The Ballet Shop - an island-country operation


Who is The Ballet Shop ? We run an internet operation, which is hosted in the Isle of Man. All our backdoor work happens in IoM - software and shop management in general. Here we manage queries and other issues relating to the operation of our website.

The actual shop operations happen in another little island, Malta. Here we have our stocks, and our physical shop, which stocks exactly the same items as the website. Naturally, we are not limited to sales in Malta - we ship to anywhere in the world. The Isle of Man is of course one of the countries we ship to and, what's more, charges are same as for the UK and the rest of the European Union. We are one of the few stores that does ship to IoM at no extra charge - and why should we, when the postage rates are the same?

Let's take a look at the items we stock. We have six main categories of dancewear: Accessories, Bags, Dancewear, Hosiery, Gifts and Shoes. Each is divided into a number of subcategories, to make it easier to find what you need.

The Accessories section covers hair items, like hairbands and bunholders, feet (such as ribbons and toe pads), flamenco items such as castanettes, and the odd items of make-up such as lipsticks, eyeliners and hand cream.

The bags section contains a few bags which we thought are most popular. Of course we can source other items, if you have anything in particular in mind - just drop us an email.

The Dancewear section contains an interesting selection of items that are well priced. They are also good quality and durable. Sansha's dance collection ranges from jazz pants, to leotards, a few short tops and others. We even have some knits for those who love adding a flair to their basic dancewear requirements. We find the two-tone leotards particularly attractive, while we think that the turtleneck leotards are also very elegant.

The Hosiery collection contains a variety of socks and tights that are commonly used in dance - fish net tights, convertible ballet tights, normal ballet tights, ballet socks... We have just provided a few links in this article but our range is wider.

We have succeeded in creating a very wide Gifts section. There are a variety of mini pointe shoe keyrings from two main brands: Sansha and So Danca. These come in a variety of colours and are worth collecting, besides making excellent gift ideas. We also have Sansha's mini ballerina keyring collection, and So Danca's other collection of keyrings such as tap shoe keyrings and jazz shoe keyrings. We also have some ballet-related silver plated jewellery, all of Sansha's original design.

Our Shoes category is probably the most popular. This is because we have done our best to keep our prices low for these items. You will find very competitive rates for our sneakers and our pointe shoes. Our other dance shoes follow suit, and are well priced and of high durable quality: we stock various other types of dance shoes. While we advertise the standard colours (pink for ballet, black for jazz), we do sometimes have alternative colours and you can always request a particular item to be sourced for you when making your order.

Our checkout system is secure. You provide your Credit Card details through a secure server, and this is only seen by ourselves. We do not debit your card until we are ready to ship. Our bank has an internationally good reputation and its payment processing systems are secure and reliable.

Finally, we generally post by registered mail. We only charge a nominal fee for postage - rates in reality are much higher. We try to ship as quickly as possible. Please view our terms and conditions of service, which we have fashioned into a FAQ section to make it easier for you to understand.

If you have queries on sizing policies, we have sizing charts for dancewear and for shoes. Of course, if you are still in doubt, please do not hesitate to send an email. We also have a blog, where we often review our stocks and are happy to receive any comments you may have!

We look forward to receiving more business from the Isle of Man - we do believe that like countries do well from trading with each other!

New Gift Merchandise at The Ballet Shop

We have introduced a number of gifts at The Ballet Shop - new sets of keyrings, new colours of keyrings, postcards and magnets. Some of these still have to be uploaded to our site, so please be patient.

You may read more about our new collections at http://blog.the-ballet-shop.com

Ballet shop's very own blog

We have recently opened our own independent blog. This has direct links to the things we are blogging on. However we will sometimes include information on our products here.

So take note of the blog address, blog.the-ballet-shop.com, and keep an eye on what's new and exciting at our store !!

Buying Ballet Shoes

Things to remember when fitting new soft ballet and pointe shoes

It is imperative that toe-nails are checked and properly cut before buying the shoes. This is extremely important for a good fit. Nails are there to protect the flesh and the bones and should reach the tip of the toes only. The corners of the nails should be slightly rounded to prevent ingrown toe nails. It is HIGHLY INADVISABLE to buy soft and pointe shoes larger than the actual fit to allow space for eventual growth. Shoes must fit snugly. If there is extra space and shoes move about in any way, they will cause callouses, bruises to joints and facilitate accidents to ankles and toe-joints. Toes must not be able to move around in your shoes, but neither should they be scrunched up. This is especially important for pointe shoes.

Preparing the shoe

Darning You will need: a large darning needle, curved would be best, carpet thread or stranded cotton in the same colour as shoes, whenever possible. Note that this is not frequently used any more as you can buy soft leather tips of 'darned' tips and simply glue them on to your pointe shoes. Darning is a traditional practice, and ballerinas used to darn their shoes before using them. Place shoes on feet and slightly soil the satin by turning the fully pointed foot to and fro. This indicates how far the darning should reach. Start as near as possible to the end of the leather sole and stitch a series of bars of stranded thread to and fro across the pleats adjacent to the sole until they reach as far as indicated by the soiling. Do make sure that the satin is well caught with the needle. This is easier with a curved needle. The first line should pick up the satin with every stitch. Start near the sole and blanket stitch over each bar, linking rows by pushing the needle through the loops of the row below. Continue until all bars are covered (see drawings 1 and 2). If the satin at the sides of the toe and under the big and little toe-joints shows signs of wear, these spots should also be darned. Sewing on ribbons You will need: 2 to 2½ metres of ribbon from 1.25cm to 1.87cm wide. The amount depends on the side of the ankle. If you wish, a short length of tape slightly narrower than the ribbon may be attached to strengthen the ribbon from where it is sewn to the shoe and just past the first crossing. Sew on with light herring bone stitches to the ribbon before both are sewn on the shoe together. Fold back seam straight forwards towards insole (see drawing 3). Ribbons must be sewn at the angle of the fold at either side. They must tilt slightly forwards so that they lie flat over instep. The ribbon (and tape if used) must be sewn on with the raw edge well turned-in on the inside of shoe. It must be hemmed on securely. No knot should be used as this can bruise the flesh. Do not stitch the ribbon to the upper binding and drawstring as the drawstring may need to be tightened to mould the shoe to the foot (see drawing 4). Tying on the shoe The shoe should be tied kneeling with the foot flat to the floor and leg, with knee bent, leaning slightly backwards. It must never be tied on with toe on pointe, nor with leg straight as this allows no flexibility of ankle and prevents a full movement of the foot in demi- and full plies. Bring one ribbon forward, cross it and allow it to lie flat on the centre front of foot (roughly at level of ankle bones). Take ribbon round to back of ankle and again forwards so that it lies flat on centre front of leg and a little higher than first cross. Take to side of leg and hold firmly. Bring second ribbon forwards, crossing over other so that it lies flat at centre front of leg. Take second ribbon right round ankle and knot with other at the small hollow between ankle-bone and Achilles tendon. They must be knotted twice and the ends pushed down this slight hollow and underneath the ribbons so that no ends are visible. If the knot is tied on the outside of the leg, there is less danger of it being rubbed undone against the opposite leg. Never tie the knot over the Achilles tendon which is aggravated by pressure and thus frequently becomes inflamed. Working the shoe in Always work the shoes in before wearing in class and particularly on the stage. Soften the block slightly by moulding them in the palm of the hand Ease the insole by lightly pressing it to and fro at instep level between the palms of the hands Always wear shoes before class, preferably the night before, and work them in by walking around, rising from quarter, to demi- and three-quarter pointes several times which moulds the shoes to the foot and finally occasionally rise to full pointe on one and then the other shoe, and turn the toe lightly to and fro.

Warning

If a shoe needs elastic round the ankle or up the back of the heel, it means that it is a badly fitting shoe. Elastic restricts the Achilles tendon during bending and constrains the blood flow through the important veins of the foot and leg. For free movement of the toes, do not use foam rubber toe pads. Never use cotton wool to soften the inside of the shoes as this is non-absorbent. Animal wool may be used but as little as possible and only to prevent blisters when the shoes are new. Article featured on www.the-ballet-shop.com

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!

Ballet Shop goes to Ebay

For those of you who've checked us out, we have tried an experiment with Ebay http://stores.ebay.co.uk/balletshop

We hope that this will have the effect of kickstarting our e-sales by auctioning some of our favourite items and getting a response.

We find that the keyrings are the most popular but we find some interesting queries too. That way we also get reviews on our merchandise. We also use ebay for our massive discounts, but the classical and regular items will always be listed on our site, at www.the-ballet-shop.com.

More merchandise write-ups will follow soon. Check out the site!

www.the-ballet-shop.com

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