Dancing can sometimes be hard on the feet. The more you get “hooked” on dancing, the more time you are spending on your feet. As with any activity where you are on your feet a lot, you eventually start to feel the effects at the end of the day (or night). You may experience tired or sore feet. These effects can be amplified if you have a high or low arch like Dawn and I do. This can result in any number of aches and pains. The good news is, much of this is easily fixable.

If you are going to dance a lot, we always recommend getting a good pair of dance shoes. Comfortable shoes are going to make a big difference in how your feet feel at the end of the night. For most, the right shoes will work wonders. If you lean towards a high or low arch, new shoes maintain a good structure that will help. However, as the shoes break in, they will loose their ability to maintain the arch and you’ll start to feel the effects again even though you have nice comfy shoes. It’s not realistic to get new shoes every few months, so in this case, it’s best to get some kind of insert.

Inserts can work wonders! While they aren’t a cure-all, they are pretty darn close for most people. The best way to see if this will work for you is to go to the local store and get a pair of Dr. Scholl’s inserts. Dance in them for a while and see if you notice an improvement. You might want to try a few different kinds to see what works. The good news is Dr. Scholl’s are pretty cheap so it allows you to experiment. You may want to stay away from the gel kind as they won’t offer much support and may make your feet hot while dancing. Keep in mind that inexpensive inserts like this don’t last long and wear out fast. Also, they take a one-size-fits-all approach and may not be ideal for everyone. In my case, I had to modify the inserts to build up the arch and even then, they didn’t last long.

The ultimate is getting a orthotic (insert) that is customized for you and is built to last and take abuse. A few years ago, Dawn and I went to Good Feet (there is a store in Orlando off Sandlake Rd.). The staff there gives you personalized help and fits an insert just for you. While it takes a bit to get use to a more aggressive kind of insert, both Dawn and I have found them to work wonders. Sure, we still get tired after a number of hours on our feet dancing and teaching, but the effects are minimal and there are no aches and pains. Best of all, the inserts last. We’ve had ours for years and each pair work like they day we got them. I will warn you; they are expensive! However, if I factor in the number of Dr. Scholl’s I would have bought over the years, I’ve by far come out ahead by getting the Good Feet inserts. If you are looking to save, focus on the “Maintainer” family of inserts since they are the best for dancing and exercise. While their plan of different inserts for different activities is nice, let’s face it, it’s the more active activities you need inserts for.

I’ve only gone bowling a few times in my life (outside of Wii Sports, that is), so the concept of dancing in bowling shoes was a bit foreign to me. I didn’t know much about bowling shoes. I knew some people danced in them, but I had the picture of the classic rent-a-shoe in my head with the thin leather sole that I never found to be very comfortable. Granted, over the years, I have seen many people dancing in those for their classic and quirky 50’s style. However, these shoes never seemed like something I wanted to dance in all night long.

Recently, Timmy and Rochelle showed me their bowling shoes and told me about the deals they got. So based on their good word… and the fact another pair of my teaching shoes where wearing out… I headed over to Brunswick Lanes in Apopka where they have a bowling supply shop. The shoe selection certainly shattered my perception of bowling shoes. Styles ranged from classic, to tennis shoe-like, to skate-shoe (Vans) like. All shoes, even the classic styles, had good padding and support (unlike the rent-a-shoe in my mind). Brunswick carried Dexter brand bowling shoes. I’m familiar with this brand as I have bought their street shoes in the past to dance in and they have a track record for lasting a long time. Bowling shoes already have a suede leather bottom which is perfect for dancing. However, most do not have suede on the heel and some only have suede over the ball of the foot. The heels are made of a slick rubber… but still, it is rubber. This concerned me a bit. Some of the more expensive styles even had removable suede sections so you could walk outside. A very cool feature, but I wondered how the removable suede would stand up to the wear and tear of dancing.

So here is the best part… the price! Shoes started in the low $30 range (possibly lower on a few models) and maxed around $70. For swing dancing, the low end models seemed more designed for the job. Now normally, you would spend this much on shoes and have to pay another $20 to $30 to have them chromed with suede lather. The bowling shoes already have the suede leather (although not over the heels), so this is a savings of possibly 50% on a pair of dance shoes. With this in mind, I got two pair to try. A tennis shoe like pair for teaching and a more classic looking pair for dances.

So how do they dance? Sunday, I taught for over three hours and did a demo dance in the tennis shoe pair. They were very comfortable and after three hours dancing and moving around, my feet didn’t feel tired. The suede was slick and great for turns. I’m use to dancing in full chromed street shoes, so the rubber heels took a bit of getting use to. They didn’t stick as bad as I thought they would, but it is enough to make you a little aware. Previously, I was concerned that the heels would catch during multiple turns and there would be a risk of torquing a knee. This wasn’t a reality when dancing since the slick rubber didn’t catch that much and only tended to “slow” when it did. Overall, the rubber heels didn’t have any major impact on spins. However, it did impact flat footed slides and this is something I had to adjust for. On the tennis shoe pair, the suede leather was bordered by a little bit of rubber that caught a small amount on “shuffle” type footwork such as in Shag and Balboa. I imagine this won’t be an issue with the more classic looking pair since the suede goes right to the edge.

Overall impression: Good! Time will tell how they wear, but initial impressions are that bowling shoes offer a lot of bang for the buck as a dance shoe. I think the little quirks it has by not having suede over the whole sole would go largely unnoticed by all but the more advanced dancers. This makes bowling shoes an excellent deal for those first starting out who may not want to invest much in dance shoes. I may have the heels chromed on mine, but it sill is less than having the entire shoe chromed and still results in a deal. Keep in mind, bowling shoes are very casual in style, so it may be hard to find a style for the more dressy occasion (especially for the ladies).

Update: After looking at the bottoms of the bowling shoes, they don’t have suede leather. It seems to be more of a tightly woven felt.  Still great for dancing, however, I wonder if it will last as long as suede leather.