Elevating Pacific Northwest Ballet
Pointe Shoe Fund
“Pointe shoes literally elevate me off the ground and add possibility. I can levitate.”
Unique to ballet, pointe shoes are one of the most iconic tools of the trade. And for good reason! Dancing “en pointe” opens a vast range of artistry and technical prowess for artists that dance in them. Nearly as ephemeral as a performance of Swan Lake, one pair of handmade custom pointe shoes may only last as long as a single performance.
“I don’t know where PNB would be without the pointe shoe. In a sense, everything balances on the pointe shoe and if we didn’t have them we wouldn’t have the rep that we have, we wouldn’t have the careers that we have. They’re absolutely central and centering to every dancer’s life, and part of all our lives.”
This season, PNB’s dancers will rehearse and perform in over 2,000 pairs of custom-fit, handcrafted pointe shoes. At $120 a pair, with each dancer averaging 80 pairs per season, our pointe shoe budget adds up quickly. But the artistry is worth the expense! From Odile’s 32 fouettés, to the corps de ballet in Emergence, the Snow Scene in The Nutcracker, and everything in between, pointe shoes deliver confidence, security, and balance to the dancers who wear them as well as to PNB as a whole.
Join us by making a special gift this season to the Pointe Shoe Fund. Your tax-deductible donation will truly keep us on our toes.
A special campaign calls for special recognition. Your gift at the following levels awards you the following benefits:
$120 | Personalized thank you card from a PNB dancer
$1,800 | Commemorative poster featuring PNB’s dancers en pointe
$5,000 | Your very own pair of signed pointe shoes from a PNB dancer
$10,000 | Name placard reserving your place at the barre in PNB’s rehearsal studio
$25,000 | Name placard on a PNB dancer’s pointe shoe locker (limited opportunities available)
$50,000 | Priceless Swan Lake backstage viewing opportunity (limited opportunities available)
“Sometimes when you find that perfect balance point, it feels like you’re flying.”
Photos © Angela Sterling