Erin Bomboy of Dance Enthusiast reviews the latest new ballet by Julia Gleich:

A concoction of pink satin and thread, its only prosaic element a leather sole, the pointe shoe emblematizes ballet, and, in particular, Balanchine's famous dictum that “ballet is woman.” The pointe shoe acts as the intermediary between heaven and earth. Flesh-and-blood ballerinas — because it’s women who almost always wear pointe shoes — balance on its tiny tip to evoke the celestial, the divine. It appeared in the 19th century, popularized by Marie Taglioni, whose light-as-air dancing belied a grueling training regimen, and ballet never looked back.

This is where Counterpointe starts, but not at all where it will end. In the hands of seven female choreographers who've been paired with seven painters and sculptors (also women), the pointe shoe, and sometimes ballet itself, receives a fresh interpretation.

Read the full review.