Awesome swing dance links News

We’ve had a few questions lately on what types of shoes work best for swing dancing, so here’s a few recommendations!

If you’re a new dancer coming to your first lessons, any smooth-soled, flat shoes will be perfect. Make sure they won’t slip off your feet on the dancefloor – ones that lace up are ideal.

If you’ve been dancing for a while, you might be looking at investing in some specific dancing shoes. Some dancers prefer suede soles and others like leather soles – this helps us glide on wooden floors in dance halls, means we can pivot, and saves our knees from a lot of potential pain!

For Lindy Hop, we recommend wearing flat soles to allow for the athletic movements and high pace. For Balboa followers, you may find wearing heels will help to give you the perfect position to shuffle away all night!

Some people buy ordinary shoes and then get the soles sueded – there is a locksmiths on South Clerk Street (almost opposite Sainsburys) that Edinburgh dancers often go to.

Alternatively, you may want to buy shoes already designed for dancing, such as Aris Allens or Bleyer. There are a few websites where you can buy swing dance shoes listed below, but always make sure you do some research into the fit before ordering them:
www.swingdanceuk.com
www.revival-retro.com
www.bleyershoes.com