Hello all,
I am thinking of taking a ballroom dance class at my local community college. I think it would be a great hobby, workout and learning opportunity. My questions to you pros are; what will I need to purchase in advance before my first lesson? The course description only says "no sneakers allowed". Should I just wear regular high heels? Or do I need to buy special shoes? If so, where do you recommend I get them?

Also,
What is your favorite part about ballroom dancing?

What drove you to the sport?

How long have you been ballroom dancing?

Thanks in advance for the advice!
Jenesis

For ladies, a heel of 2.. 2 1/2 is adequate , NO rubber soles( a closed heel is a must ). Do not invest in " dance " shoes until you see how involved you wish to become .

If you are solo, male partners are at a premium and some classes only admit couples.

Very important.. check the Qualif. of the teacher giving the course. Also, check to see if it is medal test standard or Social .( are you States side or UK ? )

Shoes:
From a "just taking the class cause it's fun" perspective, anything that you can "slide" in, but not *fall* in, as in too slick. Those crappy little suede-soled ballet flats at Wal-Mart work pretty well, but if you can hold back on one evening out for one week, about, oh... thirty to fifty bucks gets you a pair of KYOOOT cheap/flimsy/functional ballroom shoes with a suede sole. The goal is to get them to fit snugly, and if they're open toed- your feet should go "to the end, maybe over a little", and if closed, "as close to the toe as possible". Those "godiva"-style shoes wihe mesh and the lace and whatnot are best if you don't know, and they "hand me down" pretty well to the next ballroom victim. Wear what's comfortable to YOU in heel height.

My favorite part of ballroom dancing is ... the indescribably all-encompassing lift I get from dancing.

When I was eight, we were scanning TV channels for something horsey to watch (I was pushed into horse-shows very early on)... we paused on KET's "Ohio Star Ball" coverage, and it was during the Latin division- the skimpy outfits were what caused my dad to hang onto the channel and watch it to the end. It was 1986, so whoever did the Hansel Martinez version of Love Potion Number Nine to an exhibition dance (they were youngsters in fluorescent costuming)... Thank you for torturing me for years to come with this insatiable itch... that I finally get to scratch!

My Int. partner and I have been dancing for 3 years. Another guy I dance with, the CHG, has been dancing for... gosh, a few months now, I think. Five? I know our one beginner started in December. Crap, I told a lie to someone on Sunday- I have to go re-calculate...

Jenesis,

The Wal-Mart ballet flat is a great idea. They cost like $7.50 you know the kind of slippers your grandma wears all winter.

Honestly I wouldn't start out wearing heels. Its hard enough to learn how to use your feet and keep balance without adding the pressure of heels. I normally wear heels ALL the time and have for years and NOW I wear them in ballroom, but when I started I didn't on the advice of my instructor. It was good advice. Just make sure once you have the bug and you mean to keep dancing that you do go out and buy heels so that you don't have a crash and burn when you do wear higher shoes. By the way a lot of the pros practice in very low heels.

Your teacher will probably clarify what he/she really wants and it will depend on what dances you will be working on. Different dances even within the genre call for different shoes.

There are a lot of things to love about ballroom. Above all things I love those moments when you are dancing a Foxtrot or a Paso Doble and suddenly you are flying. Your body knows what to do and its a beautiful moment of transcendence.

I love the challenge of the new steps and pushing my body further than I thought it could go. I love the initimacy that develops with your partner, I'm not speaking of sexual, its something deeper. Your bodies become one and as you move you create, beauty, drama and passion without words, just the music and his hands and this innate understanding that defies description. It is beautiful.

Getting to play dress up in clothes that would make a drag queen weep with envy doesn't exactly hurt my feelings either

I always wanted to dance from the time I was little and saw the dancers on PBS...and after I saw Dancing with the Stars...it looked attainable. Not very auspicious...but true.

I've been dancing for about four years...but I have ended up with breaks in dancing because of a broken right foot, and three changes of instructors...with huge gaps in-between while I looked for someone I wanted to dance with.

Hope that helps

PLEASE.. stop giving bad advice.

The heel for ladies shoes is for a technical, NOT aesthetic reason.

Its about projecting the weight centered over the ball of the foot ,setting poise and balance .
A world famous coach made this statement many yrs ago.

Paraphrase " Balance, Hold and Poise, are the most important ingredients for developing a good dancer, and you should ALWAYS invest in good shoes "

Listen to the advice of a prof. ( me ) with over 50 yrs experience .

Delaying the use of heels, can only develop more problems to add to those that beginners normally have .

The first advice I give all my class and priv. students ( ladies )is about footwear .. and men too on occasion .

As I stated, a 2 inch heel would suffice .

Terence is giving solid advice, BUT I have seen the community college classes and I would go with the cheap shoes for the first lesson or so -- and see what everyone else is wearing. As you get a feel for whether you like this or not, (and I believe you will get addicted rather quickly!) then you can go for the heels. Being of the male species, I have no idea how quickly one can break in a pair of heels so that they are comfortable. My wife encounters minor problems with every set of new shoes, with blisters coming up unannounced in different places. She has used flats more often than not, mainly because she is a couple of inches taller than me ... that's not a major issue, even when she wears the heels, but it may come into play for you, depending on the height of your partner.
I learned to dance at a young age, mainly because my mother's large Italian family did it at most gatherings, and all of the men, most of them returning GIs from World War II were very skilled at it. We learned how to box and dance, much in the same manner today's kids learn soccer and video games!

Terence, "PLEASE" stop dissecting my personal opinions and INTERPRETING them as advice. She asked for perspective, I gave.

It's a college ballroom course. There's every chance she'll take it and think "man, this sucks", and those shoes will wind up on ebay, at the Slavation army, or crammed in some box in some closet for someone else to worry with cleaning out someday.

If the use of heels is so important, then why do Elegance, Supadance, et al even manufacture lower heels? YOU try it, buddy! Backwards, too!

Any GOOD teacher would tell their students to dance in what feels safe and comfortable for them instead of pushing them into wearing something that makes them feel unsteady. When they're at YOUR auspicious level, THEN they can worry about height and other factors.

Sure, it's about weight placement and a ton of other jargon indigenous only to the few who make it past college group classes, but you know what? LET the lady find out whether or not she wants to continue dancing first, before overwhelming her with the fine-focus?

Sorry- very prickly this morning, this stuck me wrong, and there was likely no need for it to have. It just kind of felt like I was whacked over the nose for no reason.

It wasnt meant to annoy you ( apparently it did ).

I still stick by my reasoning for a closed in heel wich will undoubtedly assist in her weight distribution .

And.. I did say to NOT invest in a proper dance shoe at this time, but something that could be serviceable for other occasions .

Flat shoes may cause long term dance problems.. why encourage that when there is a simple solution .

Whatever she chooses, is up to her, I can only state what the majority of teachers reccomend, and those that will ultimately bring the best results.

And.. she DID ask " should I wear heels " .

Like I said, it *was* a weird morning, and I know you didn't sit down and think "Hmm, how can I light the strings on Ginger's practice shoes today?".

I just take the more simplistic sort of "lure newbs in, get them hooked on dancing, THEN start cramming their brain full of stuff after they know they can handle it" approach instead of the "WHAM! All at ONCE!" shock we had one time.

"And.. she DID ask " should I wear heels " ."

And the safe answer is:

Yes, in that your shoes should have a structured heel on them, but they do not at first need to be any higher than the ones the men are wearing.

(And before anyone jumps to object, yes there are situations where lady's footwork is different, and the higher heel is more suited to that - BUT, learning to get a low heel all the way down onto the floor at the time where the lady must in something like a feather finish is only going to increase the chances that she will be able to get a taller heel onto the floor)