Dh does not have the money to be tearing his shoes up like that😭 dancers who are contracted with the company get their shoes provided to them free of cost (to my knowledge) where as Dh does mostly freelance so the cost of shoes is out of pocket for him which means he really needs to make them last because a new pair is about $150 USD and if you’re dancing almost daily like dh does those do not last long 😔 as a ballerina myself the most ill do is lightly break in my box and shank manually, letting my foot work the rest out because theyre superrrr expensive

pros often do this because they need their shoes perfect for every rehearsal and performance !! Ive even seen people have different pairs of varying degrees of ‘deadness’ for certain pieces