What kind of shoes should I wear to dance class?

# Zumba / Cardio Latin / Latin Jazz – These latin dance fitness classes involves a fair amount of twisting, swiveling, and turning.  This means you want some shoes that are not too sticky on the bottom.  Many new Zumba dancers wear gym shoes that are too sticky and twist a knee or ankle.  I would recommend investing in some dance shoes sooner than later!  I think that dance sneakers are the best bet for Zumba – they provide cushioning for the more high impact movements and swivel easily for the latin style moves.  Other options are jazz slippers or cheaper gym sneakers that don’t have a lot of tread on the bottom.

# Hip Hop – Many hip hop dancers prefer a shoes that looks like a street sneaker,yet isn’t too sticky to spin.  Others prefer jazz sneakers.  I find as long as you can spin without twisting a knee, and it looks cool, anything goes in hip hop.

# Around the World – Like any cardio dance class, we do a far amount of jumping and bouncing movements (especially with Irish and Scottish dancing!)  So it is good to have a dance sneaker that gives some cushioning for this movement.  At the same time we do some dances, like samba and salsa, that use a lot of twisting and swiveling.  It is good for these dances to be able to swivel your foot easily on the ground.  I think dance sneakers are great for this class, but jazz slippers or cheaper gym sneakers that are not sticky on the bottom are also options.  As well, if you are used to dancing barefoot for belly dancing or Bollywood dancing, you can try the class barefoot.  However we do a lot of other styles that might not be comfortable barefoot, so it’s good to have some dance sneakers you can slip into if you feel like it.

# General Dance Technique Class – For this class we will be going over many different dance movements, kicks, spins, jumps, isolations, etc.  Because of this, it is very useful to have dance shoes that allow for spinning but are not too slippery, provide support and cushion, etc.  I think the best choices would be a jazz shoe, ballet shoes, or dance sneaker.  All of these choices are fairly inexpensive and will greatly increase your ability to participate in class.  Particularly when we are discussing the action of the foot joints, you cannot wear normal gym sneakers, as they do not allow you to move the various parts of your foot.  Dance shoes are specifically designed to allow you to articulate the joints in the toes, foot, and ankle for maximum balance and power when dancing.  Barefoot or socks would be a better option than sneakers, especially for the weeks are discussing foot and leg action and spinning.

# Bollywood – If you are used to dancing barefoot, be my guest! Dancing barefoot can be great exercise for the feet as it allows you to really work all the joints and muscles in the foot and ankle.  However, if your feet and ankles are not feeling strong, sometimes this can be too much for them.  Especially as we do more bouncing and jumping in some of the routines, barefoot can be very hard on your joints as you don’t have any extra cushion.  You might consider getting dance sneakers as they allow you to swivel and provide extra cushion for jumping or bouncing.

# Ballet  – For ballet class dancers wear ballet slippers/ shoes or pointe shoes.  If you are just starting, you will be starting with ballet slippers.  You can buy some online or at a local store.

# Jazz – Similar to ballet class, dancers will wear jazz slippers/ shoes for most classes.  If you are doing a particularly high impact routine dancers might choose jazz sneakers instead.

# Tap – You can buy tap shoes online or at a local store.

# Modern – Most modern / contemporary dance is done barefoot or in half soles.  Make sure you pick a pair of half soles that are soft and flexible – some of the more stubborn ones cut into your foot!  I highly recommend trying these on carefully in person before buying.

*Taken from Anna Botelho blog dance shoes.