Welcome to the dance revolution!

You know you’re a dancer obsessed when you start searching the internet for a pair of dance shoes because you want something comfortable to dance with so you can take MORE classes and dance longer hours. Well, I hear you. While selling Argentine tango shoes at tango festivals, I noticed that many dancers were looking for flat shoes that relieve foot pain. What they are looking for are dance shoes, I would tell them, and here is the detail.

What are dance shoes?

Dance shoes have two things that set them apart from street shoes. They have a split sole or incredibly flexible sole so standing on the balls of your feet or keeping your weight on the balls of your feet is effortless. They also have a slippery sole to make pivoting on a hardwood floor easy (well, at least the shoe won’t make it harder).

Where can you find them? Where can you find them?

There are two major dance suppliers that sell dance shoes. Capezio and Bloch. I’ve talked to swing and tango dancers and they tend to like Capezio shoes because they’re less bulky and have thinner soles, which is good for impromptu partner dances because they give a better range of motion than Bloch’s. When talking to hip-hop and modern/ballet dancers, they prefer Bloch and most dancers in classes like these will use Bloch. They have better support and pivot control. Blochs are the most popular sneakers bought online, but one important thing to know is that they run 2 sizes larger than your street shoe size.

Alternatives

You can wear a lot of street shoes (as long as the sole is flexible enough) and have a shoemaker’s and dance chamois on the bottom of the soles to decrease traction and there you have it, a good pair of dance shoes. Many dancers wear Keds, Pumas and Reeboks. You just want to make sure it’s easy to be on your toes.

Many tango dancers these days wear ballet shoes or jazz shoes to practice as they allow a great range of motion and force you to balance correctly on the balls of your feet. Your calves will get a great workout doing this, which can be a good thing.