On July 5th 2012 a special invitation was extended to our local dance teachers to come and meet John Minden, CEO of Gaynor Minden the makers of the World’s most advanced pointe shoe. John brought along two members of his team, Jeanne Share International Sales Director from the New York office and Catherine Ladd, former Ballet Shoe Mistress at the Royal Opera House.
For Allana's pointe shoe nightmare Gaynor Minden was the happy ending
Dancer Allana had always had problems getting pointe shoes that would work with her feet, and she brought along her collection of pointe shoes, including Bloch and Freed, to show us.
Allana’s problem was that pointe shoes were failing far too quickly and, since traditional pointe shoes don’t have a long life span anyway, she was having to ration her pointe work to save her shoes – an absolute nightmare for any ballet dancer!
With Gaynor Mindens there is no such need to ration pointe work; because of its modern materials, Gaynor Mindens last much, much longer than other pointe shoes. In an independent study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine (Vol. 26, No. 4), Gaynor Mindens were compared to other popular brands and found typically to last 3 to 5 times longer than traditional paste shoes.
Not only were Jeanne and Catherine able to provide Allana with a perfect fit Gaynor Minden with a hard shank but they were also able to prescribe exercises to help control her strong arch.
Having worked with some of the greatest ballerinas from all around the World and seen first hand the poor condition feet can get in to as a consequence of the daily punishment that is pointe work Jeanne and Catherine soon got to the root of Allana’s problem. Allana’s arch was so well pronounced that the shank of any shoe that she wore was being put under a great folding force, and traditional pointe shoes were not strong enough.
Above: Allana with John Minden and her new Gaynor Mindens.
Get your first pair of Gaynor Mindens fitted properly
Allana’s story highlights the importance of getting your pointe shoes fitted by a trained fitter. To find the location of your closest Gaynor Minden fitter take a look at our blog post Where can I buy Gaynor Minden pointe shoes in the UK. Or, if you’d rather get your Gaynor Mindens fitted by us then contact our shop to make an appointment and get 10% off all your purchases.