no-shank pointe shoes

[Guest Medora]

Last summer, I took the shanks out of an old pair of pointe shoes and have been wearing them during my technique classes to strengthen my feet. The only problem is, wearing these shoes makes it much harder to balance, turn, and do petite allegro. I am still working hard on cleaning up these areas, so should I not wear the shoes until my technique is cleaner, or wear them anyway and learn to improve my technique while wearing these shoes that are harder to dance in?

[Mel Johnson]

I'd say split the difference! Wear technique shoes half the time, and the deshanked pointes the other. You'll need work on all the areas you've mentioned, plus the ability to navigate in pointe shoes, whether you're on pointe or not.