There are far fewer skating boots to choose from than pointe shoes. Which is good, and bad?Wow! Lots of ballet people here on Goldenskate - hello! I haven't tried Suffolk yet - but when I was younger, I danced on Capezio Niccolinis which were the narrowest shoe they made, and somewhat soft - which I liked because I could feel the floor (but not as soft as Freeds). Those are now discontinued of course...so I was back at square one when I went back to ballet as an adult. I was told Capezio doesn't make narrow tapered pointe shoes anymore - surely I can't be the only dancer who has narrow tapered feet??
The Russian Pointe shanks are just so dang hard. I can't bend mine over the edge of a table...I've tried to wear them a few times to sweat in them to break them in but just can't get past the really painful stiff stage....I think my feet are happier in a "softer" shoe with support in the right places. I was doing my best to make Grishko 2007s work for me, they weren't great - my feet lacked support and went numb but I tried to put in the box liners and did all kinds of stuff to just patch it through - I did my first adult performance in these after a 15 yr period - during rehearsals, I sprained my ankle twice - and a week afterwards - a bone broke off in my ankle (os trigonum) and I had to get foot surgery I tossed the 2007s after that.... I think my next fitting will be at OnStage Dancewear in NYC who has lots of different pointe brands (similar to The Pointe Shop, I guess) - for whenever my next trip out to NYC might be. The Pointe Shop might be worth a try...I've spent so much money on pointe shoes that just don't work for me so I'm a bit hesitant...
@Sibelius Your post reminded me I also had two fittings at the Gaynor Minden store in NYC to try to make those "cheater" shoes work for me - they feel so comfortable on my feet (I don't care how they look!) felt like the tennis shoe version of the pointe shoe. After about 10 minutes of glorious pain free pointe work- I get an unbearable pain in my big toe and if you do a search online, there are lots of people who have tried Gaynors and experience bruised big toenails which I feel would be my fate if I kept the shoes on any longer. I talked to the fitters at the Gaynor store to try to ask them for help in addressing it and they swore up and down they've *never* heard anyone who had that experience in Gaynors....
My pointe shoe search continues...I am hoping my skate search won't be as twisty / windy....all of your comments and feedback have helped so much!
Upthread you mentioned Harlick, yes, by all means go for a fitting, they are very nice, but it's a looooong wait. One thing that didn't work for us at Harlick was they were immediately going to put her in one of their boots. We explained that Jackson was working for her, but they dismissed that immediately and were ready for us to order. They sort of assume that everyone fits in their boots, and it's really not true. When we went to Sp-Teri (when it still was Sp-Teri) George listened and said if Jackson worked there was no need to try anything else, until she really needed a custom. I appreciated the "no pressure" consultation. And, anecdotally, she has 2 coaches, one has been in Sp-Teri boots and Gold Seal blades since she was 6, the other in Harlick and Gold Seal his entire life, so it depends on what fits!