What is your pointe shoe secret? Episode 5: Emma Mardegan

The Episode 5 of the What is your pointe shoe secret? blog series features Emma Mardegan, Coryphée of the Dutch National Ballet.

I saw Emma on stage for the first time in Giselle's pas de quatre at the Amare Theatre in Den Haag in autumn 2023. I was awed by the precision of every single step she took while keeping her upper body gracious.

In the last season, Emma debuted as Firebird, the title role of Stravinsky’s Firebird, which unfortunately I missed. However, I have seen her performances many other times. In December 2023, the dancer in the role of Raymonda's friend got injured on stage. She quickly changed costumes, stepped in for the role and started dancing as though nothing had happened. Fast forward to June this year, the most recently, I saw her in David Dawson's highly stylish and highly technical Four Seasons in the Other Dances mixed bill.

Emma is Italian from Venice. Apparently, she is not only a brilliant dancer but also a good cook! However, let's find out about her pointe shoe secret. She kindly shared lots of visuals.

1. What brand of pointe shoes do you wear?

I wear Freed of London pointe shoes

A rare look into the Dutch National Ballet's pointe shoe room

2. What model and maker?

My pointe shoes are custom made and they’re the Forteflex model and “K” maker

3. What is your size and width?

My pointe shoes are custom made and they’re the Forteflex model and “K” maker

4. Since when have you been using Freed?

I’ve been using Freeds for almost my whole career so far. I started off with Freed Studio Professional when I was about 12 years old to then switch to the Classic Pro 90 and to then finally switch to the custom made Forteflex. I switched for a few months to Bloch but it didn’t really work for me. 

5. Do you ask for any customisation at the manufacturer side?

Just the model and the type of sole inside

6. Do you do any customisation yourself?

I have a whole process to prepare my pointe shoes. I try to crush the shank to soften it a little and then I band the sole in the middle but I don’t cut it. Then I darn the end of my pointe shoes with some thick cotton thread which gives me more stability and doesn’t make me slip as much. Then I sew my ribbons that are the classic satin ones and at the end I sew two elastics across to form a “X” shape. To finish off I put some Jet Glue on the base of the pointe so it gets harder and so it lasts longer. 

7. Can you share some pictures of your pointe shoes with us?

8. Do you like soft shanks better or hard shanks better?

My pointe shoes have a harder shank I would say and I like the support they give me. 

9. New shoes or old shoes?

It depends a lot on the program we’re preparing. For me the sweet spot is when I take a whole class with my pointe shoes so I break them in and they’re just not too hard but also not too soft. 

10. What support or protection do you use, i.e. toe pads, taping, toe spacers etc? Do you

recommend any specific products? Do you use the same support for both feet or

different for each foot?

I use fabric toe pads with padding just on the top part as I like to “feel the shoes” with my toes underneath and I use toe spacers in between both my two big toes that alleviate the load on the bunions. 

11. Do you use elastics and ribbons of any specific brands?

Not sure about the brand of the ribbons but the elastics are from Wear Moi

12. Have you tried any other brands before? If so, why did you change?

I used Grishko ones when I was younger but I didn’t really like them on me and then some Blochs here and there but so far I like Freeds best on my feet. I think I used Bloch serenade strong. 

13. Do you use different shoes for different roles?

I always keep the same type of shoes, I don’t like switching around because I feel like my feet would constantly have to adjust to different shoes. 

14. How long a pair of shoes last? 

Unfortunately not that long. On average I would say that I go through 2 pairs per week but if the program is heavy and we have long days of rehearsals on pointe shoes, I use 3 pairs per week. 

15. Lastly, what is your ambition for the rest of the season and the new season?

I want to keep growing as a dancer and as an artist. I want to keep challenging myself and to improve. I have many goals and I hope I can achieve them. 

Emma as Raymonda's friend

Thank you Emma!

All images and the movie clip courtesy of Emma Mardegan.

Note: the text is unedited except I inserted dropped articles and introduced sentence cases.

Updated on 4th July 2025 to correct a verb tense and rewrite the second and third paragraphs.