"The New York City Ballet is always about the realm of possibilities, the realm of what the human body can do, what the human spirit can do. And it's about listening, it's about listening to remarkable music and how we respond to that." John Guare
Capezio pointe shoes were first made in New York In the late 1880s by Salvatore Capezio from his workshop near the Metropolitan Opera House. Although he didn't start out making ballet shoes, he quickly discovered that he had a talent for it and it wasn't long before Capezio's name was synonymous with very finest pointe shoes available anywhere. Glowing recommendations from prominent dancers only added to his reputation and demand for his shoes grew.
Capezio was soon making pointe shoes for ballet dancers from across the globe. World renouned dancers of the time, including Anna Pavlova, insisted on dancing in Capezios. Pavlova took to strengthening her pointe shoes with an additional piece of hard leather on the sole to increase support as her feet were very arched. She also preferred the box of the shoe to be flattened, unlike the far more pointed shoes that were typical of the era. Many of her peers looked on this as a form of cheating, as it made it far easier to stand on pointe with the flattened box. However, demand for harder shanks and wider platforms meant that this type of construction eventually came to form the basis of the modern pointe shoe and is a feature of Capezio pointe shoes to this day.
Capezio pointe and ballet shoes are still revered by dancers around the world, due in no small part to the dedication and determination of the Capezio family to produce the very best in dance footwear.
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