the.com/pointe
the art of balancing your entire body on a toenail and smiling
box trickThe shoe's tip is layered fabric and glue, not wood
short lifePros can destroy a pair in one performance
slow startDancers train years before earning their first pair
silk debutMarie Taglioni pioneered it onstage in 1832
toe loadTips bear pressure exceeding a dancer's full weight