Artists

"This is a game changer. It has changed my dancing in a way I never thought possible."

PerfectFit helped give Sara the control she'd been seeking.

“Your shoe can be made to your foot, but when you're dancing a lot and your foot sweats, the shoe starts to expand. So whatever is in your shoe has to accommodate for that. And paper towels just wear down, creating more space in your shoe.

“My foot had nothing to grab in the shoe and was just slipping everywhere. I felt like I couldn't point my feet anymore. I was actually thinking of changing my shoes.

“But when I tried PerfectFit, my feet didn't move in the insert. It made my shoe be a glove on my foot, which is exactly what I needed for all of these years. So now even if my shoe expands a little bit, the insert is still grabbing onto the shoe on the inside and my feet are still gripping the insert.

“I never wear toe tape anymore. I used to get major blisters when I used paper towels. I would tape every single toe and leave it on between class and rehearsals because I didn’t want to waste time taping and re-taping. People would make so much fun of me for it! But now, I just sew my shoes and put them on. It takes me two seconds, and before it took 15-20 minutes.

“I think my favorite thing about the inserts is that I'm never worried about my footwork anymore or how my shoes are going to break in, or whether I’m going to get a blister. The inserts stay the same from beginning to end, and even though the shoe is breaking down around you, you always know that you're going to have a stable place to dance in. And I think that's really changed how I get through a show or how I get through a ballet.”

- Sara Mearns

@saramearns

Principal Dancer at New York City Ballet

"I can actually solve a problem with my pointe shoe by the way I customize the putty."

PerfectFit helped Megan adapt her shoe in the specific ways she needed.

“One of the biggest problems that I had with my pointe shoes was the tip was sickling. I would have choreographers or ballet masters come backstage and say, you know, your feet are just sickling a little bit. And I knew my foot wasn’t sickling, but I have a tailor's bunion on the outside of my pinky toe, which basically sends every pointe shoe off into a sickle at the end.”

“When I first tried PerfectFit three years ago, I remember being a little bit skeptical. It takes you a little while to figure out how these inserts can help you because you're not used to having a customized toe pad. I had tried lambswool toe pads, ouch pouches, and then wore paper towels for most of my professional career."

“I had never really thought about it before… what are the problems that I'm having with my shoes, and how could I address them with this putty? How can I get my balance to be a certain way in the shoe? How can I keep my shoe from breaking in a certain way? How can I keep my shoe from twisting in a certain way? It became a very strategic thing about how I could customize this insert to help my dancing."

“For me, I’ve found I like a lot of putty underneath my toes because then as soon as I move my toes in the shoe, the shoe starts to point. It gives me more control over my shoe. I also use it to fill that negative space where my toes go in a diagonal so that my shoes don’t twist, and I always have full contact with the floor. For something like 32 fouettés in Swan Lake, or when you're trying to balance in Sleeping Beauty in the Rose Adagio, you're just more stable because you have all of that contact where you didn't have it before."

“You have to play around, you have to experiment. What if I put it here, how does that make my shoe feel? There's a solution for everybody and there's a way that I think it can help every foot.”

- Megan Fairchild

@mfairchild17

Principal Dancer at New York City Ballet

"I can actually solve a problem with my pointe shoe by the way I customize the putty."

PerfectFit helped Megan adapt her shoe in the specific ways she needed.

“One of the biggest problems that I had with my pointe shoes was the tip was sickling. I would have choreographers or ballet masters come backstage and say, you know, your feet are just sickling a little bit. And I knew my foot wasn’t sickling, but I have a tailor's bunion on the outside of my pinky toe, which basically sends every pointe shoe off into a sickle at the end.”

“When I first tried PerfectFit three years ago, I remember being a little bit skeptical. It takes you a little while to figure out how these inserts can help you because you're not used to having a customized toe pad. I had tried lambswool toe pads, ouch pouches, and then wore paper towels for most of my professional career."

“I had never really thought about it before… what are the problems that I'm having with my shoes, and how could I address them with this putty? How can I get my balance to be a certain way in the shoe? How can I keep my shoe from breaking in a certain way? How can I keep my shoe from twisting in a certain way? It became a very strategic thing about how I could customize this insert to help my dancing."

“For me, I’ve found I like a lot of putty underneath my toes because then as soon as I move my toes in the shoe, the shoe starts to point. It gives me more control over my shoe. I also use it to fill that negative space where my toes go in a diagonal so that my shoes don’t twist, and I always have full contact with the floor. For something like 32 fouettés in Swan Lake, or when you're trying to balance in Sleeping Beauty in the Rose Adagio, you're just more stable because you have all of that contact where you didn't have it before."

“You have to play around, you have to experiment. What if I put it here, how does that make my shoe feel? There's a solution for everybody and there's a way that I think it can help every foot.”

- Megan Fairchild

@mfairchild17

Principal Dancer at New York City Ballet

"I want to dance all day in the studio, and it feels like fun again."

PerfectFit helped restore the joy of dancing for Lauren by removing the pain.

“Growing up, I always struggled because I wanted to be on pointe, but I would have so much pain. I'd get ingrown toenails and bruised toenails all the time. Once I became a professional, my toenail would fall off every couple of months, definitely once a season. I would sprain my ankles a lot because I was avoiding pain in my big toe in different ways."

“I've tried a lot of things in the past… lamb's wool, tape with Bunheads toe pads, even a gel toe pad once that was just like a thick barrier between the floor. At SAB I used paper towels because that was what everybody did, but those would disintegrate in two seconds because my feet sweat a lot. I even tried the most boring toe pad that you can buy at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I thought that would just be the best I could do, and then I found PerfectFit."

“I haven’t stopped wearing them since! I wore them in class, I wore them on stage. Everything about my life has changed… I haven't had a bruised toenail since. And no ingrown toenails, no corns, nothing. Or ankle sprains."

“My shoes lasted up to two weeks longer or sometimes more. I could turn again, and I felt like I wasn't avoiding my balance the way that I was before. I felt like I could dance longer so I could put in more hours. I didn't dread a 6:00 to 7:00 PM rehearsal the way that I used to."

“If you're going to spend all day on your feet, you have to protect them.”

- Lauren Lovette

@laurenlovette

Principal Dancer at New York City Ballet

Read about the experiences of more extraordinary artists and athletes below.

Devon
Teuscher

Principal, ABT

Sasha
De Sola

Principal, SFB

Beckanne
Sisk

Principal, Ballet West

Holly
Dorger

Principal, Royal Danish Ballet

Georgina
Pazcoguin

Soloist, NYCB

Indiana
Woodward

Soloist, NYCB

Katie
Williams

Soloist, ABT

Alex
Basmagy-Diaz

Artist, ABT

Anabel
Katnelson

Artist, ABT

Betsy
McBride

Artist, ABT

Erica
Lall

Artist, ABT

Gilbert
Bolden III

Artist, NYCB

Isabella
LaFreniere

Artist, NYCB

Isadora
Loyola

Artist, ABT

Sasonah
Huttenbach

Artist, NYCB

Wanyue
Qiao

Artist, ABT

Want to give PerfectFit a try?

PerfectFit offers customized workshops and personlized fittings on-site at professional companies. If you are a professional dancer or company interested in working with PerfectFit, please contact us. Even if we can't arrange a workshop on site, we are happy to extend a professional courtesy discount to company members. We are proud to support talented and hardworking artists and athletes who share our love for ballet!

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