Tania Kopytko

These ballet pumps, or ballet flat shoes, for a young child, were made in Palmerston North by Pellow, one of the few, or perhaps the only ballet dance shoe making company in New Zealand. Now most dance shoe brands are international and the shoes are imported.

The Pellow company has an interesting history of boot repairs and boot making in Palmerston North, which led on to making dance shoes. It began with Albert Pellow (c. 1871–1946) who was a boot repairer at the family-owned workshop in Pitt Street. His son, also Albert Pellow (c. 1895–1969), started making dance shoes in about 1930. In turn, his son James Albert Pellow (1925–2006), took over the firm in 1951, which was still in Pitt Street at number 28. The business had various numbers over time – 10, 16 and 28 Pitt Street, presumably as the street grew in size and was renumbered. At some stage the business was sold to Ted Anderson and then in 1980 he sold it to Scott Robinson, who made shoes at 23 Alfred Street.¹ The Manawatu Evening Standard took a photograph of Scott Robinson in his workshop in March 1980, standing at the special soft leather sewing machine.

The last owner and dance shoe maker, from 1988, was John Fabian. Te Manawa recently acquired some materials, relating to the Pellow business, from the John Fabian estate after he passed away in 2024. That business material complements these shoes as it includes correspondence from people across New Zealand who ordered dance shoes for their children. Orders also came from dance teachers for their own shoes. The order book includes life size outlines of the dancer client’s foot with specific crucial measurements such as the length and width in specific places on the foot. This technique is still used today when purchasing accurately fitting imported dance shoes from dance shops.

The Pellow made dance shoes were donated to Te Manawa Museum by Ainsley Gardner (née Darby). In 1961, as a three year old, Ainsley learned dance from the Gwen Gibbs Broadway School of Dance in Broadway Avenue, along from the Regent Theatre. The Broadway School of Dance which began in 1929 became one of the most successful dance schools in Palmerston North and trained significant Palmerston North dance teachers, such as Michelle Robinson and Maureen Ax. They have in their turn trained other dance teachers, some of whom carry on that tradition of dance teaching in Palmerston North today. Ainsley’s family shifted to Wellington where she continued her dance training. She went on to study at the National Ballet School (now New Zealand School of Dance) in Wellington and then appeared as a dancer in various operas and musicals. She says:

The shoes were kept by my mother as they were made for me by Mr Pellow when I was 3, my first pair. So very special to her.²

The Pellow business made a variety of soft dance shoes such as ballet pumps as they were originally called, soft highland dance shoes and shoes for gymnasts. Later, as styles changed, they made jazz shoes in a variety of colours.

Palmerston North dance teacher Michelle Robinson, who trained with Miss Gibbs, remembers being taken to the Pitt Street workshop to be measured for her shoes.

After the meeting with Miss Gibbs, to receive instructions on the black practice dress, we were directed to the maker of the ballet shoes. We were to go to Mr. Pellow in Pitt St … We walked down the sloping street to this little shop where my foot was drawn around on paper. A tall man about 30ish, quietly spoken and very unhurried like all good artisans.³

Footnotes

1. Collection record, 2023/51/1, Te Manawa Museums Trust. ↩︎
2. Ainsley Gardner, email correspondence, 21 September 2025. ↩︎
3. Michelle Robinson, conversation with Tania Kopytko, 2025. ↩︎

Bibliography

Revfeim, Turid, New Zealand School of Dance, 50 Years, 1967–2017, New Zealand School of Dance, Wellington, 2017.