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Also, when did ballerinas realize that a toe box and shank would help them stay en pointe? It obviously changed what they could do and the choreography.

"we bring back ms.homans, to answer our burning question[S]?"
a little bait and switch, false advertizing, "soundcheck" ,ya think?
as obviously,it was just about, that ONE question, about the tutu. okay...............

Thanks for taking the question! One more comment about the classical tutu: with the sky high extension of the ballerinas today, it's...well...not pretty sometimes.

Could the author describe when and why ballerinas began to go up on point?

ballet has always had trouble, gaining mainstream traction, in america for boys. lets face it,the billy elliot thing, makes for nice theater[and yes maybe britain would be a bit more receptive than us],but dance in general, can be a bugaboo, for boys in our country,let alone ballet. even the piano, is, at times, discouraged from boys,as if it were a non-masculine instrument. Q- how do other countries deal with the issue of ballets' perception as non-heterosexual?
and please, let us not be politically correct,not to pass judgement,but, one indeed, has to be blind to reality, to deny, the large numbers, of gay men in dance, accross the board. and, like it or not, people are going to form opinions around that. some opinions, well thought out. others,sadly,malicious and disparaging.