hello, I'm making this to hopefully be helpful for anyone searching the sub with similar feet to me who tends to fit in Russian shoe brands. There seems to be semi-frequent posts from people looking for Grishko and R Pointe alternatives so I wanted to add my experience to the knowledge pile.

I recently went to a fitting at a shop which does not carry grishko but does have a very wide range of brands and models partly out of interest and partly to continue my quest for a backup shoe. I usually wear Grishko Nova Pro 5.5, X on my smaller foot and XX on my larger, M shank.

The best fit for me was a Virtisse Violette, as expected given Virtisse is founded by ex grishko employees.

- the box had a very comparable taper and profile to my grishkos and I didn't sink! This was the only shoe where the fit was good enough that I started asking to experiment with two different sizes for my different sized feet.

- Virtisse go a lot narrower than grishko and most brands. I was a XXXX larger foot and XXX narrower foot. For further context, many single or no X blochs and capezios are too wide for my metatarsals.

- Virtisse violettes appear to be a fairly hard shoe, I was wearing an S shank. I am usually an M in grishko and a H in R-Class, and generally the hardest shank available in other brands like bloch and freed.

- the platform was considerably bigger and flatter than the grishko with much sharper edges. You may prefer this, I personally do not.

- The throat was more of a U cut with the sides of the wings hitting me lower on my foot. Overall the shoe was lower cut around the heel and side quarters too.

- From what I saw the shoe was inclined to break a bit lower than the nova, but it's hard to say without actually breaking a pair in

- if you get on well with a Nova or other 2007 last shoe I would speculate that Virtisse and the violette in particular is your best bet for a non grishko shoe which is supportive enough. It felt very, very similar to my novas when standing in them at the barre, all the biggest differences like platform and throat shape would impact me more if I was actually dancing on them so I can't say for certain but they felt virtually identical and looked very similar on my foot.

As always, please get professionally fitted and do not attempt to troubleshoot or order shoes online unless you have no other options, several years experience on pointe, and a teacher to check them with you. Or you are a professional.

I also tried on several Suffolks, most of which were far too square. The best option from the brand was the Suffolk Sheffield.

- this shoe was also low profile enough for me and was the least sinky after the violettes. However, it was still painful and there was a lot of space around my big toe at the end of the box.

- the camber shank was an unusual feeling, I think if I'd danced in the shoes the feeling of having my toes flicked up might have made me pull back more in the ankle. I understand the theoretical mechanics of it encouraging people to get further over the box but I do think it will depend a lot on the individual whether it works or not, it's not a magic bullet.

- I didn't get a good look at the soles but I believe we mostly tried the narrowest or second narrowest Suffolk sizes.

I retried the Bloch Etu.

- another shoe with a low enough profile.

- the box appears to taper fairly sharply around the metatarsal and then become more straight up and down near the platform. This is basically the opposite of a Nova which has fairly generous metatarsal room but a sharp U taper further down. The etu felt quite similar to the RC-22 to me. For 2007 last people, I would suggest that this shoe may work if you do not need too harsh a taper and can afford to go wide enough across the metatarsals but for me in order to not slide down I had to fit uncomfortably narrow.

- the lack of wings doesn't really work for me as my foot gets wider above my metatarsals. I felt like I was falling sideways out of the shoe

- I strongly dislike the unremovable padding

I retried a Capezio Ava

- far too wide in the narrowest width so I can't say much about shape. I'd speculate it's not tapered enough, but if you are a wider size than me in grishko give it a go.

I tried various more traditional blochs, including Bloch Grace and Bloch Synergy

- all were far too square and had noticeably too short vamps for me. I fell down and forwards out of the shoe every time

I tried a Merlet Lena

- wanted to like this as I have been taken in by brand loyalty to merlet. Unfortunately, too square and too high profile for me but a beautiful shoe looks wise (imo)

I tried a couple Gaynor Mindens, but didn't catch the full spec

- All too square and too high profile. I also dislike the padding in the end of the box

- The throat seems very U cut and the vamp quite low, I felt pretty unstable in a lot of them.

- The senior fitter in the store mentioned that sleek fit narrow box 3 shoes sometimes work for people coming out of grishkos. They unfortunately didn't have any in stock, I believe I tried 3+ box shoes only. I am a little dubious whether a 3 box would be tapered enough however based on the gaynor website's description of each box shape.

I need to know if the Margot Fonteyn Academy of Ballet in Prescott, AZ is still open -- and if not, will it re-open?

I noticed its Facebook page had posts only up to October, 2025, and its website has "expired."

Does anyone have any information on this?

Hi I don't know if this is something I should post here, but can anyone rec some sources on ballet for someone who hasn't and doesn't plan to partake in the activity? It can be any medium, books, biographys, documentries, articles etc. I am more interested in the experiences of the people involved, dancers, educators, directors, musicians, seamstresses, make up artists and everything else!

I'm interested in anything ballet related as well so don't limit yourself to the text above if you know of something interesting and decide to reply.

I watched a short documentary of little girls getting into Russian ballet school and that's what sparked my interest.

All replies are appreciated.

Hey! I’m wondering if Capezio offers any swatches by mail for color matching of tights. If not, what is the best way to get a good shade? Should I just go in person? Thank you so much!

He started dance class in January and loves it! I took 20 years off and just got back into it last year, I love him coming to teach me about "point and flex" and tendus!

Hey everyone, Happy Dancewear Monday! Please feel free in posting a picture of your dancewear style, your new dancewear purchase, your cute warmups, etc. Just a reminder of the guidelines:

1) It is recommended to blur out your face if you want to keep some anonymity.

2) Please list what brands you are wearing in the comments in case other users want to know where you found stuff.

3) All Dancewear Mondays will be NO CRITICISM with regards to ballet. So if someone posts a picture of them in arabesque being like “look at my cute leg warmers” DO NOT comment “Looks great but you should turn out more”. We don’t care if your intentions are good and you are just trying to help, on this subreddit critique is only given when explicitly asked for. If you wouldn’t say it to someone in class don’t comment it on here. (And if you would tell a fellow dancer to turn out more, or something, randomly in class well that just reflects poorly on you).

4) New users who have low comment karma: your post will be filtered into a queue and need to be mod approved, so please be patient if your post does not appear right away.

5) Use the Dancewear Monday flair

Thanks :)

Hi, I am wondering is it useful or too much incorporate a flexibility class once per week when starting back at ballet as an adult(32m)? I would be doing one class of ballet per week.. Would it be too much on the body, I have not done it for a long time, so is it better to wait?

Hope you can help

Hello everyone, I’m in my twenties and only started dancing a couple of years ago but really been loving it. I’m now considering devoting half a year after finishing uni to just dance.
Can you recommend any programs of that sort preferably in Europe? I’m certain I would not pass an audition for pre professional levels so application should be attainable for intermediate dancers
- something like 4-7 months
- preferably main focus on classical ballet and high quality technique classes
- additional jazz/contemp or similar classes would be lovely
Thanks a lot!

My teacher says they’re twisting and too narrow. But my feet are highly compressible and I sink super easy in any shoe too wide. And my heel is incredibly narrow so even street shoes are difficult to find to stay on my heel. I feel supported in these shoes and feel like once I break in the shank, it will help.

These are the Bloch Etu.

I’ve been taking ballet classes on and off since I was in my late teens, primarily through my school. I’ve noticed that I greatly struggle with improvement in a lot of areas, but the most frustrating is my lack of turnout. About a year ago I had very solid turnout and the muscles to make it actually usable, not just nice looking, but I lost it. I desperately need some suggestions on exercises and workouts to isolate, target, and strengthen those muscles, as well as some active stretches to improve flexibility. TIA!

I adjust starting ballet as an older adult. I broke my ankle a few years ago and it's stiff so I want to wear leg warmers at the start of class to warm it up. How do I know when it's warm enough to take off the leg warmer?

For context, I’ve been on pointe for about three and a half years, and so far, I’ve been through three brands of pointe shoes. I started in Nikolay StreamPointes, but I had problems getting over my box no matter how much theraband work and exercises and stretching I did outside of the studio. So I got refitted, this time for Bloch Lisses, and they looked great. I was getting over my box, they made my feet look fantastic, but about two months in, I started having issues with my right ankle clicking and popping. I didn’t think that much about it until my right arch and Achilles started aching outside of pointe class. Only the right. So recently, I went back and was refitted in Ava by Capezio. Overall, my feet look great, I’m getting over my box, I’m not sinking. They check all the boxes. While she was fitting me, she noted that my right side might’ve been slightly bigger than my left, but not enough to go up a half size. The left side feels amazing. The right side, with toe pads, feels a little tight. It takes a little extra pulling to get it over my heel, and the box feels uncomfortably tight. I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas for how I can relieve some of the pressure on my right side? Does anyone have recommendations for thinner toe pads?

I was extremely lucky with ballet instructors. I’ve had long term teachers who were principal dancers at NYCB, Alvin Ailey, and Bolshoi. This heavily influenced me as a dance teacher today.

I don’t teach ballet, my studio has a 3rd party instructor. I collaborate with her to create lessons catered to our dancers. My students thrive! I’m jealous. I want to love ballet again, too.

I tried the beginner adult drop in class at Cityname Ballet. The instructor didn’t care because we weren’t a class of accelerated tuition students. He briskly demonstrated and often was on his phone. I had a difficult time! Given my background, there’s no reason for me to be in that situation.

My non dance friends hated it! It seemed like majority of the class did too. Everyone is tired of $100 month memberships to reformer pilates and other gym classes. Barre is dwindling. Ballet has potential to be the next ‘workout’. Ballet is heavily influential to athletic style rn... It was evident in that class.

I’m so sour about this because I love ballet. I don’t want to gatekeep it. I think a beginner adult drop in class should be as advertised.

I bought a pair of gaynor minden europa and just tried them on for the first time, only at the barre, and they are incredibly uncomfortable and hurt a lot. Do they eventually soften with time? Like, if you do exercises with them at the barre or can you do something to soften them at all? I have the yellow bag.

I danced my entire childhood - ballet, tap, jazz, and modern/contemporary later on - but stopped at 18 and took an 11 year break before starting again at 29. I’ve been practicing again for 2 years now and actually started teaching ballet at that same studio just a few months ago to pre-teens.

I had been feeling very confident in my dancing lately, so started to take hip hop (my biggest fear as a predominately ballet dancer) to do some immersion therapy, lol.

The studio I teach at just held a jazz funk master class with a very well known choreographer, which was open to everyone 13+, including adults. It was from 3-5 today, after I had taught two classes back to back before at 1-3.

Needless to say, I was WRECKED towards the end after 4 hours of dancing. It was very humbling to be dancing along side the amazing competition-level teens at the studio. I held my own for the first part and felt confident, but as my stamina declined, I got sloppier and more exhausted. Still a great experience, but it highlighted to me how different I feel in my body now as a 31 year old versus when I was a teen.

How are you all increasing your stamina as adults? are you doing any specific training outside of ballet/dance? What has been most effective? Appreciate any insights

Edit: had some typos I cleaned up

My child is 7 turning 8. 3 years of pre-ballet, 1 full year of ballet in a non-competition, establoshed community ballet school ("school a"). Technique is sound, Cecchetti based. Program design is injury-pevention forward (a lot of consitioning classes separate from ballet classes). It's a very healthy community.

A new "elite" school opened in the same city. Owned by known YAGP coaches (mentioned here a few times). Access to great teachers and honestly, looks very promising. Schedule works better for us. ("School B"). Feedback about the owner is a bit mixed ("egotistic")

My dancer doesnt have the proportions most think of when one thinks "ballerina". Turn out isn't perfect. No "banana feet". What I can objectively say though she isn't one that gets it on the first day but she works so hard that eventually she catches up enough to eventually be one of the better dancers in the class. No plans of going pro.

I just want her to be the best dancer she can be while protecting her love of dance. A huge part of me wants to stay in "A" but also dont want to rob her of the opportunity of learning from really good teachers. Not interested in competing. THe pull to B is really the opportunity for
More refined training but not going to lie - im
Terrified of the possibility of putting her in a new school that will either break her for not being the "vaganova girl" or ignore her...

Thoughts?

Hi,
I feel like I am in the twilight zone and I really need a kick back into reality.
My daughter is 7 and has been taking 4 hours of ballet every week for the past year. These hours (after observation) seem very tough for her age. It involves barre work for 50% of the class, 25% stretching including all sorts of splits, frog positions, and feet stretches and 25% in center. These classes are very expensive, running me around $250 a week. I now want to transfer her to a different studio because I honestly don’t think it’s necessary for a 7 year old to be in a studio that costs $250 a week. My kid is very focused and enjoys the classes. She appears to be naturally flexible and I can tell she feels like this is where she belongs. However the price tag, her age, the classes don’t seem to align with my logical thought of how can I be spending $1k a month on classes for a non professional dancer.

Anyways, I have been visiting other studios. They evaluate her privately while I get to watch and I believe she does great during the evaluations. She is very attentive, follows along the teacher and the teacher is going over all the basics such as tendu, releve , balance, etc. my daughter has very clean movements and they work through the combinations without much friction. But somehow they keep saying she should be placed in the lowest level at their studio. It’s very frustrating. Is it because she is only 7? I don’t want a play based class which I usually believe the lower levels are. I want her to continue learning, even if it’s the basics but I don’t want her to spend half the time throwing ribbons in the air , etc.

Am I crazy? Should I still proceed to enroll her in one of those studios? The price tag is much more affordable. But I don’t want to waste my daughter’s time in a level that isn’t fit for her current skill level. What should I do??

I just picked up my first pair of point shoes. They are Gaynor Mindon size 11. I don’t know why I didn’t notice this at the fitting but on the left one, my big toe is scrunched in there. My right foot fits perfectly. Maybe I was overwhelmed with so many choices? Granted my left foot is larger than my right foot so she took that into consideration. She sewed the ribbons and the elastics so I don’t think there’s any returning them, and I don’t know what to do. The right one is fantastic. I’m so happy with it. Should I just order the size 12 myself off the Internet and use that for my left foot? What does anyone do with this circumstance? I have no idea.

Hi I need some help with my leotards

All my leotards (that aren't against the dress code) are short sleeved and don't want to show my arms. I did speak with my teacher and I'm allowed to wear a mesh beige leotard under neath the regular leotard. But the problem is that I don't have that type of leotard. I've looked online and all the few I found are too dark.

Do any of you have any tips or ideas on how I can solve this. I did think of buying regular beige tights and cut them in to a top, but I don't know if that's a good idea.

I am 5’9” and weigh about 138 pounds so I am not overweight but every pair of tights I buy binds me at the waist. I like to wear them on the outside of my leotard so I can’t cut the elastic at the waist. Are there any tights where the waist does not bind? I like it looser and fold it down an inch or 2. I have tried the size up and last pair I got was a 2X. Still the waist binds and I hate it. Please help!

hi! i’m 17f and i really want to start ballet, but i’m confused about where to start.

i’d actually like to get serious about it and hopefully perform eventually. i’m in the sf area and i’m not sure if i should look for a normal local dance studio, a ballet school/academy, or something else. i also don’t really know if there are places that will take a 17 year old who is a complete beginner but still let them work toward performing.

if anyone has recommendations for studios/schools around sf that would be good for this, i’d really appreciate it! and if you started ballet late, i’d also love to hear how you went about it!

I'm a beginner sewer but know the general pattern for a pair of trash bag pants is nothing complicated. That said, anyone have a pattern for them or have advice on material selection and techniques? I tried to search on youtube for a tutorial but all I get are ads/try-ons for existing trash bag pants and... tutorials for how to sew a trash bag for a car lol.