How to choose some suitable dance shoes

At first glance, any shoe can be worn for dancing, from street shoes and sneakers to hiking boots, but even the best-fitting dress shoe will fall far behind a dance shoe. The reason why dance shoes work so well is that they are made for that, they fit the foot as perfectly as possible, their light weight, sole designed to give the necessary grip and better glide makes each dance step possible, with greater reliability.

When choosing your dance shoes, the first question you should ask yourself is where will you use them and what kind of dance will you practice with them; in order to be clear about the model and the desired heel height. A shoe to dance Flamenco or a practice shoe is not the same as one to perform a dance exhibition for Salsa or Tango. Each type of dance requires particular characteristics in the shoe:

For dances like Tango, Salsa, Bachata, and other ballroom dances; the flexibility and perfect adaptation of the dance shoe to the foot is very important, due to the speed and complexity of each of its movements. For these types of dances, women's shoes are preferably open at the front, sandal-type, the heel is preferred high and thin (slim/stiletto heel) to provide elegance and allow proximity with the partner; Generally, a tango dancer uses 7.5 cm or 8.5 cm height in her heels, but everything goes according to the preferences of each person or the recommendation of the dance instructor, also using low heels such as 5.5 cm or 6.5 cm.

If what you are looking for is a very flexible shoe for professional salsa, we recommend that you use a shoe with an “Extra-Flexible” design with a wide-based heel (“Media Copa” or “flare heel”) and a heel height of no more than 6.5 cm; These are specially designed to facilitate greater movement of the instep, allow better stability and better movement of the foot when executing steps; its lightweight allows greater speed in each of the movements. (You can find them in the Salsa Extra Flexible category)

On the other hand, if the shoe is for class only, consider training shoes; they can be flat shoes like our Reference 803 model or tennis shoes especially for dancing called “Dance Sneaker” the latter have a sole divided into two parts and thus the foot has greater freedom of movement; Unlike ordinary tennis shoes, the sole of our tennis shoes is made of materials other than rubber, which permits easier turning and movement (Rubber requires more effort in order to move which over time is harmful to your knees).

These training shoes are used by both men and women. It is true that you can practice with your heels or presentation shoes, everything goes according to your comfort and the recommendation of your dance teacher.

If it is a special presentation, choose shoes according to the outfit you will wear, make sure you decide in advance, so that we can manufacture them to suit you; If you want to have shoes for future performances try to use easy to combine designs that will work for you in different situations.

Keep in mind that it is normal that when you try on your shoes, they may feel a bit tight and hard because they are new, remember that with use the fibers give way and soften, especially if they are genuine leather.

In summary, the right shoes can make all the difference in your dance experience and style, choosing a good pair of shoes will improve your performance and technique to the point that after you start wearing them you won't want to dance in conventional shoes anymore!