She was lonely she was blue, She was sad and crying too, So I told her what to do, I said, "Put on your dancing shoes".
This is the chorus of a famous song recorded by innumerable artists in many languages over the last fifty years.
Its message is not so much get changed into special shoes, its just get yourself ready, were going out to dance to cheer you up.
There are though specialist shoes for particular type of dancing.
The modern day discos play a range of music and girls are dressed in the best clothes and shoes, not specifically shoes for dancing as much as what is the latest fashion in the High Street.
One specialist kind of shoe for dancing which is still made in the traditional way, and whose quality is still central to the performance, is the flamenco shoe which is worn to perform the Flamenco, a dance that has been popular in Spain for centuries.
The flamenco dancer wears ladies black shoes, almost exclusively. The womans skirt is also important as the visual comes into the whole performance.
Colours vary but they are generally black or red, strong colours for this most vibrant of dances. Fashioned predominantly from leather, they have heels of varying heights and nails down their length as the sound they make on the floor is a vital ingredient of the dance and complements the music being played.
It is a very active dance and is hard on the feet. As a consequence, it requires very solid shoes to perform properly, basically providing sturdy support to the heel. The
Ladies black shoes then were the first and main ingredient in flamenco dancing.
The Ballet shoe began in the 17th Century as a heeled shoe, only losing that heel a century later.
These days they are a very soft shoe made of leather, satin or canvas, lightweight and very flexible.
They are coloured in such a way as to give the spectator the impression that the dancer is barefooted.
In appearance the shoe looks more like a slipper and requires a strap across the top of the foot to keep it secure, sometimes in the form of elastic, sometimes a ribbon.
The shoe is a less essential part of the belly dancers costume.
Performed in the Middle East and North Africa, this form of dancing first appeared in the West in the 18th and 19th Centuries as images of the Ottoman Emperors harem were seen.
Costume is colourful, embroidered, bejewelled but the footwear fairly irrelevant.
In some countries the dancer performs in bare feet but in others, the open toed sandal using a strap around the big toes, and the ankle is suffice. In recent times in North Africa, high heels have begun to be worn while dancing, shades of the rock n roll fifties when the important thing was to look fashionable first.
It is one example of when the performer is not examined from head to toe for appearance.
