The Angelo Luzio Ltd. dancewear company has a colorful history that links back to the "Old World." European immigrants into America and Canada were very often recruited to work in factories. For many, this was not the life they dreamed of and they had to hold their dreams and ambitions in check so they could support their families. But for others, the work they began in the factories directly led to them building an empire, family tradition and a legacy for their children to look up to. This is one such family's story, told by the son of Angelo Luzio himself. A shoemaker and his seamstress wife brought the knowledge of fine footwear to the world of dance shoes. Guided by their story, today's team of dance tool makers at Angelo Luzio has created more than eighty variations of innovative styles. The past and future are connected in the presence of dance. Angelo Luzio's children, a boy of three and a one year old girl, had not seen their father much. In post-war Italy, he had travelled from his native village in the south far to the north, in search of work. Many friends had moved to northern Europe for the same reason, but he dreamed instead of America and its promises. There was much debate with his wife Clelia, but Angelo convinced her that it would be only for a short time, to save enough for an apartment and some furniture. She finally agreed and the couple booked a passage to Canada. After a fifteen day journey aboard the "Conte Bianca Mano", the family landed in Halifax on December 28, 1955, only to be confronted with a 24-hour train ride to Montreal. Once there, Angelo went looking for a job the very next day. He was a fine shoemaker but it would be six months before he found work in his chosen trade. One day, a gray-haired man who ran this little factory asked him to try sewing shoes by hand. He was hired immediately. Angelo did not know he was sewing ballet shoes. His new employer was elated with his speed and workmanship. Angelo seized the opportunity and got his wife hired as a seamstress. The two could now begin the slow trek towards independence. In 1963, the gray-haired man returned to New York. A young Italian, who worked in the shipping department, took over but was mostly interested in making high fashion footwear. Angelo and Clelia continued with diligence in the dance department for the new owner. Then it was time. Angelo had promised his wife they would stay no more than ten years in America. They packed and bought economy tickets for Italy. Soon, though, the couple found that their country had changed greatly in ten years. After four unsettling months, they saw the New World as their only option, once again. They brought their thirteen year-old son and eleven year-old daughter back to Montreal, where they invested their savings and the rest of their lives into making dance shoes of distinction. After joining, years ago, their eldest is now at the helm. Today, not only does he shoe millions of dancers from all around the world but he designs, and hand cuts the special made to measure orders from the theatres, ballet houses, and the circus. Angelo Luzio now makes footwear for the Cirque du Soliel, Les Grands Ballets Canadien, the Royal Academie of Dance, Le Theatre Chreview, and he and his son now prepare to take the company to a world in which robotics will help fashion the essential tools for this most ancient of human languages: dance. Luigi Luzio, Angelo Luzio General Manager Angelo Luzio Ltd. officially opened it's doors to making ballet shoes in 1968. They undertook a licensed agreement to make a competitors's products for distribution in Canada. In 1989 Angelo Luzio decided to spread it's wings and go solo instead of continuing to make those ballet products. In the past twelve years they have expanded their complete product line from only twenty articles to around one hundred. The company makes everything from leotards and ballet shoes to Highland and ballroom shoes. As of 1994, Angelo Luzio retired and his son Luigi took over as General Manager.
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