Frequently Asked Questions
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| Having the right pair of ballroom or latin dance shoes makes dancing
more comfortable and more enjoyable. The proper pair of shoes will help
with your balance, help with your turning, and will significantly reduce
your fear of slipping and falling.
If you are dancing fairly often, you should treat yourself to some good
dance shoes. Proper latin and ballroom dance shoes are lightweight,
fit closely to your foot, and have a suede sole. Suede is the perfect medium
for dancing on hardwood floors as it neither slides too much, nor sticks
too much -- it grips the floor perfectly.
Good latin and ballroom dance shoes have suede soles specifically to
give you just the right amount of slip-and-grip. They are as light as
a feather, have built-in extra cushioning, and have a steel shank that runs
from the center into the heel for fantastic support.
You want shoes that will
let you safely pivot or spin halfway around on one foot. Your shoes
should let you pivot freely (to avoid knee damage), but not let you
slip and fall. So, in general, leather-soled or suede-soled shoes are
"good", and rubber-soled sneakers, hiking boots, etc., are "not good".
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| For both women's and men's dance shoes, you have a selection of heel
heights, however the obvious advice is to get whatever you find comfortable! :-)
Men's shoes come in a 1" Standard Heel, and a 1.5" Latin Heel.
(Gentlemen, if you do not know know what a latin heel is, or if you want
one, that means you want a standard heel. :-) )
Women's shoes range from flats all the way up to a 3" High Heel.
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| Most women's ballroom dance shoe styles come with heels that narrow to a
stiletto-like point, but we have many styles with heels that are more
similar to what you'll find on regular women's "street shoes".
Many women find the full-sized heel to be more stable and
therefore more comfortable for classes. But most women also
find that ballroom shoes are made so well that even the
pointy-heel models are stable and comfortable.
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| Ladies, let's be honest with ourselves for a moment:
While learning to dance for the first time, we want
steel-reinforced closed-toe dance shoes with a built-in
early-warning system!
However, for those of us who have been known to sacrifice comfort
for fashion when buying our street shoes, we can be reassured by the
fact that men's dance shoes are just as soft and lightweight as
all those great-looking women's dance shoes you see here.
So maybe we don't need that early-warning system after all....
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| Ideally your dance shoes will be so comfortable and form-fitting that
they will fit like a second skin. You want your dance shoes to become
an extension of yourself -- a part of your body. Ideally, you won't even
be aware that you are wearing shoes!
Now, if you are prone to cold feet then by all means pull on the
winter woolies! However most people fit their shoes for wear with
nylons or dress socks.
If your shoes have room in them, you'll definitely want
a good
pair of insoles. You can probably double the number of hours
you can dance in comfort with the proper pair of insoles. The difference
is amazing. (Consider the difference between walking 2 miles to
work in dress shoes versus sneakers.)
Some women's sandal-like dance shoes might appear as though
they cannot accommodate an insole. But fear not -- our
Halter Half-Soles
are just what the doctor ordered!
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Good for beginners
In women's shoes, you face this choice as well. We strongly recommend
a strap that comes around or across the top of your foot to securely
fasten it to the body of the shoe.
Please see our
specifically selected styles
we recommend to newer dancers for stability and comfort.
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| The majority of the latin and ballroom dance shoe styles we carry
are made with the following strap styles:
Traditional Ankle Strap
This is the standard around-the-ankle shoe
strap used for most women's dress shoes and
sandals.
T-Strap
The most recognizable of the dance shoe styles,
T-Straps connect the base of the shoe to the strap,
securing your foot more evenly to the shoe while
taking some of the pressure and tightness off the ankle.
If you find you like to buckle your traditional-style
street shoes more and more tightly, to make you feel
secure, you'll love a T-Strap style!
Cross-Strap (around ankle)
This style of cross-strap anchors you firmly into your shoe
by providing twice the coverage as a traditional strap.
Cross-Strap (around arch)
Great for newer dancers, this strap style anchors your foot
to the arch of the shoe, providing an ideal amount of support
and stability.
If you are prone to "roll" your ankle in heels with a traditional
ankle strap, you'll love the security this cross-strap will provide you.
Double Cross-Strap
Combining the best of all worlds, the double-cross strap
provides FOUR anchors securing you as-if you
were wearing a lace-up style. You'll be amazed at
how this strap style makes you feel!
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With regards to latin and ballroom dance shoes:
"Suede on the bottom, nubuck on the top".
Butter soft and beautiful, nubuck is a type of leather with
a soft, velvety surface.
It is a brushed leather -- almost like suede -- without being "fuzzy".
By running your hand over it you can identify nubuck leather by the
changing of shade (similar to the appearance of a vacuumed carpet).
Nubuck has a nap of fine, velvety, short fibers, and is more
resistant to stains and wear.
Suede has a longer nap which clearly shows individual soft
and resilient fibers which are very absorbent and can be
easily damaged in normal wear (which is why we never, ever!
wear our suede-soled dance shoes out on the street!).
It is easy to get confused about whether a leather item is nubuck
or suede since both look and feel similar. Both types of leather
are sanded to produce a desireable velvetly-soft feel.
The main difference is that nubuck is sanded on the outer surface of
the leather while suede is sanded on the inner layer of the leather.
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