Mambo Dallas Blog

Finding the right shoe to dance the night away is like finding that prince charming…. you have to kiss a lot of frogs or in this case, try on a lot of pairs before you find the right one! Fortunately, there are some tips that I will share to help make this process a little easier.

Sure, 3-inch salsa shoes look great! I know for a fact that walking in heels causes your back to arch and your chest to thrust forward, giving you that sexy come-hither stance but in the long run, high heels could leave us without a healthy leg to stand on!

When I first began salsa dancing, I committed the typical mistake of buying my dancing shoes online. Sure, there were well priced, but my feet surely suffered because of my thriftiness. First of all, you do not know if the shoe will be true to your size and being a perfect size 6 all my life, I never knew how important this was until I was dancing non-stop for three to five hours. I cannot tell you how many pairs of shoes I sent back. Many times the shoes were too wide or the pretty little straps that attracted me in the first place were designed in such a way that my pinky toe hung out of the shoe. This not only caused blisters, but it also made for an unappealing look as I strutted into the club. Here are a few reasons why being measured in person or trying on shoes prior to purchase is beneficial:

1 – Your feet swell after you are on them for about an hour, so you need to allow enough room for that swelling in your fitting. Your feet also swell during the day so imagine wearing shoes to salsa class or to the club after wearing heels to work all day?

2 – Straps may be too long (you can trip on them) or too short (makes the shoe too tight and cause swelling faster). Also consider using jazz shoes or jazz boots instead of heels when you are taking classes. Although not as esthetically appealing, they can prevent a lot of foot and back damage.

3 – Every shoe manufacturer has different sizes of heels. While some may say 3 inches, they could actually be 3.5 inches. High heels can also create long-term problems for our feet. Statistics show that 43 million Americans today experience painful foot problems—such as hammertoes, calluses, and bunions—and high-heeled women comprise the vast majority of them. For every five women in the U.S., one suffers from aching feet as a result of donning heels to impress partners or colleagues. Remember that “High” is a relative term. Try to set your limit to two inches. The guy you’re dancing with can tell how tall you are so that extra inch heel is not worth the damage you can cause to your back and feet! Besides, the shorter you are, the better he can spin you!!

4 – Buy shoes with leather insoles to keep the foot from slipping and use insoles for support. I recommend Spenco Insoles (http://www.spenco.com/). If you suffer from flat feet, wearing heels can actually help shape your arches but limit your feet to one to two inch heels. You can also try Spenco’s  Arch Cushions to help support arches and flat feet while in heel.

5 – The last and probably most important tip is STRETCH, STRETCH, STRETCH! Make sure you stretch the muscles in the back of your leg before and after putting your shoes on (before and after class or social dancing). Pelvic tilts and calf stretches will minimize any muscle cramping and shortening and increase your dancing stamina (meaning you can dance in your shoes longer). Check some simple stretches for dancers on YouTube.

The best thing to do for your feet is to find a local distributor who will measure your feet. Believe me, I didn’t believe this until I tried it. Mambo Dallas distributes SoulDancer shoes from SaborDancewear.com that can be measured in person to assure the perfect fit! They also carry fashionable unisex dance sneakers that are kind to your feet. If you are interested in jazz boots, I recommend you check out Capezio’s.

I understand that heels are not something one simply wears on their feet, but that shoes represent a passion, hobby, personal expression, source of authority, sexual independence, feminine culture, femininity, psychologically empowering, and joy. Although the salsa scene proactively endorses the use of the high heel, especially hot pink or leopard salsa shoes, we need to be reminded (often) that they are not worth the expense of our own physical health, therefore, search for the perfect shoe for you!