Thread: Are you well-shod?

I'm looking to e-interview for our magazine,dancers who regularly wear shoes for performing. Or if you have worn them for a specialist routine eg Meleya?
And if you have a photo of you teetering away. Raqs or Tribal..love to hear from you..g.:

I use shoes all the time - performing, sometimes for teaching.

I also always wear shoes. Mainly ballroom for performance, ghillies for class.

{{{HUGS}}}

I wear shoes for most performances now- restaurants, private gigs, etc. Not teaching, though.

I used to go all barefoot, but I'm either practicing, teaching, or performing every day of the week now, so I wear shoes to lessen the wear and tear on my feet... and to protect the "money makers"! lol

For class, I just wear foot undies. They protect the balls of my feet and make it easy for me to spin.

For practice at home, I go barefoot as I have carpeted floors.

For gigs and performances, I either wear ballet slippers or nude gladiator sandals w/ suede soles. These protect my feet from sharp items in the grass and gooey venue floors. I like the ballet slippers, but really do not like the gladiator shoes... I always trip with them on!

Let me see if I can find any pictures of me performing with shoes. I'll post here if I do.

I haven't worn them to perform orientale for a while but I like dance shoes for practice (ballet slippers, currently split soles) and I use a pair of ballroom shoes for melaya/ghawazee etc. I was quite keen on wearing backless ship-ship type shoes for melaya but found that mine were just too ... rubby on the tops of my feet and too easy to step out of, which says a lot about how I must step when dancing. Would still like to give it a go sometime though.

I have what I term "Princess and the Pea" feet - the soles are heavily calloused, enough for me to be able to step on small bits of glass and just pick 'em out sometimes, but I can still feel *anything* under them. They're really sensitive. They blister at a glance.

So I have to be particular about dance shoes - they MUST fit well, I can't risk buying them online - but in a good pair I feel very secure and capable of doing everything. My ballroom shoes are not as high heeled as I would prefer, aesthetically, but they're fantastic little workhorses and very comfortable.

I never wear shoes for performing, but I'm thinking of going that route in future, just for the protection. And, to quote Farida Fahmy, THE CONNOTATIONS! ..l;, For teaching, I'll stick with the bare feet/foot undies thing - student need to see how the foot position works, what height the heels are lifted, etc.

I do wear heels for Melaya - the pair I wore last time I did melaya was just a pair of sparkly high heels from... ooh, Debenhams, I think. I wear high heels pretty much all the time, so I'm used to being up there!

Kudos to you ladies who wear the heels while you dance! I could never do that... I love the grounded and controlled feeling of bare or nearly bare feet. :)

Hi!

As I hate rough floor-panels, gooey floors or dancing into glass-pieces, I always wear embroidered ballet-shoes in gold or silver matching my costume. I also wear ballroom-shoes (eg. in restaurants or for very elegant and posh events) - the latin-dance version in gold or silver with some glitter on.

Here are two pics of me in ballroom-shoes (sorry - no live-pictures):





And here is one with the golden sort of ballet-shoes:



Best regards from Germany, Sahira.

Nice pics Sahira, love the purple Bella!!

I wear shoes really often. Not on stage. For performances ballroom shoes and for teaching ballet shoes. I'm too afraid to hurt my feet.

I have a matching pair of ballroom shoes to nearly every costume I own, orderd them custom made (there is a nice lady here on bhuz ) - about 8 pairs...

Here is a sample, if you need more pics, let me know and I will take a look if I have some more.

Thank you so much ladies.
I will be in touch

Originally Posted by Lesedi

I used to go all barefoot, but I'm either practicing, teaching, or performing every day of the week now, so I wear shoes to lessen the wear and tear on my feet... and to protect the "money makers"! lol

For class, I just wear foot undies. They protect the balls of my feet and make it easy for me to spin.

For practice at home, I go barefoot as I have carpeted floors.

For gigs and performances, I either wear ballet slippers or nude gladiator sandals w/ suede soles. These protect my feet from sharp items in the grass and gooey venue floors. I like the ballet slippers, but really do not like the gladiator shoes... I always trip with them on!

Let me see if I can find any pictures of me performing with shoes. I'll post here if I do.

Lesedi, do you have a pic of the gladiator shoes?

I know many dancers prefer to dance bare-foot but equally I know some who have had to chnage to shoes for the sake of their foot-health. And people who once the start restaurant dancing have to find suitable shoes.

Sahira, I Pm'd you.

Hi!

Pm'd you back.

I always always always wear shoes too.

And, lol, whiz - I've had that conversation with Farida Fahmy too,as I'm sure many others have, but you just nailed it there!

Originally Posted by wigglewhiz

I And, to quote Farida Fahmy, THE CONNOTATIONS! ..l;,

I always wear gladiator-type sandals. My favorites are made of soft deerskin. Here's a photo of me in the sandals:

Sabine's Photos - performance pix | Facebook

(I even wear these sandals when I do cabaret style...I can't wear high heels anyway, as I already have a hard time finding costumes that are long enough! The heels sure look glamorous though.)

I couldn't find any that showed me in the gladiator shoes at all, but here is one w/ me in the ballet slippers (I have higher res if you need me to send you one).

You'll notice that I'm wearing the nude ballet slippers, the gal in the middle is wearing embroidered red shoes from India, and the other gal is barefoot.

Originally Posted by Sabine

I always wear gladiator-type sandals. My favorites are made of soft deerskin. Here's a photo of me in the sandals:

Sabine's Photos - performance pix | Facebook

(I even wear these sandals when I do cabaret style...I can't wear high heels anyway, as I already have a hard time finding costumes that are long enough! The heels sure look glamorous though.)

Love that photo....

Thanks again. These are really useful thoughts.

Hi Liza, I sent a PM but it bounced back, saying your mailbox is full. You can use my photo, and my website is Sabine Dance - Home if you wish to reach me.

Same here... your mailbox is full... yes you can quote me.

Originally Posted by lizajuk

I'm looking to e-interview for our magazine,dancers who regularly wear shoes for performing. Or if you have worn them for a specialist routine eg Meleya?
And if you have a photo of you teetering away. Raqs or Tribal..love to hear from you..g.:

Don't usually wear shoes, but these big white platforms were too perfect for this routine! I do like ballroom shoes, and some of the hermes styles, but I think the ballet type flats or slippers(even if they are silver or gold!) are about the most unflattering look any dancer could wear. Sorry, I just don't like them.

Hi Liz!

Tried to pm you as well but your inbox is full.

BR, Sahira.

Will attend to it!

Thank you - pm just went through...