Ballroom dancers- ladies, what's your heel/shoe preference?

Question

I'm not pleased with the heel on my current practice shoes, which is a 2.75 slim flare. I thought I wanted to look a little sexy, but they're too tall and slender for lessons.
What works best for you- a Cuban heel, a 1.5 medium or...??
Here's a link to heel shapes just in case.
http://www.danceshoesstore.com/information.php?info_id=7
Thanks for ANY suggestions, hints or tips.

Answer 1

Here is a link to heel shapes that I use: http://www.dancesport.uk.com/shoes/index.htm
if you click on International Ladies Shoes on the left you will see it.

I prefer 2.5" slim heels for Standard and 3" slim flare (or IDS as they cal it) for Latin. Both for practice and performance. I also wore Standard shoes with 2.5 and 2.75 flare heels. I also have a pair of practice shoes with 1.5" cuban heels, but that's for the times when I'm really tired or when I want to dance socially, or when I'm memorising new choreorgaphy (i.e. not technique work) Practicing on Cuban heels all the time is not good for me because I want my feet to get stronger, I don't want them to get lazy.

I found that it is not the shape of the heel that makes the shoe stable or unstable. It is the way the heel is balanced. Cheaper brands tend to not have as good of a balance and I'm not surprised - proper balance takes years of research and experiments.

Try using big brands like Dance Naturals, Supadance, International. I found that it makes a lot of difference. I never wore Very Fine, but I saw them at the store and they didn't impress me as well-made shoes.

Also, the appropriate heel size depends on your shoes size. I wear Ameriacn 6 size and 2.5 seems just fine. My friend who wears American 4 (she is a tiny girl) wears 2" heels and my other friend who is really tall and has large feet wears 3" heels.

Are you selecting Latin shoes or Standrad shoes? I'd say, in order to select the heel height approprite for your shoes size and your current foot strenght you should put on the the shoe sin question and stand on your toes as high as you can go. For Latin shoes, your heels supposed to lift off the ground by at least 3/4 inch, and for Standard it should be at least 1 and 1/4 inch clearance. If you can't do that in your shoes - your heels are too high for you.

Answer 2

Supadance Shoes Clearance

Answer 3

I like the 2.5 low heel. It's still a nice line for the leg but gives you a bit more control. I find the cubans too chunky for keeping your steps clean and precise, and the lower heels are just too flat if you are going to dance in a heel at other times.

Answer 4

No I don't agree about Stavros Flatley - they deserved to go through as they are brilliant - funny and different. I agree Simon knows nothing about ballroom dancing - the couple were good but not as good as their audition. At the end of the day it was up to the public to put them through and they didn't so obviously the majority thought the other acts were better than them.