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Fumie was excited today to get a new pair of pointe shoes (ballet “toe shoes”), having ordered a special custom pair from Tokyo ballet shop Avignon, with the part directly above the toes (the “vamp”) shorter than normal.
She's been looking for a pair of pointe shoes that really suits her feet for years, and recently found a pair from Avignon that showed promise, but the vamp was a bit too tall for her preference. Avignon is one of the few places in Japan that will build to order, so with great hope she asked for a pair with the vamp shortened by a centimeter.
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 900 — image data
Old and New
where “old” means two weeks
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800 — image data
Pre and Post
new one in the foreground before Fumie applies a leather platform pad
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800 — image data
Heel
It's supposed to say “Avignon”
( but I have a hard time seeing anything but “Prиgnon” )
It's quite a bit of work to prepare a new pair for actual use, such as sewing on extra ribbons exactly where her feet need them, and gluing the front platform pad. Then breaking them in. She has a couple of lessons tomorrow, and is giddy at the prospect to try them.
Joint Effort
combining our two passions
I enjoyed your post, “Joint Effort.”
Wow! Thanks for sharing all that beauty and passion with us this morning 🙂 (or night!)
New pointe shoes are lovely to look at. The lower vamp does look good on Fumie’s feet. I wish her much joy in her dancing.
Marylis
Didn’t know what a ‘vamp’ was. I won’t pollute this post with stupid puns and homonyms. This image was helpful: http://theballetbag.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/side-small.jpg to understand it.
Great simple shots. Very feminine. Japan ‘does’ French / France almost as good as the French do. Very nice display of soft blues, flesh tones, and pinks. And the ‘R’ shot would have made a great ‘WHAT AM I?” post. What type of lighting did you use for ‘Fumie’s New Pointe’ Shot?
I hadn’t known “vamp” either, but when I looked up “pointe shoe” on Wikipedia, the diagram matched (similar to the one you cite) matched the Japanese that Fumie used, and so I learned “vamp”. Probably will never use that word again, though. The lighting consisted of putting them onto the table by the window in our living room (as seen here). However, there was no direct sun… it was either too late, or cloudy, or both, so the light was delicious. —Jeffrey
those shoes look lovely on her feet :3 I dance a lot, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pair of shoes with such a teeny vamp! I will look at the website to see if they ship to England ( I live in London ), they really look like a perfect fit 🙂 I am assuming that since this was posted nearly two weeks ago, they’re almost ready for the bin by now though 🙁