why does the pope wear red shoes?
Why does the pope wear red shoes? The ballet roughly follows the Hans Christian Andersen story it is based on. A young woman sees in the window of a shop a pair of red shoes, which are offered to her by the demonic shoemaker. She puts them on and begins to dance with her boyfriend. They go to a carnival, where she seemingly forgets about him as she dances with every man she comes across. Her boyfriend is carried away and nothing is left of him but his image on a piece of cellophane, which she tramples.
She attempts to return home to her mother, but the red shoes, controlled by the shoemaker, keep her dancing. Finally she falls into the netherworld of the demimonde, where she dances with a piece of newspaper which turns briefly into her boyfriend. She is beset by grotesque creatures, including the shoemaker, who converge upon her in a manner reminiscent of The Rite of Spring, but who abruptly disappear, leaving her alone. No matter where she flees, the shoes refuse to stop dancing.
Near death from exhaustion, clothed in rags, she finds herself in front of the church where a funeral is in progress. Her boyfriend, now a priest, offers to help her. She motions to him to take the shoes off, and as he does so, she dies. He carries her into the church, and the shoemaker retrieves the shoes, to be offered to his next victim.
