My Ballroom Dance Shoes

The student is wasting their instructor’s skills if they do not allow the instructor to exercise their own judgment and abilities. Many students, who would not dream of telling their doctor what medicine to prescribe or their mechanic how to repair their car, will not hesitate to tell their instructor which part of their dancing most needs attention, and how they should be taught. Get the instructor’s opinion on what kind of ballroom dance shoes you need, but do not let him sell you a pair of expensive shoes when you can buy the best ballroom dances shoes at a very reasonable price. Instead, the instructor should be given rein to teach as they see fit, so long as they are working to the best of their abilities towards the student’s goals. If this path does not yield the desired results, then another instructor should be found.
Remember also that learning to dance is different from learning pure mental skills — sometimes understanding comes only after correct performance, instead of the other way around. The student should always try to allow the instructor to complete a presentation, since quite often full understanding dawns only when the presentation is complete and a “feel” for the action is obtained. If at that point the student does not understand, then they should ask for clarification. Otherwise, they should try to allow the instructor to exercise their professional skills — after all, that is what they were hired to do in the first place.

Some of the fundamental steps and theories learned in ballroom dancing classes can be used in all types of music, be it the classical waltz, rock or even disco! Just make sure the Latin ballroom dance shoes you wear are top quality. This is because of the fact that ballroom dancing always requires that the dancer moves to a normal beat pattern with a fixed tempo. The major types of music you will dance to be two: either three steps per bar or four steps per bar. In any case, you’ll realize that most songs that are optimal for dancing have such tempos, so you can use your knowledge of ballroom dancing with all other forms of music!

In the great epic movies like Gone With The Wind, even with such a powerful story you remember the great ballroom dance scene when Rhett makes a bid to dance with Scarlett. Then of course, we have movies like the Richard Gere-Jennifer Lopez starrer Shall We Dance where a simple guy learns to dance and prepares for the dancing competition.

So many movies over the years have had dancing sequences. Look at the old movies like West Side Story and the Little Colonel with Bojangles and Shirley Temple. And who can forget Dorothy dancing her way through The Wizard of Oz with her red ballroom dance shoes? Or the dances in The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins or My Fair Lady? Later, the dances grew more erotic like Flashdance and Dirty Dancing. Why today, you even have all the animated characters doing a great jig! From The Jungle Book to the Shrek series, dance has become part and parcel of most animated movies.

It’s always been great to watch ballroom dancing. The great thing about the movies is that they have preserved the different dances, ballroom dance shoes or the different ways of doing certain dancing on celluloid so people can watch and enjoy them for years to come.

For years I have been wanting to take ballroom dance lessons, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I mustered the courage to enlist in some local classes. When I attended the first class, I have to admit that I was ill prepared. I showed up in jeans and tennis shoes while the rest of the class looked like they were ready to attend a part of Gatsby’s house. Immediately after the class, I went out to look for some appropriate attire.

The primary item on my list was a set of ballroom dance shoes. I was flabbergasted at the prices of many of the premium models, but I was lucky enough to find a pair of discount ballroom dance shoes that were a fraction of the price. I also pickup up a few new pairs of slacks and dress shirts in order to look more presentable on the dance floor.

So you want to ballroom dance? You’re about to enter a world of class, tradition, and loads of fun. The good news is it’s easier than you can imagine. The bad news is you’ll still need to work. First of all, make sure you get a really good pair of ballroom dance shoes, whether you are a man or a woman, you will need them.
Ballroom dance is a somewhat artificial category including many styles of traditional partner dances from several parts of the world and different eras. The thing in common is the expectation that the dance is polite and the dancer’s dance-floor relationship somewhat formal (Ballroom dancing is never “Dirty Dancing”–even the more sensual styles such as the Tango are stylized. The sexuality of the dance exists in innuendo, not in hot and sweaty contact between the dancers).

Go out salsa dancing and ONLY do footwork. No spins, no dips, no fancy stuff.  If you can’t look good with ONLY footwork, you’ll never truly look good.  So take the challenge. If not at the clubs or at parties, at least at home when you’re practicing. Believe me you won’t regret it…
Now, this is for the guys and the ladies, you all gotta get this.  It’s about how you move your feet. Also, always make sure you  wear the correct ballroom dance shoes.  Without good quality ballroom dance shoes you will not have solid footwork, and you simply won’t be able to lead nor follow properly.
But how do you do it?  Just by practicing. Practice your Basic Step, and your Cross-Body Leads. Tie one end of a shoestring around your right ankle, then tie the other end to your left ankle. Then practice your moves with your ankles tied together but do it WITHOUT any music. Once you feel comfortable with that, make sure you start practicing proper timing with music. Because once you do that, you’ll master your foundation which is the footwork.

Make sure the shoes are elegant and simple without embellishments that can cause soreness or blisters. It helps to choose a good brand as well as most of them are made to make feet feel good. A good brand that feels good on your feet is Very Fine Dance Shoes and even thought spending a bit more on good shoes could be well worth it, you won’t have to spend more for these shoes. Ballroom dancing means clothes and shoes that not only look good but are comfortable too.

Don’t choose your ballroom dance shoes for the way they look but the way they feel. Sure, you need them to look good but they need to be comfortable to help you dance your best. You’ll find that a lot of shoes for dancing have an open-toed style but you might just be more comfortable in a closed shoe style. Then, even if you get stepped on, it isn’t too bad. You can also get insoles just in case you find the high heels a bit uncomfortable. Ill-fitting shoes can be the cause of a lot of aches and pains so choose wisely and well.

You need a lot of preparation before you dress up for a ballroom dance. You just can’t throw on any old thing and go out there. There is a code of dress that is adhered to and if you’re a guy, it will have to be a tux or a formal suit and if you are a girl, you have to have the right dress and have your shoes matched and your hair and make-up in perfect place. Unlike getting ready for say, a prom night, getting dressed for a ballroom dance requires a little more attention. This is because you need to pick the right clothes and the right shoes.
This doesn’t mean to say that there is a particular dress code for ballroom dancing, just that there are the right clothes. You do have the freedom to choose from a wide range but do remember that if you are doing a ballroom dance, whether it is a fast jive or a slow waltz, you need to wear something that flows well and does not get tangled in your partner’s shoes or around his legs. What is of course ideal is something made of flowing material like silk which does not tangle easily. The shoes definitely have to be the correct shoes for the type of ballroom dance you are going. For instance, Latin dance shoes can be worn for the salsa and many more dances.

“We have people who have lifted weights and done that type of workout for many years and come in, start dancing, and their legs are like Jell-O because they don’t realize what they’re going to get,” said the president of the Nashville Dance Club, which has nearly 90 members. “When you do ballroom dance, you’re moving. You’re working your lungs, you’re working your legs.” And you need to wear good quality ballroom dance shoes to assure your safety and professionalism.

It’s amazing how so many people today want to learn ballroom dancing. Time was when it was the older people who danced it and it was also a preserve of the well-off. Who really had the time to learn? Who could afford the dance shoes? Ballroom dance shoes are easily obtainable and you can buy wide or narrow width ballroom dance shoes. But with the breaking down of this class system, ballroom dancing has become accessible to everyone and even better, people seem to be enjoying it. It is no longer something you have to know if you belong to a certain class of society you now learn it if you want to, because you love it.

Every year I take my wife to some exciting venue downtown for Valentine’s Day. Since it has become an annual tradition, I’m not sure if it qualifies as a surprise anymore, but I try my best not to let the location be known until we arrive. This year I decided to take her to a ritzy ballroom for a night of dancing.

In our younger years, we went dancing on a regular basis, but this habit has ebbed recently. Since it had been awhile since our last dancing escapade, I decided to up the ante by also buying her a new pair of women’s ballroom shoes. The night of dancing was fantastic, and I think it may have reignited our love of the hobby.