This is a common question with a bit of a tricky
answer. It's one of those situations where there is a denotation
(official definition) and a connotation (what people mean when they say it),
and they are not the same.
The term demi-pointe literally means half pointe (or point). The demi-pointe position in ballet involves a dancer standing on the ball of the foot with the heel raised, the conventional "tip toe" position people take when they are trying to walk quietly. It logically follows that the balletic position of pointe involves a dancer standing all the way up on the toes with the ball of the foot, arch, and heel all off the ground and curving in a half-moon shape.
Therefore, we define pointe shoes as shoes in which a dancer can achieve a pointe position. We define demi-pointe shoes as shoes in which a dancer can achieve a demi-pointe position.
No matter how you slice it, a dancer cannot (safely) rise to full pointe in demi-pointe shoes. However, a demi-pointe position can be achieved in pretty much any footwear, including pointe shoes.
When people talk about demi-pointe shoes, they are most often referring to soft, shankless pointe shoes that dancers use to train before they are ready for pointework. These shoes, also called pre-pointe shoes, are much stiffer and more confining than regular flat ballet shoes, but they lack the support of a hard insole (shank) and toe box, so dancers cannot rise to full pointe in them.
Occasionally people use the term demi-pointe shoes to refer to regular canvas or leather flat ballet slippers. Sansha's ubiquitous SA1 canvas ballet shoes have "demi-pointe" written on their packaging, and I've seen more than one dancer confused by this nomenclature. It's true that flat ballet slippers are demi-pointe shoes in that they cannot be used to rise onto pointe, but they are quite different from what most people mean when they talk about demi-pointe shoes.
The term demi-pointe literally means half pointe (or point). The demi-pointe position in ballet involves a dancer standing on the ball of the foot with the heel raised, the conventional "tip toe" position people take when they are trying to walk quietly. It logically follows that the balletic position of pointe involves a dancer standing all the way up on the toes with the ball of the foot, arch, and heel all off the ground and curving in a half-moon shape.
Therefore, we define pointe shoes as shoes in which a dancer can achieve a pointe position. We define demi-pointe shoes as shoes in which a dancer can achieve a demi-pointe position.
No matter how you slice it, a dancer cannot (safely) rise to full pointe in demi-pointe shoes. However, a demi-pointe position can be achieved in pretty much any footwear, including pointe shoes.
When people talk about demi-pointe shoes, they are most often referring to soft, shankless pointe shoes that dancers use to train before they are ready for pointework. These shoes, also called pre-pointe shoes, are much stiffer and more confining than regular flat ballet shoes, but they lack the support of a hard insole (shank) and toe box, so dancers cannot rise to full pointe in them.
Occasionally people use the term demi-pointe shoes to refer to regular canvas or leather flat ballet slippers. Sansha's ubiquitous SA1 canvas ballet shoes have "demi-pointe" written on their packaging, and I've seen more than one dancer confused by this nomenclature. It's true that flat ballet slippers are demi-pointe shoes in that they cannot be used to rise onto pointe, but they are quite different from what most people mean when they talk about demi-pointe shoes.
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