Sophie Boardman

Gaynor Minden opened its doors in New York City in 1993, having outgrown its first home in John and Eliza Minden’s small Manhattan apartment. We had one part-time employee and one product: the patented pointe shoe that Eliza Minden had developed over the preceding eight years — the first successful modernization of ballet’s iconic footwear. Today Gaynor Minden is a global brand, available at hundreds of dance-specialty stores nation-wide as well as through numerous overseas distributors. While still very much a family business, we have offices on three continents and at last count we ship to 85 countries and over 200 professional companies. Gaynor Mindens are used at almost every major ballet company in the world including American Ballet Theatre, England’s Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, The Bolshoi Ballet, The Mariinsky Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, The Dutch National Ballet, The San Francisco, Houston, and Boston Ballets… to name just a few. Dancers are artists who deserve no less than the very best that human intelligence and imagination can deliver. We believe that to best serve dancers, it is essential to recognize that they are athletes as well as artists, and that the dancer’s body is her instrument. Gaynor Minden dedicates itself to creating and producing products that respect the instrument, benefit the artist, and enhance the art. We help dancers thrive.