REACT – time for change – a pointe shoe concept

What it does

Pointe shoes - a hidden health risk. REACT is a pointe shoe concept that brings health innovation in this traditional sector. The shoe reacts to sensory and physical experiences. A product that responds to the body and intuitively communicates with it.

Your inspiration

Ballet - a tradition that hardly accepts freedom - I made this experience on my own. I’ve been dancing ballet for 14 years. Dancers have always suffered from injury to their feet. The health risk is enormous. The shoe is worn out by a professional dancer in only one day - it is a very expensive and inefficient affair. The needs of the dancers are highly individual and can not be fulfilled by an standard model. Therefore specialisation merged with innovation should urgently take part in this sector - like it does in all the other sports today.

How it works

The shoe includes 3 innovations 1. Neurological Metabolism - A tape provides a faster channeling of the lymph, so the reaction time of the muscle over the nervous system is accelerated. The shoe responds to the sensory and physical experiences. It responds to the body and intuitively communicates with it. The pores of the tape fabric are filled with silicone - it grips to the skin - length/crosswide arch TAPE: Prevents the foot from bending (supination trauma) - seine TAPE: lifts the foot arch - prevents Hallux - shinbone TAPE: additional stabilization in stretching 2. The toes are moulded in silicone to make a closely fitted “toe box”. Thus the pressure is evenly distributed to all the toes. 3. The incisions in the sole prevent overstraining during the dance because the sole structure interconnects and blocks during bending. In the other direction, it opens and allows flexibility for several ballet moves.

Design process

During the project I dealt with solutions relating to traditional cultural, ergonomic, health and psychological aspects. It was a great challenge to develop a design that visually complements the foot aesthetically. For this pointe shoe concept I have created samples out of different materials. I did a lot of research and experiments to figure out what would be sustainable in terms of materials and health. I have tested the structure of the tape and examined the health aspects. To get a feeling for the right tape pattern, i have tried out a lot of possibilities and developed a working pattern in conjunction with Kai Schabel. He is an osteopath and teacher of dance medicine at the John Cranko School, a ballet academy of the State Theater Stuttgart.

How it is different

The human foot has 70,000 nerve endings, which provide the impulses for the entire exercise apparatus. Even by changing one criterion, there can be a change in the whole system. To achieve an innovation in the traditional segment the aesthetics of the ballet dance must be preserved by the optical extension of the leg and the beauty of the movement. Today most of the commercially available pointe shoes are based on elaborate traditional design stipulated hundret years ago. Where innovation can be found, an optical reform should be visible. The shoe "react” demonstrates no hidden health risks anymore - a honest and transparent design that only emerges from its function and shows the foot of the dancer from an aesthetic point of view. With the tape technology, the innovative sole and the new toe box prevents injuries and sustainably strengthens the right muscles. In addition the shoe also has a significantly longer life cycle due to the materials.

Future plans

Kai Schabel is an osteopath and teacher of dance medicine at the John Cranko School, the ballet academy of the State Theater Stuttgart. This project is supported by him. He tested the structure of the tape and examined the health aspects. We have tried out a lot of possibilities and developed a working pattern that is the function-oriented base for the final design. We would love to develop prototypes and do tests to figure out how we can optimise the concept to reach a big change for ballet dancers health issues. The goal would be making this kind of innovation available for every ballet dancer.

Awards