As a person with

USUALLY, you want your dance shoes to be LIGHTWEIGHT, fitting close to the foot, not adding much length & width outside the foot, able to slide, & SPIN with ease, good CUSHIONING & ARCH SUPPORT (insole can be added later). It is difficult to execute fancy footwork in a heavy shoe. (if you don't do fancy footwork, no prob). Serious dancers often have one type of shoe for classes & practice, and fancier pairs for social dance. But some people have a thing that goes like this: "Salsa is a street dance. I dance in street shoes, period." So even among our top dancers, I have seen some "interesting" shoes in local clubs. Generally "flip-flops" are not a good idea... They tend to "launch" airborn or just fall off during Salsa dancing! Ladies, you could easily twist your ankle the wrong way trying to dance in any shoe that is not secured to your foot with an ankle strap... especially one that has a heel on it. Street shoes (high heels) without a heel cup are just dangerous to dance in! You could easily slip sideways off the shoe with your heel.

As a person with "square" feet (size 6.5 W W W W), my choices are limited!... I have to order my dance heels from Italy & it takes about 3 months to build them. I wear SAS shoes to teach classes & practice in because they are available in my size at the local SAS store & they allow me to turn & spin without sticking to the floor. If you have wide feet too, click here to see some great shoes! http://site.mawebcenters.com/backbaydancewear/catalog_c36551_0.html

As for the rest of you, I think that people who take back-to-back classes are most comfortable in Dance Sneakers. Those who take only an hour at a time could get by with a low heel and a smooth sole. Those who only take one class and want to really feel the floor should try jazz shoes. In any case, your shoes should allow you to turn easily in order to preserve your knees, hips, & ankles! Ladies, I don't recommend high heels for beginners unless the shoes are specifically made for dance with a heel cup (see examples above), suede sole, and ankle strap. Every inch that you add on your heel height will add extra challenge to learning Salsa or any other dance. Anything more than 2 inches is probably going to be too much for classes... Best to save the pretty (and really high) shoes for social dancing!

Here's a review of Salsa shoes by an "expert"... He's right on track as far as I can tell...

where I order from... (great if you are "normal", narrow, or wide footed)... www.backbaydancewear.com

Can you mess up your feet, ankles and knees with your favorite shoes? YES.

1. If you don't have enough cushioning on the bottom, you won't notice the pain too much during the excitement of dancing, but over a period of weeks and months, you can cause long term injury to the muscle tissue in the area around the ball of the foot. You will definitely notice it when you sit down, and the next day and the next when you are not even dancing..

2. Arch support - ever hear of fallen arches? You need decent arch support.

3. Trying to spin in shoes that grip the floor? (rubber soles) really hard on your knees and ankles. Better to walk through those turns if you are wearing floor-gripprers.

4. You love the look of those too-tight shoes? Watch your toes go numb over time. Leave some room for you toes, please.

5. You will find out soon enough if your shoe/sock combo is giving you blisters. The wounds will heal eventually.You don't need me to tell you to find other shoes, or use some preventative pads, or whatever. I suggest some slippery socks, like Thorlos, Adidas and Nike... socks for runners that are great for dancing - padding, ventilation, moisture control, and they don't cause blisters. No more cotton socks for me.

6. Do your heels wear down at an angle toward the outside? As the heels wear more and more, it is pretty rough on your KNEES JOINTS! Fix the heels or get new shoes... We only get one set of knees & feet!