The Many Different Types of Dancing Shoes

By Ocianne Lambert

Sometimes specific shoes are required for certain types of dancing styles. Special dancing shoes will enable dancers to dance safely and efficiently. Pay particular attention to the types of shoes that need to be worn with your particular dance style.

A main factor with dance shoes is that they are not meant for everyday wear and tear. They are performance shoes and should be used for practice and recitals. Here are a few examples of dancing shoes that are available at this time.

Ballet Shoes - Ballet slippers are what beginning or moderate ballet dancers will normally wear. They are one of the most easily recognizable dancing shoes. They are meant to protect the ballerina's feet and ankles, and either come in full sole to compare with pointe shoes, or they can be split soled to work with the arch of the dancer's foot.

Pointe shoes - Pointe shoes are ballet slippers for the advanced ballerinas. They are called pointe shoes because the front of the shoe has a place called a toe box, which tightly fits your toes together so that your body weight can be supported once you are on the tips of your toes. The still insole allows the extra help to support the feet from underneath the arch.

Jazz Shoes - Jazz shoes are similar to ballet slippers. The major difference is that jazz shoes have a small heel to support the dancer. Jazz shoes are pretty flexible and can either be full or split soled.

Tap Shoes- Tap dancing is made popular by the taps on its shoes. Tap shoes are very crucial to the success of this dance style. The taps of the shoes are attached with screws to the heel, and dancers use the heel when they dance to make tapping sounds.

Hip Hop and Lyrical Shoes - Hip Hop is one of the few styles that allows a lot of room for the types of shoes that are worn. The most popular shoes for this style are tennis shoes or a flexible dance sneaker. Unlike modern dancing, most people choose not to do it barefoot because they are able to move more smoothly with tennis shoes.

Latin and Ballroom Shoes - Latin and Ballroom shoes are normally pumps or sandals with at least a 2 or 3 inch heel. Suede soles, for both men and women, are best because they provide the best grip and slide needed for this type of dancing. When looking for this dancing shoe, remember to find ones that are both lightweight and flexible. - 29954

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