Many people are shedding their diapers and signing up for ballroom and Latin American dance classes. Dancing is a wonderful way to stay active, meet new people, and discover a wonderful new hobby. However, every week I see beginners not getting the most out of their class because they don’t have the right clothes and shoes.
Shoes they are the most important element for a dancer. Even keen social dancers make sure they have good comfortable shoes. Latin and ballroom dance technique involves sliding your foot across the floor: you can’t do this in sports shoes, even worse, you can break your knee by forcing your foot. Ideally, you should have shoes with suede or leather soles. However, these shoes cannot be worn outside, you will destroy the soles. If you don’t have leather-soled shoes, buy a shoe with a smooth sole.
Ladies, most ballroom moves have you stepping back, you can’t step back in a slip-on shoe. You can’t dance comfortably in a shoe that doesn’t stay on your foot. That means a strappy sandal or short shoe that fits well.
The other important point with shoes is that ladies should have a heel: normally 2 1/2″ but 2″ if you feel more comfortable. Flat jazz sneakers or ballet flats won’t help you with ballroom and Latin American dancing – your weight should be towards the front of your foot and the easiest way to achieve this is with a proper shoe.
Men’s shoes are easier: just make sure you’re wearing dress shoes with relatively soft soles and not sneakers.
Clothes: Again, it’s surprising how many people wear tight clothing and think they’ll be comfortable dancing. Wear something comfortable but, particularly if you’re paying for a private workout, wear clothing that shows off your body line. The reason why ballet dancers normally wear leotards is because that is what best shows their body alignment. Ballroom isn’t quite as dramatic, but it’s still essential to wear something that won’t ride up your shoulders and make you look like you’ve lifted your shoulders, even if you haven’t. For men, this eliminates any regular business or sports jacket: only jackets specifically designed for dancing will sit correctly over your shoulder with your arms raised in the ballroom hold. Most men avoid the problem by wearing a business shirt for ballroom dancing or a T-shirt for Latin Americans. Men’s pants should also not be too full so that the leg line can be seen.
Women’s clothing has an additional problem: the American-style ballroom in particular needs to wear a mid-calf skirt to have something to play with! A skirt enhances the movement of the dancers and hides the rather ugly bent knees, which is the technical secret behind that movement! Obviously, a proper skirt needs to allow you to stride and allow the man to place his leg between yours, so a tight, straight skirt will not work.
A proper skirt is traditionally made of Lycra and has a 4-corner wrap cut or is designed with additional inserts below the knee. The skirt is not as full as the one used for square dancing or rock and roll. For Latin Americans, the skirt should be shorter (optionally MUCH shorter) and pants are a bit more common, but basically a nice knee-length or shorter skirt will show movement and line your legs!
