Leads: does dancing with follows in heels vs. flats feel different?

Does dancing with follows in heels or flats feel better?

  • Follows in flats feel better to dance with

    Votes: 3 25.0%

  • Follows in heels feel better to dance with

    Votes: 1 8.3%

  • The same / no preference / can't really tell the difference

    Votes: 8 66.7%
  • Total voters
    12
Sabrosura said:
I actually went online today and found "Latin dance shoes" with a 2 cm (3/4 inch) heel, for when I want to wear something a bit "fancier" looking than jazz shoes. Before it was really hard to find low-heeled Latin shoes (other than the very basic black / gold ones for ballroom), so I am glad these options now exist :)

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Oh yea, shoes with heels like these, I find the follower so much easier to lead. They are not distracted by:

- Stilletos: being on tippy toes affecting center of gravity and a more tense state

- Sneaker level flats: very grounded but "heavy" and slightly slower to start movement. So often, unless they are wearing dance sneakers, I find they end up on their toes slightly.

They don't even have to be so fancy. Any shoes with that low heel I find has a great balance. They are grounded enough to be relaxed yet the heel gives them a slight "push" and easier to create interia. It made more sense that if you know you are going dancing to be comfortable yet pragmatic. For leads, it's easier to be in completely flat shoes as we don't move (trurn/spin, readjust footing, etc) as much. It's more if wearing boots that is annoying. In Bachata, I can wear my Danner's without issue but in Salsa...
 
Smiley79 said:
So often, unless they are wearing dance sneakers, I find they end up on their toes slightly.
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Yup that is what I do when wearing jazz shoes to a certain extent, otherwise, indeed, if I keep the heel down at all times, then movement initiation becomes harder (I still remember the first time I wore ballet flats when social dancing...such a disaster lol). But (in jazz shoes, which do have a bit of a heel) I don't completely go up on the toes, I just keep the weight forward on the ball of the foot, which achieves the same effect with much less strain on the feet -- and allows me to quickly lower the heel and grip the floor with the entire foot in moves where I can make use of that. Win win :)

I actually have to go more on the toes in heels since I have to lift up enough to overcome the heel e.g. during turns, vs. turning in jazz shoes where I don't have to go so high up on toes during turns.

In this video I was dancing in jazz shoes (the feet are more visible at 3:20-3:40) -- the forward weight on the balls of the feet is visible, without being fully on my toes (and movement initiation/reaction is no different than in heels, and likely better in moves that require split weight on both feet, due to the floor-grip effect I was describing earlier):

 
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