For students just starting out, buying your first real pair of womens ballroom shoes can be a daunting thing. There are so many brands, so many different types, so many different heels! In our many years of teaching, we have offered buying advice to hundreds of students on their first serious pair of dance shoes. Now, we want to bring that knowledge to you.
In this article, we will break down the many questions you might be faced when buying your first pair of womens ballroom shoes. But not just any ballroom shoe. In this article, we focus only on shoes for Ballroom or Smooth. We will create a guide for womens Latin shoes in another article.
For a great video showing many closeups of movement in womens ballroom shoes, watch this tutorial on Heel Turns on our YouTube channel!
Why are womens ballroom shoes so special?
Proper womens ballroom shoes are unique in many ways. First of all, womens ballroom shoes are always closed toed. Another name for closed toed ballroom shoes are “Court shoes”, because this style of shoe was worn “at court”. They come in many different shapes and styles, but a few things remain constant.
1. The external material of a ballroom shoe meant for competition is always satin, though the shade of the color “flesh” or, indeed, the color, might vary.
2. Soles on the bottom of the shoe are always made from suede.
3. Ballroom shoes, whether for International Standard or American Smooth, should always be closed toed.
4. The shank of a ballroom shoe should be a little more stiff as compared to a Latin sandal, although many shoes made for American Smooth have looser shanks, these days.
International Standard Shoe vs. American Smooth Shoe
Subtle differences do exist between an International Standard shoe and an American Smooth Shoe. The biggest difference is in the basic structure of the shoe. A traditional Standard court shoe has fully enclosed sides and a slightly stiffer shank. American Smooth shoes, however, have open sides that allow for a greater range of movement in the foot.
If you’re not entirely sure about the differences between American Smooth and International Standard, check out our article on the main styles of competitive Ballroom Dancing right here.
It should be noted, though, that not all American Smooth dancers use open-sided shoes. Some dancers prefer to use the International Standard court shoe instead. If you dance American Smooth and wonder which style would be best for you, consider your personal style of dancing. For American Smooth dancers that like to experiment with choreography, have strong and flexible feet and legs, and like to show off their foot arches, then an open-sided shoe is the best choice. On the other hand, for American Style dancers that tend to rely more on International Standard choreography and a more “classical” approach, based on quality of movement versus flexibility of the feet and legs, then an International court shoe would be the better choice.
Both of these options work well. In the end, whether you choose an open-sided Smooth shoe or a closed-sided court shoe, just make sure you feel comfortable in your choice. After all, it’s your feet in them!
Decisions, decisions, decisions!
Once you’ve determined whether you want the closed-sided court shoe or the open-sided Smooth shoe, it’s time to decided on the style. For the remainder of the article, we’re going to assume you chose a closed-sided court shoe, just for ease. Any of these tips can be used for choosing a Smooth shoe, too.
Pointed toe or Round toe?
Most womens ballroom shoes are round toed. To determine whether the shoe is pointed or round toed, take a look at the shape of the toe box. A pointed toe shoe will taper more dramatically, coming to a discernible point at the very tip of the shoe. A round toe, meanwhile, tapers less and curves gradually around the tip of the shoe.
Is there a difference between these shoes?
Well, yes.
First of all, a pointed toe shoe certainly looks more elegant on the floor. Because the shoe tapers to a point, the foot looks elongated and more beautiful. If the beauty of your feet is a point of pride for you, then a pointed toe shoe is the right way to go. There do exist, however, a few drawbacks.
Because pointed toe shoes taper more dramatically, they can be more painful to wear. This is particularly true if you have wide feet or very long toes. They are also more difficult to dance in. When we move back across the floor, we are supposed to brush the tips of our toes along the floor. However, if you are at all back-weighted and press weight into the toes of your feet as you divide your weight, this will result in bending and wrinkling the point of the shoe. This will happen to your pointed toe shoes eventually anyway, but we hope not before it’s time to change them.
This phenomenon is very common among lower-level dancers who choose shoes that are too big for them. Because the shoe is too long, and simultaneously because they press weight back into the foot as they divide their weight, the front of the shoes wrinkle and ripple, eventually bending upwards into something looking like a “jester shoe”. This can be avoided by choosing a round toe shoe and making sure the shoe is not too big on your feet.
It can also be avoided by learning how to divide your weight correctly, but that will take longer than just changing your shoe. You can always return to the beautiful pointed toe style once you’ve trained yourself to move correctly.
What about the vamp?
In womens ballroom shoes, the vamp is the front-top of the toe box. There are 4 common types of vamps.
1. Round vamp. This means the shape of the top of the toe box is rounded, and is most often found on round toe shoes.
2. Square vamp. With a square vamp, the top of the toe box goes straight across the metatarsals of the foot. This type of vamp is commonly found on American Smooth shoes, as well as round toe shoes.
3. V-vamp. Most often seen on pointed toe shoes, a V-vamp comes to a point in the middle of the metatarsals. Again, this style of vamp looks very elegant on the dance floor and highly recommended if the dancer has a high arch.
4. Elastic vamp. This type of vamp was very common about 25 years ago but has recently gone out of fashion. Some dancers, however, still use this style. An elastic vamp is usually round in shape, with elastic inserted so that the shoe can be worn on a narrow foot without the use of an arch strap. The downside to this type of vamp is that the elastic tends to make the shoe bend upwards, giving the shoe that “jester shoe” look we mentioned earlier.
So which one should you choose? Well, based on whether you wanted a pointed toe or a round toe shoe, that choice may have already been made for you. But if you do have the choice, make it based on the natural shape of your foot. Very narrow feet would benefit from an elastic vamp. Meanwhile, nicely shaped feet with high arches should choose a V-vamp. Women with very wide feet should also choose a V-vamp or a round vamp, while women with flatter feet or medium-narrow feet would benefit from a square vamp.
Do arch straps really matter?
Now this is an interesting question! For decades there has persisted this idea that top dancers never wear womens ballroom shoes with an arch strap. If dancers use their feet correctly, they don’t need an arch strap because they will never step out of their shoe.
This is complete poppycock. (Felt like the perfect word for that!) First of all, there is nothing to prevent your foot slipping out unless the shoe fits perfectly. Does the shoe fit perfectly? Fit perfectly for when? For when your feet are unused and fresh, or swollen from after a long practice? Shoes are not custom-made, so what if your foot is an unusual shape or size?
There are a million reasons for why a particular shoe may not stay on your feet, besides bad technique. In Kora’s case, her heel is very narrow while the balls of her feet are rather wide. Also, she has a high arch and a nice ankle. So, she chooses to wear a pointed toe shoe with an arch strap, since a shoe that is wide enough to comfortably accommodate the balls of her feet and her toes is too wide for her narrow heel. Without the arch strap, she would either step out of the shoe, or she would need to go down a size in order to keep the shoe on. But once she does this, the shoe is so tight that her toes lose feeling.
If your heel is narrow, considerably narrower than the balls of your feet, you will need an arch strap. If, however, your heel is about the same width or even wider than the balls of your feet, you should be fine without one.
So much choice!
We know there is a lot to think about when trying to buy your first pair of womens ballroom shoes. But there is nothing to worry about. Just take your time finding the right one. It’s better to find a pair that feels good and fits just right. After all, you will hopefully spend a lot of time in them!
If you’re wondering which shoe company we recommend, our preference is always Ray Rose. A British company, Ray Rose Dance Shoes offer some of the best shoes on the market, in a wide variety of styles and options. Check them out here!
We haven’t finished with fitting yet. We will continue breaking down the various aspects of womens ballroom shoes in Part Two. In that article, learn about how to decide on the right heel for you, the color, and more! Leave us a comment in the section below to let us know if this was helpful for you!
