hi guys today I'm going to do a video on how to prepare for your first point shoe fitting in this video I may feature some other tips that perhaps might be handy to those of us who are already on point anyway let's go with a video first of all you're going to need to find yourself a good point shoe fit son um I do my ballpoint shoe fitting in Essex and London in England and places nearby if for instance you live somewhere where there aren't really any dance shops nearby then you'll need to do some research you can do that quite easily by going online and finding you know recommendations of good dance shops that needs you I recommend going to a variety of dance shops and fits in one day if you can reason being you'll get to try a lot of different brands and shoes which is really vital for a good first fitting you may eat for example find a shoe that you like but it's still life while trying on all the others just to see what works and what doesn't because you never know you might find one even better prior to go into your fitting because it's quite an exciting time and you might feel a bit overwhelmed make sure that you've liked you know eating a good meal and drank plenty you also need to make sure that your toenails are nice and short not too short so you don't know if you saw not too long because that would be agony so make sure you cut them at least a week before I would suggest that way that's how I always have like time to get nice and ready little thing because if your toes I like cut just a few days before they can still be quite sore like on top men near the skin so you want to make sure you do it at least a week before really what you wear to your fatigue is also very important if you wear baggy trousers they're going to be no good because the fit is not going to be able to see your alignment it's very key to the fitter to be able to see the dancers alignment so like straight knees how her hips are so make sure you wear something like you know a shortish kind of skirt or dress combined with your tights or socks or if you're going to wear with your shoes or even say some leggings because they're tight enough that we can see the alignment and preferably if you're going to wear trousers or Logan's make sure again they are tight-fitting but don't wear like a baggy talk with them you want to make sure you were a close kind of fitting top or leotard that way the fitter can see your hips too which is very important I would also suggest thinking about what you're going to wear in your pointe shoes are you gonna wear standard ouch pouches are you gonna wear the pro style are you gonna wear jell-o's are you gonna just wear lambs well there are so many options for padding in your pointe shoes and it's something that you'll need to consider before going there ideally so do speak to your teacher about what you know your dance school advises because some dances are quite strict about what they can and can't wear in their pointe shoes if you've got a free rein on what you can wear in your shoes then it's able to find a dance a dance most shops re that stocks a variety of padding if they just do ouch pouches it's okay to wear though it's totally fine but it's nice if you've got that variation there so you can try shoes on with a variety of different styles of putting that way you can find one that's really suited to you and remember that when you're fitted with your shoe and you find your first pair of shoes whatever padding that you've been fitted in wearing the shoes during the fitting itself is what you will need to wear when you go to class if you switch padding or socks or tights whatever it will affect the way the shoe fits due to the width for example if you went from wearing a standard ouch pouch to something thicker then it's likely that you'll go up a width in the pointe shoe if you wore a thicker arch pouch and then went down to say the pro pad or something smaller then it's likely all need to go down a width in the shoe it obviously want to make sure you've got enough money with you so whoever's buying your shoes will need to be informed of the cost first point shoes I got a cost quite a bit of money mainly due to the fact you'll be buying everything in one go so you'll be getting your pointe shoes whatever padding you're going to be wearing if you're going to need spacers or gel toe caps or anything like that plus you're going to need to factor in the cost of ribbons and a lot six and maybe suede caps for the tips or you know darling Freud if you're going to die on the pointe shoes there are lots of little bits like that they're going to factor into the cast you'll also want to make sure that you buy yourself a mesh point shoe bag so you can dry your shoes correctly without them getting all mushy and gross do not put them in the plastic bag they come in it will kill your shoes a lot faster you may find that during your first point you sitting you won't find a shoe for you don't get disheartened I know it's really like annoying when you go for a fitting you get your first shoes and they haven't got something that suits there's no point just settling for anything because if you do you're just going to end up with injuries or a shoe that it's just complete waste of money it's well worth waiting out finding another store or you know going for another 15 somewhere else or maybe it's a case of they need to order a certain shoe in a few yeah well you might even need a custom order shoe so do that in mind you may not get your first pair of pointe shoes doing your first fitting streets way another thing I've found is with certain shops they do like a quick sell and they aren't very dedicate to finding you the correct shoe they just want your money and they're not really bothered about the dancer personally I'm not like that at all I don't force us out I make sure that I'm going to get the dance of the shoe that suits our best whatever it takes you know money is not a factor for me I'm not there to make the money I'm there to help the dancer now don't get me wrong there are plenty of fitters out there who are passionate and will get you the right shoe but make sure that you know even though they know that you're new to the point that you're not going to be walked over so do try on as many variations as you like don't be afraid to ask them what sizes and whips they're putting you in and it's also very important to think about a shank shrimp and some schools prefer to have beginners in a stronger shank for the support some dance schools prefer to see a dancer in a softer shank so she can like get gained more shrimp in her feet personally I feel that you should just fit the dancer accordingly if if a dancer has a medium arch she's gonna need a medium shank she has a stronger arch stronger foot she's gonna need another shank you know if dance is having trouble getting on the box it's usually due to the case that she's a beginner hasn't the strength yet needs a softer shank maybe a shorter fan no there's all these kind of variations that you need to think about if you feel it something's not quite right don't be afraid to say to them you know that she really doesn't feel good to you make sure you try on a variety but did Barry minds that going on point is not going to be pain-free it's not meant to be agony but at the same time you are going to feel that pressure the the ideals show you're going to feel a nice kind of copying sensation around your foot so it's supporting you here you don't want to felt like you're sinking if you sink straight down into the box and you feel really bad like a big toe pain that she was no good for you it's most likely too wide or too square in the Box you need to feel supported around here and it needs to hug your foot nice and tight it's not designed to feel like a slipper you need to fill that support straightaway because remember she's there breaking overtime so you've got to imagine you want a nice tight fit now because as soon as the shoe breaks down you're going to lose that support around the side of the foot you're also going to want to make sure that you're getting the correct length you cannot grow into pointe shoes so if you're a younger dancer and your parent wants to buy you a shoe that's bigger because they think you're going to grow into it that's a no-no pointe shoes cannot be fit like that they're not like street shoes you have to be fit with the correct size whilst you're there and you know you will grow and your feet will change so do better in mind you will need to go for regular fittings if you're still growing then its case of maybe a fitting every six months to a year depending how fast you're growing and how quickly your feet are changing do you remember that you can reuse your ribbons and elastics I recommend buying the blockbuster rip or other such ribbons where they have the elastic piece for the Achilles tendon that way you're not going to put additional pressure on the Achilles and it will you know it helps younger dancers as well when they're tying their shoes not to go too tightly with the ribbons also with the elastics again they are reusable so that's a way of cutting costs I also have a helpful guide on my website www.marriageguy.com some handy tips and tricks for dancers who are new to point which is really handy and I reinforced a thing I thought about is when you get your pointe shoes bring them home don't set reference all the are sticks don't do anything to them don't break them in if you're going to wear them make sure you wear them on carpet or a towel or something cleaned so they don't get marked because the important thing is here you're going to need to take them to your teacher and you're gonna need to wear them in front of her and see if she feels you have the right shoe for you this is really important so many dances end up with the wrong shoe shops and then it's too late because I've sewn the ribbons on and you can take the shoes back most dance shops and fitters will take the shoes back and give you an exchange if you've done nothing to them and they're in nude condition really do remember this I think that's everything covered now for your first fitting if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the client box below or email me directly also please do check out my website www.moocchile.com