curl1982

I have seen many videos on youtube with belly dancers wearing high heels. Most of them have extremely stiff movements and it almost looks like their natural movements are disabled because of their heels (which sometimes even look like proper stripper heels to me - 6inch platform heels).

I don't mean to sound bitchy but can anyone tell me WHY they wear heels? Isn't the traditional dance meant to be danced with bare feet?

Don't get me wrong, I love high heels and wear them to work every day, but I have tried to dance in them and feel I get a much better balance when I am bare foot and also I am less likely to break my ankle...

Please tell me what you prefer and why :->

Caroline_afifi

I used to wear heels alot when dancing in Greek restaurants where plates got smashed. This was for practical reasons. They were not very high but I thought they looked nicer than flat ones.

If you dance regularly in heels (and the same shoes) you get used to them.
Certain dance styles really do not lend themselves to shoes but some look good and help with certain moves. Certainly 'going down' to sitting position is easier but other moves can be off balance. It just depends on the dance style, movements and costume.

With regards to platforms, I cant comment as I have never tried it but some dancers do appear to have some of their movement curtailed by very high shoes.

Shanazel

If I have to wear shoes for safety, I wear very flexible slippers. I can't think much less dance when I am wearing heels; it takes too much energy to stay upright. I have danced a few places where perhaps the safest footwear would've been hiking boots, like the performance around a campfire in an isolated archeologist/caver camp in a high desert area replete with cactus and rattlesnakes!

Lots of dancers wear heels, even the ones in the old films. Some people think women's legs look nicer when their feet are angled drastically on heels; personally, I think this ranks up there with bound feet, but I am from Arkansas, after all.

Some women who wear heels all the time actually have a shortened Achilles tendon and cannot comfortably dance barefoot. There are other foot disorders that require shod dancing. Other people simply like the finished appearance heels give them, and then there are the shoe fanatics who use any opportunity to wear yet another pair of shoes.

Mark_Balahadia

Dancing in heels is fine but very high heels will distort a belly dancer's movements. I recommend that a dancer wear no more than a 2.5 inch heel. Lower is even better but it is true that heels give a more polished look. Platforms are impossible to properly dance in because you can't "feel" the floor and you become ridiculously sway-backed.

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Samira bint Aya

In Cairo, I got the feeling some Egyptians do not like to see dancers barefoot. Farida Fahmy was telling us she found it un-classy. She also said that in the past, dancing in heels was the norm, and that only in recent decades, has dancing barefoot caught on…

Personally, I see shoes as part of the costume. They go well with some styles, and not so well with others.

But I have to admit, I can not dance in high shoes at all!

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Caroline_afifi

OK, I am going to say that this is straight forward and complex at the same time.
Straight forward in so much as fashions come and go and perhaps the wearing of shoes (or not) is one of them.
The 'complex' is what I percieve as the class and cultural issues associated with feet. Generally, the people who do not wear feet are the ones who cannot afford them. The appearance of feet is also extremely important to many and girls sometimes judge each other based on feet (even in my home city of Liverpool). I have never had so much attention regarding the care of my feet as I have when in Egypt though.
Care and appearance of feet is a class thing. Displaying the soles of your feet is a taboo cultural thing.
The grounded nature of Egyptian dance often means that bare feet is nessesary. I never really like to see baladi or Saaidi perfromed in shoes with heels.
Slippers are a different matter and people wear them for a variety of reasons.

Marya

I usually wear some kind of shoe when I dance. I have foot problems that are aggravated by dancing barefoot.

I wear shoes that are specifically for dance with a low heel (1-2 inches) that either compliment my costume or are a beige color.

The beige colored ones are jazz booties that are incredibly comfortable and have great arch support. I use them for the folkloric dances since they give the appearance that I am barefoot. I also use them for class.

Marya

curl1982

Thank you for your replies. I think I will buy some "dance paws". My teacher wears them and they look very comfortable + they are the closest I can get to being barefoot. I am going to wear them for a drum solo as it quite fast. I will try and wear heels (2 inch) for my slower choreo's for which I plan to wear my mermaid style egyptian cotume as it is more elegant and will look more polished :-)

Will try dancing in heels tonight and let you know tomorrow, if I broke my foot or not and if I took my lounge curtains down with me at the same time :->

Maria_Aya

Ok you may hate me, but the sec I realize that a dancer is wearing flat shoes (like ballet, or slippers, even decorated) i cant continue watching the dance.
For me it is an esthetic thing.
About shoes:
For baladi, saidi, folklore in general barefoot.
For Raqs Sharqi (not all types) high heel ones.

Cant stand the platforms !!! lol

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Eshta

One word: Bloch !!!!

They have almost nude 'foot thongs' that are great for protecting the balls of your feet for turns but you can barely see them.

I also personally can recommend their elastoplast split sole ballet shoe - it's literally two halves of a slipper held together across the sole by elastic! Very invisible but full support.

I always wear ballroom danceshoes for performing, albeit kickflare heels (so wide base) of no more than 2 inches. I think it looks a bit 'incomplete' to have these glamorous costumes but nothing on the feet.

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