Clothes
Pretty much anything you feel comfortable and confident dancing in! Jeans, dress pants, t-shirts, blouses, shirts, yoga pants, skirts, etc.
Avoid clothes that:
- restrict your movement. e.g. a shirt that’s too tight
- obstruct the instructor’s view of your legs and feet, in case he/she wants to make corrections. e.g. a maxi dress.
- too revealing that it makes you or others feel uncomfortable
Shoes
For your first few salsa classes, you can wear street shoes that:
- fit you well and stay on your feet. Not recommended: slippers, flip-flops, slingbacks.
- are flexible
- have a smooth sole (you should be able to feel the floor with your feet)
- don’t grip the floor too much, because they might hurt your ankles when you turn. Not recommended: tennis shoes, running shoes.
- have low heel or less than 2.5 inch heels
You may consider investing in a good pair of dance shoes. Dance shoes are generally light and flexible. Proper dance shoes will give you the right amount of traction to move around the floor. In Salsa we typically use latin dance shoes that have suede soles. The soles are thin enough to feel the floor but padded enough to make hours of dancing enjoyable and pain-free.
- For ladies: heeled sandal style latin dance shoes with heels at or below 2.5 inches high. A typical style is open toe with straps.
- For men: typically leather practice shoes with suede soles. The heel will also be a little higher to distribute the weight forward to the balls of the feet.
A few good dance shoe brands:
- Very fine (good introductory brand)
- Supadance (reputable brand with beaufiful styles to choose from)
- Ray Rose (Tiffany’s personal favorite for social dancing, performances, and competitions)
Dance shoes do stretch out, so make sure your newly purchased dance shoes fit your feet tightly. This way the dance shoes will be very comfortable after you break them in. If your newly purchased dance shoes fit just right or too lose, very likly they will be too big to wear after a few practices. I found this out the hard way!
Happy dancing!
Tiffany
