Ballet at Bethesda and a New Pair of Shoes

As promised in yesterday’s post about Joyce and Trent’s visit to New York with their family: TODAY’S POST — pictures of Ella dancing at Bethesda Terrace.

Lots more pictures below.

When Joyce and Trent planned their trip, they included in the plan a visit to the New York City Grishko Store to buy new pointe shoes for their daughter, Ella. When I heard that plan, I knew I wanted to try to take pictures of Ella dancing.

Not only was I able to get shots of her dancing, I also got to tag along when Ella was being fitted for new ballet shoes at the Grishko store. The day we were there, the hallway outside the store was being painted, and so the prints that normally hang on the outside wall were lined up along the store walls. The staff kept apologizing for the “mess,” but I thought it looked awesome!

Being fitted for pointe shoes by a professional is important, I learned. Ella tried on several different styles and fits before the perfect pair was found.

I can’t help wondering if Trent knows any more about this process than I do. I’m sure he’s bought many pairs of ballet slippers and pointe shoes over the course of Ella’s 9 years of dancing.

I almost wished I had been recording the audio of the fitting. The master fitter, Judy Weiss, was helpful, knowledgeable and gracious. It was interesting to hear the discussion of how to break the shoes in, how to care for them, how they should fit, and what shoes are used for certain kinds of dancing.

Ella’s little sister, Keenan, is a soccer player. I was hoping to get pictures of her playing soccer in Central Park but by the time we would have done those shots, she was exhausted from all the walking in the city. I guess I’ll just have to come to SC to watch you play, Keenan!

There were a couple of stunning costumes in the store. Wow!

I love this shot of Ella’s ballet feet with her sneaker a blur in the foreground.

What a beautiful smile.

I was so thankful to the store’s staff for letting me document Ella’s fitting.

Those experienced hands were demonstrating how to work the laces but it all went way over my head.

To enter the store, ring the outside bell then walk up the stairs.

The next day, Ella put her old pointe shoes on and showed me some ballet moves at Bethesda Terrace.

You can see why she needed that trip to Grishko!

I love this shot.

We were drawing a crowd, though I didn’t let any of the onlookers get into my shots. I’m hoping Ella wasn’t too freaked out by all the people snapping her picture. Ella, you were beautiful!

Love this one!

As we were shooting these images, a saxophone player was serenading us with a jazzy version of “Pop Goes the Weasel.”

There he is.

This one is my favorite. Thank you, Ella! One of these days, I hope to photograph you dancing in a production. I can’t wait to see you dance for real! Hugs to you and Keenan. You both were so much fun to work with!