Your ballroom dance shoes need to be in tip top shape for your next ballroom dance competition. We talked about how to shine up your shoes in a previous blog post here on New York’s ballroom dance blog. So this post is dedicated to the bottom of your dance shoes.

Your goal is to have the perfect balance between grip and slip for your dance shoes. Suede bottom shoes need to be brushed after each use to raise the nap and clear any dirt from the suede. If the suede becomes compressed too much it may be time to get your shoes resoled.

Here is a picture of a man’s ballroom dance shoe that needs to be resoled because the suede is to compressed. As you can see the hard plastic of the heel is about to be exposed. The upper of the shoe is also showing signs of wear, which is a great thing for the dancer and dance classes but not great for the judges of your ballroom dance competition.

Here is the same pair of shoes after being resoled.

As you can see the uppers have been polished and shined and the lowers have brand new suede glued onto them.

These new soles provide a nice cushion and the right balance of slip for my sliding feet and grip for stopping.

If you are wondering where to get your shoes shined and resoled in the New York City or Long Island area, call your local ARthur Murray Dance Center and they will advise you on the nearest and best quality shoe cobbler.