ABT dancers' shoes for sale online

[Marga]

I just noticed this:

ABT dancers' autographed shoes

You choose the dancer you want from the entire company.

[tutu]

I understand the appeal, but, honestly, $150 for a pair of "smelly old shoes"?

[Marga]

Would you rather have them undanced in? Of what value is a pristine pair of just cobbled shoes to the ballet aficionado? Give me the shoes of a danseur, dyed-through-the-leather with the insides all torn up, shoes which have leapt higher than man should be able to go without any support or impetus besides the strength of his own muscles and the passion in his own heart. I want the shoes of an Albrecht who has beaten heel to heel together in battus countless times as Myrta compels him to continue jumping until his demise. Ah, and the shoes of Odile which have whipped out 32 fouettés and skimmed the floor with Odette's bourées, of Kitri after accompanying her into the stratosphere at the height of her grand jetés, of Giselle, after their tips have been pounded into the stage with almost 3 dozen hops on pointe or, as a Wili, after they've carried the heft of a dying Count through to sunrise.

tutu, you're kidding, right?

For the bargain hunter, those $150 shoes are a third less expensive if you buy them at the theater after a live performance. And that's for a principal dancer's shoes. Catch a rising star from the corps and buy his or her shoes for a bargain basement price! Don't forget, they're autographed and their sales support the ballet.

[sealings]

i asked once over the summer why they never have veronika's shoes and they told me she rarely gives them up. i wonder if i could get them this way. i understand the appeal but i've never considered actually buying someone's old shoes... it's a little obsessive, maybe. but she's special and i love her.