Sunday, August 18, 2013

The Giant Ballet Slippers of Saratoga Springs, NY


Dance shoes invade horse town.

Last weekend, I joined in my family's annual tradition of visiting Saratoga Springs, NY. The small town is usually associated with horse racing.


And there off! The beginning of a race at Saratoga Race Course.

In 2002, the town added Fiberglass horses throughout, according to Saratoga.com. But the town is also home to the National Museum of Dance; so this year they added 24 giant ballet slippers.


A fiber glass horse outside the gate to Saratoga Race Course.

It's an interesting choice figuring the town is also celebrating 150 years of the race track. 


A floor plaque celebrating 150 years of racing. Along with my cute gold sandals.

Most displays of large fiberglass items throughout a town are usually animals, such as NYC's cow parade, and Catskill, NY's cats. Thus, I was so excited to see shoes!

Given it was dark and they were pretty spread out, I only saw four. They were very well done and showed all the things shoes could represent. Each one is 5 ft tall!

Here they are:

Believe in Your Dreams by Jenny McShan



All that Glitters by Thomas Dragonette

Marry Me by B.A. Feldman


 Ballet on Broadway by Catherine Wagner Minnery

The ballet shoes are part of the Museum of Dance's En Pointe exhibit, which shows the history, traditions, and realities of ballet and point shoes, according to Saratoga.com

The Museum of Dance has a full map and proposal sketches.


What do you think of the shoes? Have you ever visited Saratoga or seen giant shoes like these?

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2 comments:

  1. Thanks for adding my shoe to your blog. I'm glad that you liked it. I also have a second one at SPAC.

    Jenny McShan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for reading and I wish I was able to see your other shoe!

    ReplyDelete