Ballet & Dance
Buy and sell ballet and dance gear in Panama.
A lot of what Panamanian dancers pass on comes out of a single night: the academy’s end-of-year show, where parents pay for a costume their daughter wears once. Tutus, stage costumes and leotards in academy colours turn up here new and pre-owned, next to half-pointe slippers a child outgrew in a few months, tap and jazz shoes, and suede-soled shoes for salsa and ballroom. Pointe shoes are the exception. They mould to one dancer’s foot, so the pairs worth buying are the ones that never left the box.
Half-pointe slippers, pointe shoes and the step between them:
a young dancer starts in half-pointe slippers, soft shoes held on with elastic, in canvas or leather. Leather lasts longer; canvas is lighter and shows the arch. A split sole bends easily, though some teachers want a full sole at the start because it makes the foot work harder. Children outgrow slippers long before they wear them out, so a lightly used pair is a sensible buy. Pointe shoes are a different object: a hardened box around the toes, a flat platform to balance on, and a shank under the arch that comes in different strengths. Bloch, Capezio, Grishko and the Brazilian label Só Dança all make them, in widths and box shapes that suit one foot and not the next. The teacher, not the shop, decides when a student is ready for her first pair.
Tap and salsa shoes, leotards and stage tutus:
tap shoes carry metal plates screwed to toe and heel, and those can be replaced, so the leather upper matters more. Salsa and ballroom shoes are soled in suede so the foot can spin on a wooden floor, and a few nights out on the pavement will ruin it. Most academies set a leotard colour or cut for each level, which makes a used leotard worth most to the next girl in the same class. A stage tutu, with stiff net standing out flat from the hips, is made for one show. A freestanding barre for home practice belongs with exercise equipment, and many dancers build strength through yoga and Pilates.
Pointe shoe prices and the pair still in its box:
a new pair of pointe shoes costs around $120 to $150 in Panama, and it lasts roughly ten to twenty hours of dancing before the shank and box give out. A pair that has been danced in has broken in at someone else’s arch, so it is worth very little to the next dancer. An unworn pair, bought in the wrong width or a model that did not suit, is the real resale, and it holds close to its new price as long as no ribbons have been sewn on. Leotards, at around $45 to $55 new, keep their value far better, because children grow out of them long before the fabric goes.
How a pointe shoe dies, and what else wears out:
the shank goes first. Hold the shoe by heel and toe and bend it: a live shank resists and springs back, a dead one folds at the arch. Squeeze the sides of the box, since sweat softens the glue that stiffens it, and a box that gives under your thumb no longer holds the toes. Scuffed satin on the platform means the pair has been worn, whatever the listing says. On half-pointe slippers, check the elastic and the sole under the ball of the foot, where it wears through. Shake a pair of tap shoes and listen for a loose plate. Salsa shoes are judged by the suede: flattened nap can be brushed back up, but a sole worn smooth and shiny needs resoling, and a heel that wobbles is a repair job.
Passing on a recital costume or an unworn pair of pointes:
list a costume in the weeks right after the year-end show, while it is clean, pressed and still the right size for a girl one level down. Give the child’s height, the academy and the piece, and photograph a tutu laid flat so the net shows whether it still stands out. For pointe shoes, put brand, model, size, width and shank strength in the title, show the platform and the sole, and say plainly whether ribbons or elastic are sewn. Pointe shoes are chosen on the dancer’s foot, not by the number printed on the sole, so whoever comes to collect a pair should bring the dancer, let her rise onto the platform with a hand on the wall, and settle the price after that.