Google “ballet shoe” and a couple dozen very similar options pop up. They all look essentially the same— pink, beige, canvas, leather, etc.— tradition, right? A few of these pink slippers on your screen might even be making statements like, “support,” and “shock absorption.” While the thin bit of foam in the heel area that some of these shoe’s offer may be a bit more comfortable than a shoe without any at all, it’s hardly true “shock absorption.”
Now back to your google search. Did ORZA pop up? We sure hope so! The Orza Pro One is THE ONLY ballet shoe available today that is engineered with a fully integrated, patented SYSTEM of shock absorption, and we believe EVERY dancer should have at least one pair in their dance bag.
Throughout his 20 plus years career as a professional dancer, founder Seth Orza always kind of wondered "how is there not a ballet shoe out there that has shock-absorption built into the design? How come none of these big ballet brands are making a shoe that supports my needs as an athlete?!" The evolution of mainstream footwear in the past one hundred years has been monumental. Equipment as common as the sneaker has seen unapparelled innovation. NIKE, anyone? New materials, tools and machinery abound. So why has there been ZERO innovation for the most fundamental and widely used footwear worn by dancers across the globe EVERY SINGLE DAY?
Seth wore drugstore bought heel pads inside his own ballet shoes to get through daily classes, rehearsals, and performances as an elite athlete. When the company that made the pads discontinued the product, Seth panicked. He even went so far as to call the company and offer to buy out the remainder of their stock. As his physical therapist at Pacific Northwest Ballet listened to his concern over this “doomsday” life event, he jokingly said to Seth "why don't you just make one?" And the rest is, as they say, history.
The technology inside OP1 is TRUE innovation. Enough innovation to have been granted a patent from the Unite States Patent Office. No small feat!
If you are already wearing Orza, you KNOW the difference. You feel it every time you put on your shoes and take your first plié of the day. If you haven’t—don’t wait.
You deserve the best. And we’ve got you covered.