Swing dance shoes

Those of you who swing dance have realized that having the right shoes really does make a difference. There's nothing worse than being on a nice, fast, hardwood dance floor with sticky rubber shoes on. You can wish you could spin & slide to your heart's content, but without the right shoes, it just isn't going to be the same.

In my experience there are two ways to go. One is to buy dedicated dancing shoes with hard-leather or suede soles, and the other is to convert a existing pair of shoes.

For men's shoes, I think hard-leather soled shoes both spin & turn best, and they're the most predictable. I wear white Aris Allen shoes from Dancestore.com. They go with any outfit, and will give your dancing credibility, whether or not it deserves it. They also sell them in black, but the white ones are more fun and look a whole lot more flashy.

For the women, the Aris Allen Canvas Sneakers with a suede sole are quite popular, as are the Aris Allen retro running shoes with suede soles. However, if you're dancing Balboa, or like to dance on your toes, I'd recommend something with a heel, like the Mary Janes or the Rug Cutters. You can also dance in any other leather or suede soled shoes, but I'd make sure they have a strap on the heel to keep them in place, and I would suggest against open-toed shoes so that your toes don't get stepped on. Also, I'd avoid spike heels just in case you step on someone by accident. It happens all the times.

Alternatively, you can take any pair of shoes and put duct tape over the soles to make them spin & slide, but the duct tape doesn't last long, nor does it look all that sharp. Moleskin (for blisters) works well too, but again, it doesn't last long before it either peels off, or gets worn out. I also found moleskin to be too fast. I was sliping and sliding all over the place, and actually had trouble controlling the shoes.

Lastly, you can "chrome" any pair of shoes. That consists of gluing suede to the sole of the shoe. It's called "chrome" because the type of suede used is called "Chrome Suede". Apparently you can do it yourself using barge cement, or you can pay $30-$50 to have it professionally done by a shoe cobbler. I took a pair of Adidas Samba indoor soccer shoes to a cobbler in San Francisco and for $50 they did a fabulous jobs of putting chrome suede on the soles of the shoes.

The only downside to using suede or duct tape is that you can't do heel slides like you can on hard-leather shoes. But that's a minor downside if you ask me.

Happy spinning & sliding!