Ambassadors

Pointe Shoe Summit Ambassadors

Erin Madsen - Canada

ARAD, RAD RTS, L3 PBT, PCT, Juon Pointe Pre-Pointe/Pointe Readiness Assessor

I am so excited to be an ambassador for the Pointe Shoe Summit! My journey with Esther Juon and Juon Pointe has been so amazing. The best thing we can do as teachers of dance, is to never stop learning and always look for evidence-based training to offer our students. This program has changed many aspects of my teaching. I am so honoured to be one of only a few Assessors in Canada. This knowledge influences how I teach my students from the very beginning. I am constantly working to improve their strength, alignment and technique through safe practice. Utilizing this information in my classes gives my students the best information and training I can.

I believe that through changing how we evaluate pointe readiness, how we prepare the dancers and how we work with other supports like the pointe shoe fitters, the osteopaths, physical therapists and medical experts, will ultimately bring safer practices for pointe work.

Thank you to Esther Juon and the whole team at the Pointe Shoe Summit for all you are doing to bring dance training and pointe training forward!

Sincerely, Erin Madsen.

Josef Brown - Australia

I’ve been professionally involved in dance for almost 40 years. I’m a former Soloist with The Australian Ballet, lead with Sydney Dance Company, Independent dance, and in Musical Theatre – both Nationally and Internationally – an actor and producer, and more recently as a teacher, adjudicator, writer, and Managing Director of the health and wellness platform The Library Aesthetic dance media.

I’m thrilled and honoured to be involved and supporting Esther Juon and the incredible team behind the Pointe Shoe Summit.

The Pointe Shoe Summit is a first-of-its-kind International event that brings together some of the world’s best to inform and inspire teachers, pointe fitters, and dancers ensuring our industry is better prepared to meet the technical and choreographic challenges of today and tomorrow.

The 2026 Pointe Shoe Summit is being held in Singapore in August, at Singapore Ballet and Sonata Dancewear and I look forward to meeting you all there!

Susie Butler - United States

Susie trained in ballet pre-professionally as a teenager and returned to the studio as an adult seven years after having two hip surgeries in her mid-twenties. Since coming back, she has documented her adult ballet journey, including her return-to-pointe progress through her social media platform, SusieTheBallerina on Instagram and YouTube. Her presence in the adult ballet community led to an ambassadorship with On Pointe Dancewear, which connected her with the Pointe Shoe Summit team. She served as photographer and videographer for the inaugural 2025 event, where she met Esther Juon. After her own return-to-pointe journey took another frustrating turn, she began working with Esther in her mentoring program toward a safer and more sustainable path back to pointe work. She is now honored to serve as an ambassador for the Pointe Shoe Summit and is passionate about promoting pointe readiness, injury prevention, and safer training practices within the ballet community.

Best, Susie

Sydney Rideout - United States

Hi I’m Sydney an (almost) 20-year-old queer disabled recreational dancer from Redmond, Washington! I’m currently attending Central Washington University, studying Child Development: Child Life Specialization. I have loved dancing and performing since I was little, having been inspired by my Aunt Virginia and countless Barbie movies. I have multiple dynamic disabilities including Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) which have given me a unique perspective and experience with dance, as I learn more about my body and how to accommodate it. Within the dance world (and beyond) I am passionate about advocating for others, particularly regarding Mental Health, Disability, and LGBTQIA+ experiences.

My sophomore year of high school my disabilities got to a point that I genuinely didn’t think I’d ever be able to dance again. But I was incredibly lucky to have a dance teacher actually happened to have multiple of the same disabilities I do. Getting to talk with her, and learn how to adapt and modify dance for my body, gave me my world back. That’s one of the things that immediately stood out to me about the core ideas of the Pointe Shoe Summit: safety and artistry, focused on what is best for the individual dancer.

Re-Entering the dance world I have a newfound level of understanding about what it means to work with my body, instead of against it. Having these conversations between medical professionals, dancers, dance teachers, pointe shoe fitters, and everyone else creates a space where people are given the tools and encouraged to understand what their body is doing, why it’s doing that, And frame their goals around what is safe, sustainable, and obtainable for their body.

I’m incredibly thankful for the work of The Pointe Shoe Summit, and so excited to keep learning and growing along with them!

Fun fact: I am a huge Disney fan and beyond excited to be able to participate in the Disney College Program at Walt Disney World, starting in August!

–Sydney Rideout–

Laura Burity - Brazil

Brazilian, founder of Nas Pontas and passionate about ballet, education, and science. Professional multi-brand fitter, pointe shoe researcher, Physiotherapy undergraduate student, postgraduate in Classical Ballet Teaching, and Master’s student in Health Sciences. Author of “Um caminho através do fitting”. My work connects anatomy, biomechanics, and dance, promoting a safer and evidence-based approach to pointe shoe fitting and dancer care.