Concrete and More Shoes

In looking at this title you might ask, and what do these two items have in common? On the surface, perhaps, they don't. But I have found these two things crucial in my quest for dancing injury free, one bad, one good. Let's take the bad first and get it over with.

Like many things in dancing, I'd really never given the floor on which I dance much thought. I noticed they were mostly wood, with the occasionally tile and sometimes concrete. I knew that wood was best. I'm not a total dweeb. I'd also heard the terms "floating" floor bandied about and even danced on one. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, I thought I'd actually see it hover or something. Not really. But I did think I'd be able to feel it move but I didn't.

All this time Gary and I had been doing our practice at home. We have a nice wood floor, albeit small. After I started to have some problems with my knees I realized they hurt most after dancing on certain flooring. Tile not so good, concrete...horrible. And surprisingly, our wood floor at home. I asked my dance teacher about various flooring. Wooden dance floors, she said, were either "floating" meaning they had a bunch of cushioning underneath, or had a criss cross wood system underneath. I thought about our floor at home. We live in a condo. Our nice wood floor sits, you guessed it, atop a huge slab o' concrete.

So. I have eliminated all dancing on concrete period. At home we still practice our steps, but we don't dance hard anymore. I also, on the advice of a medical friend, wear shoes or supportive sandals in the house. Think about it, she said, you are walking back and forth all day long (I work at home) with bare feet...on concrete.

The other part of this post is the fun part. Shoes. I have pretty much given up even my thick Cuban heels except when we go to a really fancy dance. It's a sport. So I need sports shoes. I found a cool place in Argentina...they do most of the shoes for Dancing With The Stars. They are not cheap. Mine were around $120, but for happy feet and knees that is so worth it. They are dance sneakers. Not as pretty as sky high heels, but very cute and sparkly. And oh so comfortable. They make them to order, and the support staff are very nice. Here is the web site:

www.argentinatangoshoes.com

In conclusion, I discover every day how much dancing really is a sport. You have to take care of your body if you want to dance a lot. And I do.