I had had the vague thought the rubber/grip thing might be an issue, and the difference between going on toe and actually en pointe, yeah -- that makes a lot of sense. The parallels between climbing and ballet are really fascinating!

Vibram fivefingers sound like a terrible idea for me, anyway; while I love tabi sacks, I can't stand toe-socks. The forced separation of my smaller toes is incredibly uncomfortable (but the separation of big toe and the rest is actually really good). But I might try the experiment, if my gym will permit it, to see what it *is* like.

(The hygiene issues really do strike me as moot if people are being at all sensible -- but that's a bit of a caveat, that, so I can see why a gym owner might prefer to err on the side prevention. But my view is informed by a lifetime of running around barefoot whenever possible, and a good few years of working as a massage therapist! If you're being at all sensible about hygiene, it really shouldn't be an issue; I certainly never picked up anything from a client, and I can tell you not everyone had the cleanest of feet. *wry*)

Anyway, thank you, this was really helpful! :)