The short answer
What to wear to a salsa class
Comfortable clothes you can move in, and shoes you can turn in. That is the whole requirement. There is no dress code at our Monday classes and no footwear requirement.
The only thing that matters
What actually matters about shoes
One thing: whether the sole lets you turn.
Cuban salsa turns on the ball of the foot, constantly. A shoe with a lot of grip stops the foot rotating while the rest of the leg keeps going, and that is hard on a knee. A running shoe with a thick grippy sole is the least comfortable thing you can wear, which surprises most people, because it is also the most comfortable thing to walk in.
The floor at Robina Community Centre is timber, which is forgiving. You do not need suede soles to cope with it.
What not to wear
Brand new gripping trainers, for the knee reason above. Flip flops or backless sandals, which come off mid turn, and that is funny once. Anything you cannot lift your arms in, because there is a lot of arm. And heels you cannot already walk in: a social dance floor is not the place to learn a new heel height, so if you dance in heels, bring the ones you know.
Everything else is fine. People come in jeans, in gym gear, and occasionally straight from work in office clothes.
What works, easiest first
- Smooth-soled flats or loafers, low heel or none.
- Older trainers with worn soles. The worn part is the useful part.
- Socks, if you are comfortable. Plenty of people do.
- Proper dance shoes, if you already own them.
Not yet
When it is worth buying dance shoes
Not for your first class, and not for your tenth.
The point at which dance shoes start to make sense is when you are dancing often enough that the difference in the sole is doing something for you, rather than being a purchase you made to feel committed. For most people who come on Mondays that is somewhere after a few months, and for plenty of very good social dancers it never happens at all.
When it does, the thing you are buying is a suede or chrome-leather sole that slides in a controlled way, and a shoe that holds the foot without gripping the floor.
Fit matters more than brand and more than price.
What to bring
- Water.
- A second top if you feel the heat. The hall warms up.
- That is it. No partner, no booking.
When you are ready
Where people buy them in Australia
It’s hard to find good dance shoes on the Gold Coast, and buying online can be risky. It’s good to know where you can go to find quality shoes for a reasonable price.
These are the three we point people at. We have no arrangement with any of them and we do not get anything if you buy.
For women
JJ's House has a wide range at the cheaper end. Read the reviews under each shoe before you order, because sizing varies a lot between styles. Latin Dance Shoes Australia, at Mojo Dance sells proper Latin dance shoes from a dance shop rather than a general retailer.
For men
Leslie Shoes, also trading as Misti Dance Footwear makes hand-made leather dance shoes in Padstow in Sydney. Alex, who makes them, will do custom colours and styles, and sends them by mail order. If you are going to own one pair of dance shoes for the next ten years, this is where we would send you.
Ask on a Monday as well. Somebody in the room will have an opinion, usually a strong one, and they will have bought a pair recently enough for it to be worth hearing.
Still not sure?
- Wear whatever you have got.
- Nobody is going to look at your feet.
- Read what else to expect.