Mayer / Dance Spirit, Tiny Fox Lab

New York City Ballet has a shoe budget of $780,000: the dancers go through 500 to 800 pairs of pointe shoes performing The Nutcracker over 6 weeks, and use up even more pairs in 2 weeks performing Swan Lake. – Tiny Fox Lab

The thing people don’t realize is pointe shoes are like 1 or 2 time use only. You can find pairs that’ll last you up to 2 weeks maybe but they’re basically disposable and pretty freaking expensive (shitty brands are like $50 a pair at the minimum). Professional dancers might go through 3 pairs per show. It’s not like *some other sports where you can spend $200 on shoes that’ll last you through the season.

Preview photo credit: Mayer / Dance Spirit
Source: https://www.dancespirit.com/the-secrets-of-new-york-city-ballets-pointe-shoe-room-2543661527.html