Building Ballerina Shoes Story aired: Friday, October 01, 2004
The toe shoes that ballerinas wear are often the stuff of dreams for little girls: pink satin, with ribbons around the ankle.
They give the ballerina the look of effortless grace, but toe shoes are not easy to wear. Nor are they easy to make, as Here and Now's Lynn Menegon found out on a recent visit to London, England, where she went to a toe shoe factory and then to Covent Garden. At Covent Garden, she spoke with Leanne Benjamin, principal dancer at the Royal Ballet.