Starting your Pointe Journey

LaBrie Dance is a homey dance store located in Smithfield, RI. They carry dance shoes for ballroom, pointe, ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, and modern. LaBrie also carries dance sneakers which are ideal for hip hop and are used for many high school or college dance teams. They also carry dance leotards and accessories.

LaBrie is an awesome place to buy your first pair of pointe shoes. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful during this new experience. Pointe shoes are completely different than any other dance shoe and it's crucial for a beginner to have advice and guidence in finding the correct pair. Wearing and dancing in pointe shoes that do not fit correctly can not only be very, very painful, but very dangerous as well. A dancer could seriously hurt themselves in the wrong pair of pointe shoes.

LaBrie's website highlights some tips for pointe shoe fittings for anyone to read, not just their customers. Here are some of the tips with some of my own comments....

1 - Allow yourself plenty of time to be fitted for pointe shoes! It may take up to 90 minutes to find the pair that fits your feet best. This process also involves finding the right combination of shoe and padding.
(I know from experience that this is very true!! In my dance career I've been through at least seven pairs of pointe shoes and every time I got a new pair, it was not a speedy process. It is one hundred percent worth it, however, to be comfortable and happy with your pointe shoes)

2 - Be sure to trim your toenails before getting fitted.
(This is very important! When dancing in pointe shoes, you'll find that when your toenails are too short OR too long, it bothers your feet. It can be very painful if you forget to keep them at a comfortable length.)

3 - Avoid wearing tight and restricting clothing to the fitting. The fitter will ask you to stand in first and second position and clothing like miniskirts make this difficult.

4 - Try to have an open mind about different brand names or terminolgy. Many dancers give their opinion about pointe shoes, like Capezio is "too hard." This doesn't necessarily mean that you will experience the same feeling with that brand. All people's feet are different and pointe shoe brand names make many different types of shoes.
(Almost everyone in my pointe class had different types of pointe shoes. It depends on all different factors: the width of your feet, the length of your toes, the strength of your arch... and many more.)


I would definitely recommend LaBrie Dance to anyone looking for pointe shoes, or any dance shoes for that matter. I bought my first pair of pointe shoes there and many more pairs after. Each time I went there the staff was smiling and giving me the attention I needed. I even remember there being a friendly cat which walked around and greeted customers! I think his name was Pete... if you go to LaBrie, let me know if Pete's still there!!