Pratt Institute graduate Jae-Hyun An has created a prosthetic leg that allows amputees to perform ballet like never before.
Unlike regular artificial limbs, which are designed to mimic the human body, the Marie-T enables amputee ballet dancers to enhance their performance.
Made up of three components, Marie-T features a weighty foam-injected rotational moulded foot, with a stainless-steel toe and rubber grip that help provide the dancer with balance and momentum during rotations.

In mainstream ballet, dancers typically move in and out of the pointe position ? when all body weight is supported by the tips of fully extended feet within pointe shoes.
However, because of the immense strain on the foot and ankle of a performer, it is impossible for a ballet dancer to constantly perform in this position. Jae-Hyun An, who studied on the Pratt's Industrial Design programme, designed the carbon-fibre Marie-T to enable amputees to dance on pointe throughout a performance.

New York-based An said the design, which is named after 19th-century Swedish ballet dancer Marie Taglioni, could encourage amputees to develop a new choreography that has never been achieved by mainstream ballerinas.
"I wanted to explore what would happen if you could allow a person to perform on pointe 100 per cent of the time," said An, who developed Marie-T over the course of four months.
"How would ballet change" I wanted to create a tool for someone to take and let their imagination def...