<P> The birth of the modern pointe shoe is often attributed to the early 20th - century Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova , who was one of the most famous and influential dancers of her time . Pavlova had particularly high , arched insteps , which left her vulnerable to injury when dancing en pointe . She also had slender , tapered feet , which resulted in excessive pressure on her big toes . To compensate for this , she inserted toughened leather soles into her shoes for extra support and flattened and hardened the toe area to form a box . </P>
<P> The birth of the modern pointe shoe is often attributed to the early 20th - century Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova , who was one of the most famous and influential dancers of her time . Pavlova had particularly high , arched insteps , which left her vulnerable to injury when dancing en pointe . She also had slender , tapered feet , which resulted in excessive pressure on her big toes . To compensate for this , she inserted toughened leather soles into her shoes for extra support and flattened and hardened the toe area to form a box . </P>
who invented the first pair of pointe shoes
who invented the first pair of pointe shoes
early 20th - century Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova
early 20th - century Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova