Learning to Dance In socks?

[Leonid Turetsky]

Hello,

I am going to start teaching a group class soon. It will be a beginner cha cha class. The place I will be renting from is a ballet/jazz/tap dance school. So the floor in the room is specially made for that type of dancing. So the woman says she doesn't want people to ruin her floor with sneakers, or street shoes. She isn't sure if ballroom shoes will be okay or not, so I thought socks maybe okay....but the more i thought about it, the more I am not sure.

Now, I don't know, just want your opinion, do you think people mind dancing in socks?(mind you these are absolute beginners). Do you think it matters?

 

[BlueBambue]

I think that socks are fine for absolute beginners, but definitely not ideal. Is the owner against jazz sneakers? I think those allow more control and probably wouldn't be a problem for the floor.

 

[mamboqueen]

I would think people wouldn't mind dancing in socks...as long as someone isn't stinking up the place -

 

[wooh]

I think socks will be fine for beginners. (Ballroom shoes should be fine on the floor though.) Beginners won't want to invest in special shoes (either ballroom or jazz or whatever) until they know it's something they're going to stick with for a while.

 

[kayak]

You should go to a medical supply place and get a box of the surgery booties. They can be disposable, but dance students could probably use them for quite a while. They come in boxes much like latex gloves. The cheapest are just clean room material, but there are some with a little tread on the bottom. They are cheap enough that many of the higher end Parade of Homes locations have them for people who will not go if they have to take off their shoes.

 

[Leonid Turetsky]

-

thanks for your inputs. I appreciate it

 

[dancerman]

She probably has a Marley floor and she would be correct, you should not wear ballroom shoes on it. So if that is the case I suppose your only option is socked feet. Looks like you don't have choice if that is where you want to teach.

Is that only because of the ladies heels? If that's the case you could require women to wear heel savers. It may be hard to get new students to be willing to dance in socks. May scare some poeple away, unless you already have an established clientelle.

 

[fascination]

She probably has a Marley floor and she would be correct, you should not wear ballroom shoes on it. So if that is the case I suppose your only option is socked feet. Looks like you don't have choice if that is where you want to teach.

when I was with FP we danced in ballroom shoes on marley and it was abigger problem for us than it was for the floor b/c it doesn't slide well...and I have had students try to zumba in socks and both hurt their feet as well as trip on their own socks...i would reccommend jazz or ballet slippers...ballet slippers from payless are quite cheap

 

[scotttocs]

when I was with FP we danced in ballroom shoes on marley and it was abigger problem for us than it was for the floor b/c it doesn't slide well...and I have had students try to zumba in socks and both hurt their feet as well as trip on their own socks...i would reccommend jazz or ballet slippers...ballet slippers from payless are quite cheap

I'll echo that. When I took a ballroom class in Uni, they actually recommended the cheap floppy jazz-shoes as a beginner dance shoe. You can get a jazz show with just enough of a heel to not completely change the feeling for ballroom without spending very much.

On allaboutdance website I see them for 20$ or less. (THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT, I was just doing a quick price-check)