I have worn Bloch ballet shoes for a couple decades now, but the Zenith style missed the mark completely got me. Read on to hear why... The "Pump" style was my previous go-to and fit well, but in traditional, non-stretch canvas, it always took a couple classes to break them in and my big toe would eventually break through and leave a hole. Leather had better stretch, but you can't put in the washing machine, and what pro dancers where leather ballet shoes to class anyway? So I recently decided to try shoes with stretch canvas instead of plain old canvas. I ordered the Performa and the Zenith. Much to my surprise, the Performa felt amazing, but the Zenith was drastically worse. Both have pre-sewn straps, which I had mixed feelings about - the traditional dancer in me appreciates dancers having to show the dedication to sew on their own straps, and I used to sew mine in a loop so that I would wrap the elastic loop under my foot to hug my arch. When I teach, I tell my students to sew the elastic just next to the edge of the seam in the middle of the shoe; however, the seam on the Zenith is cut on the diagonal and all out of whack - wrong placement on your foot, and so therefore, where they sewed the straps is entirely wrong, as well, placed too far forward on the foot. Additionally, the leather pads on the bottom of the Zenith shoe are smaller than the Performa and are also placed incorrectly. The heal pad falls not underneath the heal, but under the arch, and the shoe also sticks out funny there when you lift your foot. This happens even when the shoestrings are pulled tight. It is important to note that shoe size was not the issue, as the back of the shoe came up high on the back of my heal, and I ordered a size 3.0 B in both the Zenith and the Performa (same size I've always ordered for the Pump, too). Lastly, (this may be important to some and not to others), the Perform lacks shoestrings but the Zenith still has them. The traditional dancer in me used to like having shoestrings to tie tight and tuck in, but after trying the Performa, I'm now a convert. Given that the stretch canvas is more revealing of the foot underneath than traditional canvas, you would see the shoestrings more under the stretch fabric, and the lack of shoestrings in the Performa makes for a cleaner line without sacrificing elasticity and fit. With all of this said, I realize that everyone's feet are each built so differently with different needs, so if you are going to buy these or any other pair of dance shoes, I would recommend buying multiple styles to compare and see what works best for your feet.
