Footwear and foot care: successful dancers in various walks of life talk about achieving a firm foundation for their dancing--how they choose what to put on their feet and their students'.

We pick all footwear and dancewear based upon what our one dance-supply store in our town can provide. The store is small, with not a large storage area. The owner is limited in what she can stock. Also, some large companies require a big outlay of funds to stock their wares," answers Linda Huffman, noting how choices can be limited by circumstance. "A `military town' must maintain basic attire because the clients move around the world so often. We require the basics of what dancers would need in most dance schools across the world--white tap shoes for our preschoolers, tan buckled tap shoes for elementary and middle school, tan lace-up tap shoes for high school, and black lace-up tap shoes for adults. Tan gore boots for jazz, tan Roman sandals for lyrical, white ballet slippers for boys, pink for girls' slippers and pointe shoes."

--Linda Huffman
Director/Teacher, Dance Center
Jacksonville, North Carolina

We opened The Shoe Room[R] in 1998 to offer superior pointe shoe fitting service and selection to the dance public throughout the greater Toronto area," explains Carol Beevers about the unique footwear outlet associated with Canada's National Ballet School that she directs. "Now we carry enough shoes and dancewear to accommodate the professional ballet and academic programs here and also many private studios around." Although diversified, Beevers and her staff still focus on their area of expertise--fitting and helping a dancer select the right pointe shoe for her feet. "Now," she adds, "we have a mail-order department that serves the whole of North America," since students and teachers leave to dance in all parts of the world.... "We have a `virtual fitting' system and will work with any dance student who does not have access to our store. Virtual fittings may be exchanged at no extra shipping and handling costs until correct fit is obtained."

--Carol Beevers, Store Manager &
Footwear Specialist
The Shoe Room[R], The National Ballet School
Toronto, Canada

Different brands fit different people," says Greta Martin as she readies for yet another musical theater tour. "I'm from the old school; I go to a store and try on shoes. Try on, work out in rehearsal. In a well-financed Broadway production, shoes are made for you. They take a map of your foot, do fittings, make the shoes, and repair or replace them as needed. But it depends on budgets. Otherwise we are sent to a store to choose from those shoes a designer has selected for styles and colors. The same with tights," she adds. "My feet are narrow so I add heel grips and insoles for cushioning. There are all kinds of aids in my bag: moleskin, Nu Skin--the liquid Band-Aids dancers are using now."

--Greta Martin, dancer
Now touring with West Side Story
c/o Dance Magazine
New York, New York

I like to use Second Skin when I have it. Otherwise I just use Neosporin and Band-Aids, and toe tape," says Joanna Poz-Molesky (see Young Dancer story on page 42). "I only use ankle warmers if I'm injured or sore, and leg warmers only when it's really cold. I buy slippers at San Francisco Dancewear because it's a really, really good shop and it's closest. I've been going there ever since I was little--I guess my teacher recommended it to my mom. For modern I dance barefoot or sometimes wear jazz shoes. I bought Capezio jazz shoes [at the dancewear shop] just to see how they fit, but I usually order styles and pointe shoes I know from the magazine or a catalog. I find it's often cheaper that way."

Joanna Poz-Molesky, student
Co-Director, En Pointe Dance Company
Berkeley, California