Most jazz shoes are soft supple leather designed to fit like a second skin, they have a low heel to help absorb impact (a ballet shoe has no heel) the pleated toe and flexible split sole arch allow the foot freedom and ease of pointe, also allowing for ease of rolling through for jete or tendu.

The sole pad on the ball of the foot is usually a specially formulated PVC material (some styles like the Sansha Moderno JA33 use a suede sole pad) that will not bind on most conventional dance floors but gives enough grip to prevent slipping. The typical jazz shoe has become almost as universal as the ballet flat in dance. You will see it used for practice dance for many styles of folk dance where a soft close fitting shoe is needed.

There are basically 2 styles in jazz shoes the lace up style referred to as a jazz oxford and the slip on style often referred to as a jazz bootie, this is to distinguish it from the older version jazz boot that laced up over the ankle and part way up the calf, jazz boots are not very popular any more and the most popular style jazz shoe is now the slip on ankle bootie.

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The jazz sneaker is a far more structured shoe, and while it also features a split sole, allowing freedom of foot movement and comfortable arch support, the shoe is far more rigid than a jazz shoe and offers the foot more support over all. This is ideal for hip hop, break and street dance routines. The jazz sneaker has also become very popular as a practice shoe for salsa and ballroom by both men and women.

Proper jazz sneakers feature non marking soles, which makes the studios very happy, and they also feature a spin spot on the ball of the foot that allows the dancer to turn or spin far more readily than any regular sneaker could ever do, and many also have a small flat square on the tip of the toe that allows for toe stands more readily than a curved toe can.

There is a wide range of jazz or dancesneakers available from all the major brands and new styles are introduced every year. Regardless of new styles the best selling Jazz sneaker for the last 7 or 8 years has been the Bloch Boost S0538L, it is a very traditional sneaker made of mesh fabric and suede upper, with great flexibility and lots of arch support. The Canvas Boost S0238L is very similar to the original but lower in price.

New shoes are always coming out to try and take over the Boost’s position. Capezio has a great new entry the DS27 Pro Impact Trainer, this shoe is 1/2 the weight of traditional dansneakers and very flexible, and not to ne outdone Bloch have two new contenders in the lightweight sneaker field, their new Trinity S0514L and the Bloch Fusion S0512L are low profile shoes with slim soles and patented TPU Medial Pod ball pad for ultimate flexibility and spin control.

Also soon out from Bloch is a new shoe called the Amalgam. In addition to Bloch and Capezio Sansh have a couple of very good sneakers, the Salsette V932 features a suede sole and is very popular with Salsa and ballroom dancers, but is also bought for traditional jazz work, and The Sansha Zoom is a nice wide fitting shoe and popular with men and women.

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Got a Question about Dancewear?

Whether it relates to Capezio, Bloch, Mirella or Sansha…

Scott Malabar has the answer

Email me:

askscottmalabar@gmail.com

Check us Out:

CanadaDanceWear.com

Until the Next Time

Keep Dancing!

Scott Malabar

Traditional jazz requires a shoe that is like a second skin on your foot.

That being said, young dancers with growing feet may need a little room so they can have room for growth.  For the experienced dancer they will want…the shoe to fit extremely snug, premium jazz shoes like the Bloch Enduro-Tech, or Jazzsoft, are made of high quality soft calf leathers, or a premium pigskins or even goatskin.  These fine soft leathers will stretch as the foot works in the shoe, and shoes can stretch more than a full size.

Experienced shoe fitters find that a child that buys a size 1 in September of one year and uses the shoe regularly will stretch the shoe as the foot grows. By September of the following year parents come in and want the next size so they try on a 2 and it is tighter than the size 1 from last year because it has stretched so much, so they have to buy a 2.5 or even 3 in some cases.

For adult feet the same amount of stretch is inherent in the soft leathers so the shoe needs to be fitted so that when it stretches from the rigors of the dance class it will fit properly. One of the most common mistakes parents make is looking at a big toe pressing on the shoe and saying they will BLOW their toe through the shoe!

This is an old wives tale!

This supposed blowing through the shoe is really a factor of wear, the shoe stretches and fits the foot, then as with every shoe there are wear points caused by the way the student dances, this can include going over on the sides of the shoe and almost certainly dragging the toe across the floor while pointing.

Guess where the most friction and wear happens – on the big toe, so it is the natural place to wear out first, and the second most common wear area is on the sides of the ball of the foot where the soft leather (or canvas) comes in contact with the floor.

Got a Question about Dance Wear?

Whether it relates to Capezio, Bloch, Mirella or Sansha…

Scott Malabar has the answer

Email me: askscottmalabar@gmail.com

Until the Next Time

Keep Dancing!

Scott Malabar

Got a Question about Dancewear?

Whether it relates to Capezio, Bloch, Mirella or Sansha… Scott Malabar has the answer

Email me: askscottmalabar@gmail.com

Until the Next Time Keep Dancing!

Scott