Back to School - Autumn is here!

 

Schools in the performance / arts communities are reopening in Malta and this is such a relief. Although children have to wear masks, which can be a bit difficult when the activity involves strenuous exercise, it is always better than not being able to continue with tuition at all.

At The Ballet Shop, we have stocked up for all forms of dancewear for different forms of dance, but remember that if you have a uniform requirement for a particular school, you need to be specific about what it is you need.  The colour and material of the leotard is important, for example. If you are in Malta, we are also happy to have you over for a fitting, especially since pointe shoes require proper fitting, for example.

Ballet shoes, tights and socks, hair nets, bunholders - these are universal. A pink bunholder is the same in any school as is a pink wrap-over cardigan (ok you might be asked to choose between fleece and normal knitted cardigan); hairbands are the same colour as the leotards (usually) and tights, socks and shoes are invariably pink.

Head over to our shop now and see if there's anything that works for you!

Sansha Chicago now on sale!

Our Sansha Chicago Unisex jazz pants are on sale!

We have a lot of these black jazz pants on sale and cannot wait to get them over to you! We want to clear our stocks for even more new exciting items.  These are a durable pair of pants - you'll want more than one for your dance wardrobe! You can use them for all forms of movement - be it dance, drama, aerobis, walking - or even just hanging out! The quality of the material means you can do floor-work without the fear of wearing a hole in them.

Remember, we post free to Malta and have very reasonable rates worldwide. We accept Paypal, the safest way to pay!

Sansha Tivoli Jazz shoes are now available online!

We are delighted that we have finally uploaded the first adult jazz shoes - Sansha's wonderful Tivoli jazz shoes.  We have both the leather and the canvas variation.

This is a very comfortable lace-up jazz shoe with split soles, and a leather patch to protect the pleats at the bottom. Slight low heel gives comfort and turning flexibility. It is also suitable for modern dance classes.

We stock the Medium width, but we can order Narrow and Wide for you.  Please contact us.

We stock these in black - other colours may be ordered - subject to availability.  Again it is best to contact us.

Note that Sansha sizes work as follows:

Size 1 = European size 31

Size 2 = European size 32 and so on.

You can check your size by contacting us or reading our page (FAQ) regarding sizes.

http://www.the-ballet-shop.com

Pointe Til You Drop: Pointe Shoes: How to Sew

We are always looking for really good instructions on how to sew your pointe shoes.  This is a really good article by a dance lover - have a coffee and read ..... then get ready to try it out!

Note, however, that this method sews elastics on the outside: this is ok for professionals to do when you use pointes for a very short period and are using them only for class. Students who will use these in exams and shows (and whose pointe shoes will last well longer than a professional's) are generally asked to sew these on the inside for a neater, well-groomed look.  If you choose to sew them on the inside, especially for exams and performances, make sure that your needle only takes the inner lining and not the outer satin.

Pointe Til You Drop: Pointe Shoes: How to Sew: First, have a cup of coffee and relax. Lay out all the stuff you need: ribbons, elastic, scissors, thread, needle(s). I like to use Bun...

Pointe Til You Drop: Hiatus

Not everyone can afford to take regular dance classes... some of us are students or just ordinary people with bills that cannot cope with the growing fees for classes and dancewear.  Here's one article you will love

Pointe Til You Drop: Hiatus: It's been three weeks since my last ballet class. In the past nine years, three weeks is the longest I've gone without dance. Now...

The Size Dilemma!

I think this is one of our more important posts for you who purchase items online!

Have a look at our very brief article, The Size Dilemma, and look at how you should be calculating your size!

Remember size is indeed very important when it comes to dancewear and dance shoes, as it can cause injury or lead to mistakes not being corrected! Injuries do heal but they sometimes remain a weakness - don't risk!



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New Website launched!

An astrologer has recently told us that, to paraphrase, the reason things endure is that they are still relevant. Or perhaps resilient. Or both.  And we have in fact enduring relevance - we are still here today, fifteen years later!

To celebrate, we have launched our new face - a brand new website!   To start, we are featuring a number of discounts, so as to let you take the advantage of our celebratory mood!

Our shop section brings you the best of the best, while our blog section will pretty much be repeated here. Do feel free to browse around and ask questions - but we do have a FAQ section in case you have questions that many people tend to ask!  We also accept comments on our blog  - both here and on the actual Shop Blog!

Finally you can contact us in order to answer any specific query you have which might not be on the generic website! Keep in touch! 

A whole new category - for our twelfth anniversary!

We wish to open the month of May by introducing the new category - our Bargain Corner The Ballet Shop!  We bring here some of the best bargains we have to offer, simply to bring you the best available products at excellent discounts. These may be end-of-line or discontinued products, or products priced simply to sell so that we can afford to have new items on our shelves.

For the month of May we are also celebrating 12 years since the opening of The Ballet Shop online - and we are therefore offering a large number of items at a discount! Click on the images below to find out more!

Classical Dancewear

http://www.the-ballet-shop.com/dance-wear/legs.html

Fashion Leotards The Ballet Shop

Velvet Leotard The Ballet Shop

Back to School

I know this is a little late in coming. The scholastic year has started again, and with it, the mad rush to get your kids organised for their dance class, be it ballet, jazz, tap or any other discipline.

It is always exciting to see little children in their new outfits, especially when they are first starting off. The new leotard and skirt, new ballet shoes... It is important that the children remain well groomed throughout the year, and not only during the first lessons. A large portion of the marks in a dance exam or assessment goes to grooming, and grooming and discipline are an important part of dance. Also, if the child is well-groomed and looks smart, she is more likely to put an effort into her dancing.

If you have not yet got your child's dancewear, take a look at our ebay store, or at our online ballet shop. We have a vast range of sizes of full sole children's ballet shoes - these are perhaps the most important item to be monitored. An ill fitting shoe could mean damage to your child's feet - which is even worse than bad grooming!

We also have some ballroom shoes on sale at the moment. We do not have all the sizes but will be willing to try to help if we can procure your size.

Happy shopping and good luck to everyone for the new scholastic year.

And we're back with more stocks!

The Ballet Shop on ebay has listed some new items, for all those of you that need stocking up!

First of all we have the lovely camisole leotards for sale. The current item on auction is a black size S (small), but of course, you all know that we are willing to change size and, if available, colour for you. We generally stock black, burgundy and navy blue, but if you're lucky you might find a green one among items available!

We also have our Dynamo sneakers, which are very versatile, with their split textisoles and low ankle, making them suitable for more than just street dance.

The usual keyrings and gift items are also available in our ebay shop. Remember that we give postage discounts for multiple orders, so get cracking and grab a bargain !

Storing dancewear in humid conditions

If you happen to buy plenty of dancewear, it pays to take into consideration the climate you live in. Dancewear, in particular pointe shoes, is very sensitive to humidity and can easily be attacked by mould and damp. This is damaging, although most items can be cleaned gently. In the case of leather dance shoes, like ballet and tap, flamenco or jazz shoes, you can air these properly and then brush off any hint of mould. Suede dance shoes can be sprayed with a cleansing spray after you have dried them out.

Pointe shoes are a little different. Because they are made of layers of cardboard and a special resin, humidity will soften them beyond repair. Pointe shoes are made by a special baking process which hardens the resin and the glue to make them what they are. Once they are hit by humidity, the softening process is irreversible.

Always make sure to store your pointe shoes in well-aired places. Avoid plastic bags: Sansha, for example, sell cute mesh bags in which to store your pointe shoes, and you should leave the pointe shoes (whether in the mesh bag or not) hanging on a coat hook, door handle or other well-ventilated place, especially immediately after use.

We hope that this little hint will prove useful to you. More can be found on our website, featured in the logo above.

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to send them to us by means of a comment and we will be happy to publish them or expand on them!

Pointe Shoes - Sansha Legende (model 909)

We are wondering whether anyone has tried these lovely pointe shoes. The fit is lovely, and the external split sole gives great flexibility without compromising the strength of the shoe. It is designed for professional use, which means that it is sturdy.

We'd welcome any comments that anyone may have on this model