other artists that worked in the same building, even eating bratwurst in the Kantina with our essen markers (meal tickets).  Life was so full and rich and new and here I was, great new friends, dancing my heart out and living my life in Germany. Pure happiness! 

Donna Delseni and Sean Lavery, Frankfurt Ballet

From there I was accepted to the School of American Ballet in New York and I knew my dream was going to happen.  Because I started late, I was the oldest in my classes at SAB – a fact I never shared! It was a dream to dance in this school, to see all the stars of NYCB take class and have teachers such as legends like Alexandra Danilova, Felia Doubrovska, Murial Stuart. I was actually in a rehearsal for SAB’s school concert with George Balanchine. That is indeed rare air! And I soaked it all in! While there, Alfonso Cata (former NYCB dancer) came in to watch class and offered me a position in the Frankfurt Ballet, a Balanchine based company in Germany. The dream had arrived, I was on my way.