A ballet shoe, or ballet slipper, is a lightweight shoe designed specifically for ballet dancing. It may be made from soft leather, canvas, or satin, and has flexible, thin soles. Traditionally, women wear pink shoes and men wear white or black shoes. Tan colored slippers—which are unobtrusive and thus give the appearance of dancing barefoot—are worn in modern ballets and sometimes modern dancing by both men and women.
Most ballet dancers wear soft ballet slippers for the main part of the ballet class. More advanced female dancers may change into pointe shoes for centre work and performance.
Ballet shoes must fit very closely to the foot, for safety and to retain maximum flexibility.
Ballet shoes traditionally have a leather sole which does not reach all the way to the edges of the shoe. A modern development is the split sole, which provides greater flexibility and emphasises the shape of the foot when pointed. They are usually made from soft leather, canvas or satin. Leather shoes are long-lasting. Canvas shoes are less expensive but wear faster than average leather ballet shoes. Satin shoes are worn only for performance as they wear out very quickly.
A previous adaptation of Ballet Shoes was produced in serial
format by the BBC in 1975 and directed by Timothy Combe.
A young orphan, Sylvia Brown, and her nurse Nana come to live at her great-uncle Matthew's house in London. He is a paleontologist and is reluctant to take her in, but relents when he learns that he is her only living relative. Matthew is away a lot on travels collecting fossils, but he sends Sylvia letters and presents and she learns to love him.
It is 1919. Sylvia is now grown up. Matthew brings her back an orphaned baby girl, who has been rescued from a shipwreck. He names her Pauline Fossil. Sylvia and Nana reluctantly take her in. Two years later, in 1921, Matthew brings back another orphan, a Russian baby girl called Petrova. In 1923, Matthew sends a third baby, Posy, with ballet shoes that her mother owned and necklaces for the three girls. He also left some money in the bank for Sylvia, enough to last five years. That is the last the family hears of him.