CHENNAI: The New York City Ballet spends over $500,000 each year on just pointe shoes. Why, the ballet company even has its own ballet shoe supervisor, who takes complete responsibility of the dancers’ feet. The ballet situation in the city is quite the opposite, though. City-based ballet dancer Deepti has been a student of ballet for the past eight years, but had to wait till two years ago to even get her hands on a pointe shoe, let alone dance on one. She says, “I had to make a drawing of my foot and give it to a relative who was going to the US. There are no pointe shoes here and ordering them online is not possible because they are custom made. Getting the wrong fit can lead to injury.” She adds, “Buying pointe shoes abroad is also very expensive.” Ann Toner, who has been teaching Russian ballet at the Russian Cultural Centre in the city for over 30 years, validates, “There is no market for pointe shoes here because there are not enough people dancing ballet. So it doesn’t really make sense for stores to sell them.” The problem might be that the few people who do take up ballet do it for the sake of fitness or just as a hobby. “I have very few girls who take up the dance seriously and even they branch out to other styles of dance after one point to make dance a career and eventually head abroad to study further or perform,” explains Ann. “Dance as a career is not lucrative enough here.” “Ballet is not really considered a career option in Chennai,” says Deepti, with her ballet mate Ankita Duseja adding, “I’m hoping to go study in Singapore. I can then major in engineering and minor in dance, so I won’t have to stop dancing.” Ankita, who has been teaching a junior ballet class in the city in her spare time, adds, “If I end up studying here in Chennai, I don’t think I can continue dancing.” Even the few girls who do take their ballet seriously and work hard are nowhere near international standards. Ankita explains, “Ballerinas abroad start their technique work much younger than we do.” But the trend is changing, she says. “Teachers here are slowly beginning to realise we have potential and need training, so the focus on technique work and pointe is improving.” Creating an awareness so that ballet does not continue to be the “elitist dance” that it is will make more people take up the dance, according to Ann. “Here in Chennai, there are so many dance styles that ballet might be getting lost somewhere among all of it,” suggest a hopeful Ann. “But from my experience, I have seen ballet here in the city grow by leaps and bounds and there is a definite future for it.” One can only wait and hope.
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