shoes
It’s all about the shoes people, sort of. In my opinion, for women, there is really only one real choice: Comme Il Faut. For men there are several off the shelf choices. Not the least of which are Puma Future Cat Lo’s. Or if you want to get very comfy, for leading and/or following socially or for practice, as well as coming to my classes: Sansha’s!
For the Ladies.
Comme Il Fauts. That’s it. Look no further. Really. Nothing else matters. Drama aside, to be certain there are other shoes made by other people, and I’m certain they are FAB, well made shoes (take for instance Robin Tara Shoes in Maine, yes Maine, she makes a fab line of shoes), or NeoTango shoes, however for me I don’t want anything else. Its a personal choice. So you’re saying to yourself, ok where can I get these FAB shoes Miles ? The shoes can be purchased online but not in a ‘retail store’. If you’re looking online, you will more than likely not be able to see the whole shoe (you have to email them to show you the WHOLE shoe AND you’re still going to have to send you several shoe sizes to see if they fit properly), which can be rather expensive. You will NOT find them at your local dance supply store so don’t even look for them. Your best bet is find a tango festival and try and buy there at the festival. Aside from a tango festival, unless you’re going to Argentina directly, you may find a pair on ebay.com. But again, you’re going to want to try them on.
In short, these shoes have to be ordered directly from Argentina, or you have to buy them at a tango festival. You want to try them on first, and then keep trying them on. I used to own a pair, until they burned up in a fire (yes I’m a guy, and no Im not gay or a closet cross dresser. In order to teach what I know I had to put myself in the role of a follower and that meant being in 3 in heels and to dance socially in them), and I gotta tell ya, they were the best investment of my life. I don’t have an opportunity to dance in them anymore but when I did…I loved them! Now for the down side. Don’t buy them. Keep your money in your pocket, you’re going to need that for private lessons for a while until you learn how to walk properly! Some teachers will put you in heels immediately. I’m not one of them. I believe that you have to learn how to walk first, and more over learn to use your feet, because you haven’t been all your life in respect to tango. So before you buy the most amazing pair of $200.00 shoes you’ll ever own…learn how to use your feet first!
For the Men.
First things first. Yes, you can walk into any dance supply store and buy ‘tango shoes’ for men. Unlike the ladies there isn’t just one brand that i’d recommend. Its really about comfort for you. Because these shoes for men, look and feel pretty much like normal dress street shoes with a slightly more tailored heel and pad. And really truth be told, store bought shoes from a dance supply store from my perspective look about as much fun as watching paint dry. It just feels so…plastic and ballroomy to me. FAKE!
Or you can go out and buy a pair of Puma’s today and be very happy. You’ll look very flashy. However, as I said to the ladies above, you haven’t learned how to walk yet. So my cheap advice to you is bring a pair of old sneakers to class and put masking tape over the pads of your feet! I know there are a lot of tango teachers out there that will cringe at that advice. Not to mention I’m undercutting the dance supply stores. Fact is: LEARN HOW TO WALK FIRST, then go invest in a pair of shoes.
At some point you’re going to want a real pair of flashy leader shoes. And there are many of them, please contact me via email and I’ll be happy to direct you to a retailer you can buy a good pair of shoes from….
For Men & For Women & My Classes
You’ll see women ‘leading’ and men ‘following’ (it does happen and pay close attention to these people, because truth be told, they’re 1000 times better than you right now, and about 100 times better than any dancer in the room, and there’s a reason for it), how are they able to do that, they don’t have the right shoes ? In this instance, its not about the shoes folks, its about the skillset. However, having good footwear will save your feet for those long hours on the dance floor. So I recommend the following for leaders OR followers for my classes, practice and/or even at the milongas: SANSHA’S. Dynamo S30’s. You will thank me later. There is ONE and ONLY 1 precautionary tale about these shoes. They have no arch support. So do not wear them longer than 6 hrs at a stretch per day. However you can add arch support for them. Also they run small. So get 2 sizes bigger than your normal street shoe, at least for the men.
Because you’re ordering online, you’ll have to order several pairs to get just the right fit. However, if you’re in New York City, you can go by their retail outlet on 8th Avenue and 53rd St. (which is actually on the corner of 53rd Street and just a little back from the street) go there. I strongly suggest if you go, that you call them a few days ahead of your visit and make certain that they have the colors that you want in the sizes that you want. They will order them for you with no obligation for you to buy them. You’re going to end up buying them anyway, but its good to know that a retailer like this exists. Now lastly, and here’s the real secret to working with these shoes: Walk in them for a few hours a week. You need to break in the pads of the feet, so find some SOFT Concrete. Not too coarse or pourous, but soft concrete, the kind that’s very similar to slate or shale in texture, and has just enough coarsness to it, but not much. And you want to scrape the sole, and really the pads of the sole, against that surface. The reason being is that you want to make the rubber sole pliable for later on down the line when you start doing ochos and sacadas and all sorts of craziness.
So my advice is this: Buy a pair of Sansha’s! It’ll be the second best investment of your life, right after having private lessons with me (smile).