The shoe was worn by Moira Shearer as Cinderella on the first night of Frederick Ashton's "Cinderella" with the Sadler's Wells (now Royal) Ballet. The production was significant in being the first full evening ballet ever created by an English choreographer for a British ballet company. The role was created for Margot Fonteyn, but injury prevented her from dancing and Shearer danced the first night.
The soles of ballet shoes were often scored, either by the manufacturer or the dancers, to give improved grip on stage.
The shoe came to the Museum as part of the Cyril Beaumont Bequest.

Historical significance: An example of an English mid-20th century ballet shoe. Ballet shoes made in different countries are indicative of the different needs of the dancers and the choreography of the time.
The ballet shoe is the most personal of dance aretfacts, as each dancer is responsible for darning and stitching on the ribbons to suit her own personal preferences and each dancer 'wears' out the shoe in a different way, according to her physique and the role. The dancer darning shoes is a potent image in 20th century dance iconography, a symbol of at once her drugery and humility.
A shoe worn by a great dancer in a particular role on a certain night (such as a premiere) and signed, dated, and dedicated to the recepient, implying that the recepient was with the dancer at the time, attains almost iconic significance for balletomanes.