Inventors and Inspiration
Charles Didelot and Marie Taglioni

Inventors

Charles Didelot

Marie Taglioni

Biographies

Charles Didelot lived from 1761-1837.  Charles was born into a french family of dancers and like his father, took the profession of dance.  He studied dance in Paris, France and after he quit dancing from a serious leg injury, he began to teach dance.  He created a flying machine by attaching dancers to thin ropes which allowed them to stand on their toes by taking the weight off.

Marie Taglioni was the first woman who appeared on pointe in her La Sylphide performance.  Her father, Filippo Taglioni, is given much credit for her training.  He taught her to stand on her toes for short periods of time but it was awfully painful.  He choreographed La Sylphide specifically for Marie and she performed the dance on pointe.  No one knows for sure who built the first pair of pointe shoes, but it could have been Marie or her father.

Causes

Charles Didelot wanted to give dancers  the capability of performing higher jumps such as leaps and wanted dancers to arise onto the tips of their toes.

For Marie, balancing on her toes was too painful and it could only be done for short amounts of time.  Like Didelot's flying machine, the Taglionis needed an invention to keep dancers on pointe for extended time.

http://britanhica.com/ebchecked/topic/162422/charles-didelot
www.aha.ru/~vladmo/d_txt6.html
www.adultsinballet.org/tag/charles-didelot/
tarotcanada/queenswordsmarietaglioni.html
www.dancer.com/hist.php