Dancing in Heels

gotraqs · 05-27-2007, 09:50 AM

So, can anyone tell me if dancing in heels inhibits dance movement or range of motion, especially since they throw your body out of alignment?

tahiradancer · 05-27-2007, 11:17 AM

I haven't had that problem. there is another thread regarding heels somewhere. . .

{{{HUGS}}}

mahsati · 05-27-2007, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gotraqs

So, can anyone tell me if dancing in heels inhibits dance movement or range of motion, especially since they throw your body out of alignment?

For me to dance successfully in heels without hindering any movements took a little practice. I tend to dance on half-toe anyway, so I was used to re-aligning by body to distribute the weight and center-of-gravity body line for that. The main thing that seems to be different for me is that to maintain a long, strong spinal line from the top of the spine through my pelvis I need to keep more of a bend in the knees to keep a neutral pelvis.

Two of the main issues with wearing high heels when dancing is tightening in the tendons at the ankle/calf and straightened knees pushing the pelvis out and tilted to the back. As long as you work on keeping the alignment and stretching for the tendons, it should be ok.

I definitely recommend ballroom heels if you decide to wear them. I buy most of my heels from dance shoes online and have had great service with them.

Genisis · 05-27-2007, 12:18 PM

I am a really bad person to ask about this. My tendons are extremely tight, so tight that I have a different range of motion than a lot of normal people. I can barely flatten my foot to an even degree. (I did not develop this from wearing high heels, it's been a problem since I was a very young child) I dance in heels because it supports the natural pose of my feet. If I stretch and stretch and stretch I can almost pull off a moderate heel on the floor bend, I could never dream of doing an actual squat position. (Snowboarding is so out for me.) Because of this I find it easier to dance in a 2 or 3 inch heel. Even backbends work out just fine. Nearly everybody else I've ever danced with has told me that its much harder to do a shimmy and they have to pose in a tricky way to do hip drops when they wear heels. Sometimes I have trouble working up a good shimmy when I'm barefoot but I can manage to get it going...just not with my usual pizazz. *chuckles*

~*Genisis*~

resullivan · 05-27-2007, 12:19 PM

I'm actually trying this out right now. I am doing a "demo dance" with some other women I take class with, and we are not certain what type of stage surface we will have. So I have been practicing in my t-strap character shoes.

http://www.capeziostore.com/T_Strap-p18167.html

So far, not too different. I just miss the feel of bare feet.

CamilleMalaena · 05-27-2007, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gotraqs

So, can anyone tell me if dancing in heels inhibits dance movement or range of motion, especially since they throw your body out of alignment?

Hmmm...

In thinking about the choreographies that we do, we do so much on our toes! It would seem to me that dancing in heels, especially ballroom shoes as Mahsati recommended, would be much easier.

These would be great:
http://www.danceshoesstore.com/produ...roducts_id=554

mekyria · 05-27-2007, 04:04 PM

I have latin dance shoes for gig s that require dancing in heels. It takes a while to getting used to. When I wore them for a turkish dance-workshop day (8 hours) the day after the muscle at the side of my upperleggs were burning. It's harder to keep your lower back aligned.

Shimmies on the other hand were a lot easier (especially the turkish pelvic tilt-shimmy). I'm facing a new challenge: next friday I have to dance in heels and zill at the same time. I can dance in heels and I can zill while dancing, but the combination might be tricky!

elisagamal · 05-27-2007, 05:14 PM

just a thought to add: if you like the look of ballroom shoes but don't want to do the high heel thing, you can order them with very low heels. I have a few pairs that have square heels that are around one inch, and they dance like I'm in flats. :)

gotraqs · 05-27-2007, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamilleMalaena

Hmmm...

In thinking about the choreographies that we do, we do so much on our toes! It would seem to me that dancing in heels, especially ballroom shoes as Mahsati recommended, would be much easier.

These would be great:
http://www.danceshoesstore.com/produ...roducts_id=554

Yeah. Ive been seeing more people wearing shoes at performances. I myself like the whole bare foot thing. I feel so much of a connection to the floor when I dance, for positioning, and orientation, that I am almost afraid shoes would make my feet feel disoriented! :) Not that I would mind NOT squishing baba ghanoush between my toes (yeeewww!), but then again, better between my toes than under the sole of a slick shoe.

CamilleMalaena · 05-28-2007, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gotraqs

Yeah. Ive been seeing more people wearing shoes at performances. I myself like the whole bare foot thing. I feel so much of a connection to the floor when I dance, for positioning, and orientation, that I am almost afraid shoes would make my feet feel disoriented! :) Not that I would mind NOT squishing baba ghanoush between my toes (yeeewww!), but then again, better between my toes than under the sole of a slick shoe.

OMG! With my luck lately (tripping and skinning the heels of my hands), I'd probably end up being the one who steps on the baba ghanoush in my sparkly heels, slips, and skins my hands again!

And you're right, we're so used to dancing barefoot that we do sort of freak out when we have to wear shoes like sandals and boots at Ren Faire-type performances. At least I do!

antimony · 05-28-2007, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gotraqs

Yeah. Ive been seeing more people wearing shoes at performances. I myself like the whole bare foot thing. I feel so much of a connection to the floor when I dance, for positioning, and orientation, that I am almost afraid shoes would make my feet feel disoriented! :) Not that I would mind NOT squishing baba ghanoush between my toes (yeeewww!), but then again, better between my toes than under the sole of a slick shoe.

On the other hand, the bit of glass from a wineglass that got broken earlier in the evening... better in the shoe than in your foot!

mekyria · 05-28-2007, 10:27 AM

Bare foot ismore grounded, but at the restaurant where I'm preforming they prefer dancers with shoes. I've perfromed bare foot in restaurants, but the floors often are a bit icky.

ChristinaRizkallah · 05-29-2007, 04:52 PM

It seems that one shimmies better in high heels. But I think its better for your back, posture and ankles to dance without shoes. If you want to wear high heels, its best to get dance heels instead of using regular street heels, which some dancers still use. I have noticed that since Soraya started dancing in high heels (which are not dance heels) it has limited her movements and freedom.

MelanieLA · 05-29-2007, 05:40 PM

If you dance in releve a lot anyway, heels distribute your weight better between heels and toes. I don't see how your alignment is off, you are using your weight and muscles differently. And shimmies are not more difficult, just different, though that's probably different for everyone. I love heels

Nisima · 05-30-2007, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamilleMalaena

Hmmm...

In thinking about the choreographies that we do, we do so much on our toes! It would seem to me that dancing in heels, especially ballroom shoes as Mahsati recommended, would be much easier.

These would be great:
http://www.danceshoesstore.com/produ...roducts_id=554

Yes, that is my experience with cabaret style dance (whether AmCab or Egyptian) being so much on balls of foot, the heels support arch of foot and I can dance longer and stronger. I've always used ballroom heels, about 2" - becuase they have a steel shank under arch and in heel itself. Not aware of any posture problem. In fact, my biggest problem was going barefoot because of troupe work - so used to the support of a good ballroom dance heel and spinning was a nightmare for a few months on bare feet. Now, I can do both heels and barefoot with one caveat - NOT street sandals, for me has to be ballroom sandals and they ain't cheap!

flimflamgirl · 05-30-2007, 12:43 PM

I don't wear heels in real life, but on the advice of my teacher, I recently invested in a pair of sparkly low-heeled Freeds and I love them. They're very well balanced. It really helps to use the Egyptian "tits over toes" (Nourhan Sharif's phrase) posture with shoes like these, and it also helps if you keep the pelvic floor muscles very engaged. I thought I'd hate wearing them, but they look elegant with my costumes, and they don't change my hip orientation, because they're quite low. I've never danced in gigantic heels a la Turkish and Lebanese dancers - I don't know how those ladies do it!

I love barefoot dancing best, but I so rarely dance in a place where I could safely do that.

- Leela