POINTE OF VIEW

Miss Twinkletoes gazed wistfully at the trees and imagined a different existence.


"Oh, to spend my days in quiet contemplation," she sighed,

Miss Twinkletoes
aka Grishko "2007" pointe shoes
crafted by cobblers in Russia

"or to leap into Degas' world," her eyes growing wider.  In fact, she thought, any artist's world would do.

"Or even once, to tiptoe through the tulips."

Bah, foolish dreams.  Or were they?

For in truth, she was slave to an Evil Black Swan who kept close watch through the mirror.  But while outwardly bending to the Black Swan's will, she felt, her thoughts and ideas would, someday, be the key to her release.

Snapped right before dashing off to rehearsals.
By the way, it is impossible to dance
while taking a picture of yourself!

****

Alright, it's the silliest plot.

You can probably tell it's that time of year again, when my days are a flurry of ballet training and rehearsals.  The initial pointe shoe photos were taken when the satin slippers were pristine and straight out of the box from Russia.  They've been sewn up, literally bashed in, and molded to my feet by the last photo.  The slippers will break down further after a few intense uses, at which point they will, as dancers declare, be "dead".

Alas, the life of a pretty pointe shoe is brief.  On the bright side for Miss Twinkletoes, she is being saved for the final performance -- in particular, for the piece "Dying Swan".