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DANCING FLOOR AND SHOE RELATIONSHIPS FOR SWING
by
Fiftynites
(from the Yehoodi Website)

A couple of years ago, I asked a very good local dancer how he could wear sneakers and dance without messing up his knees. He quietly told me that he put something on the bottom of his shoes and sneakers to turn and slide better. I got the idea that I uncovered some kind of secret and I better not pursue the conversation. I thought that Bleyers were the only thing to dance on! At Catalina last year, I found out that the LA style dancers sometimes glue something called Chrome Leather to the bottom of their shoes.

Dancing an average of 5 nights a week for many years, I began asking lots more questions and was lucky to work 2 blocks from a wholesale shoe supply company. I began many experiments and thought I'd share them with you.

As I am quite sure that I do not know it all, I ask that any of you that have experimented yourselves would add or correct what I have written here, and this will be edited and corrected at a later time.

DESCRIPTION OF FLOORS WOOD

"A+" quality-the best wood floor like "A" but sprung, like Memories in Orange County, Ca.

"A" quality-well cared for oak or maple wood floor. I have seen floors like this in NY at most of the dance schools. You can dance with any shoe bottoms or even in socks and feel good.

"B" quality-Usually like above but not consistent with each visit or various places on the floor. Sometimes a bit too slippery. Another type I'd put in this category are those temporary floors put down for
dance events and competitions. But some of those could very well fit in
lower categories especially when one trips on the joints.

"C" quality-Not too bad, but usually rough. Not very slick. Not the best surface to dance on.

"D" quality-Very inconsistent. Could be a good floor if cared for. Drinks and food that are spilled on them aren't cleaned very well, or seep into the unsealed wood.

"F" quality-Rough plywood, rubberized wood. Good "A" floors that are warped, has holes, nails or screws sticking up. Floors that were never made for dancing.

MARBLE, TILE, TERRAZZO, CONCRETE, ASPHALT

Although some of these are better surfaces are better to dance on than others, and even different types of the above surfaces can be better than others, anything else as far as I'm concerned is not ideal as there is insufficient give in the floor to act as a shock absorber. You will get tired quicker, your feet and knees will ache quicker and you
just won't last as long. Besides the hardness, these surfaces are sometimes very rough and you will grab the floor making it very hard to dance. I've found hard leather best for most of these surfaces.

SAND, GRASS, DIRT, CARPET, BOARDWALKS, BRICKS

Barefoot on sand and grass are fun. Hard leather is best on carpeting but can sometimes be too slippery. Sometimes there are so many ridges on some of these surfaces that if you don't have rounded
edges to your shoes, you will keep tripping in the cracks.

UNDERWATER

Tom Weiser and I are probably the first people to dance under water. We did a swingout 40 feet down near the Casino in Catalina last June! It was fun but we really needed music! We wore fins on our feet.

DESCRIPTION OF SHOES

I have always been on my feet a lot and love to be comfortable all the time. Shoes are personal taste and sometimes looks are more important   to some people than others. I prefer comfort over looks. You can have   both! I have found that the most comfortable sneakers are Nike Air in all styles, and Rockport shoes with only their lightweight "Rockport" bottoms (they come two ways). Both are very lightweight and absorb shock well for any use.

I have danced on many other brands and have personally found those      two my most comfortable. Some of the dance shoes sold for swing          dancers have very poor cushioning - my feet get tired in them after just a few hours of dancing or walking.

The arch support is also very important. Some shoes have very little   which will tire the feet out sooner. I have been fortunate enough to have a podiatrist friend who gave me very expensive orthotics, which are custom made shoe inserts which keep your feet and arches in their   perfectly relaxed natural position. You can get very inexpensive       do-it-yourself orthotics at large sporting goods stores. I've heard some people happy with other types of arch supports and feet
insoles. If your feet hurt at all, do something to change it, they
shouldn't hurt no matter how much you dance.

DESCRIPTION OF BOTTOMS

RUBBER and PLASTICS-like the bottoms of sneakers and many shoes.      These bottoms can sometimes be good, but if you grab the floor with your foot, your knee is going to take torque that will not only tire you out, but can do damage to the ligaments and tendons. Depending on the surface, some rubber bottoms can work. I've heard of some dancers letting their sneakers wear down to a smooth surface so they can slide and turn well, but this lessens the cushioning your shoes need to absorb shock.

The first time I danced with my regular sneakers on a good wood floor, I loved the bounciness and cushioning I felt.

CHROME LEATHER-In L.A., the dancers talk about "Chrome Leather", or "Chrome". This feels like a rough suede. It is very durable and you can control the slickness by roughing them up with a wire brush or just walking on the sidewalk with them. I just walk in them like regular shoes and they are always perfect for me. (I chromed my first pair of shoes on last November, and they are still good-and I walk in them a lot!) The only problem is don't get them wet, you will stick to some surfaces and stick to others. So don't wear them in the rain and keep away from water on dance floors.

Chromed shoes give you great control of stopping or spinning or turning or sliding, all dependent on the floor. It will not help you on sticky wood floors.

Chrome is only for wood floors. The L.A. and D.C. dancers go to regular shoe stores to have their shoes chromed, and pay between $25 and $30 a pair. When I tried to do it here in N.Y. the shoe makers had no idea what I was talking about, so I went to a shoe supply company and found the stuff.

I purchased a large piece of chrome leather for $45.00. This was enough for about 10 or 11 pairs of shoes (that's about $4 per
pair of shoes!). I glued it on myself. The stuff I got was about 1/8"
thick. I've seen dancers with thicker chrome.

HARD LEATHER-When you dance in hard leather shoes, you can slide really well on good wood floors. Depending on your dance style, you could do what Peter Loggins does, switch between leather and chrome leather shoes when you want to change the moves you want to make on the floor!

Hard leather is also very good for most concrete, terrazzo, tile, and concrete, except slick tile or marble surfaces where chrome or even sneaker type bottoms would do.

I found regular leather shoes to have very little ability to absorb shock, so I did something very interesting....I took a pair of Nike Air running style sneakers, and had my shoemaker glue on hard leather. It was amazing! I had both the shock absorption and the slickness I needed on concrete and other rough hard surfaces.

I got a one by two foot sheet of Italian leather for $15 (enough for probably 5 pairs of sneakers). The shoemaker charged me $10 to cut them into about 12 parts and glue them on. Normally, he would charge only $5, but these sneakers had ridges on them so the leather had to be cut all over. I couldn't cut this myself.

The first time I tried this, the 1/4" thick leather only lasted about 3 weeks. But this was dancing on concrete with sand all over it in Catalina for 5 days and nights, dancing at 3rd Street in LA and then dancing on asphalt in NY for an afternoon. It was so worth it!!

SOLE SAVERS

Another experiment. This is thin hard plastic I glued on the soles of some old sneakers. They cut down on most of the grabbing, but do not slide very well. They cut down on enough sticking that I'd even call them "knee savers". I've been walking on these for months and they don't seem to wear out or prevent the cushioning the sneakers usually gives me. A pair of sole savers cost me $2.00 and I glued it on myself.

NOTES ON STYLES OF DANCING AND BOTTOMS OF SHOES

If you are performing and doing aerials, hard and chrome leather may not be advisable as you need "grab". Some performers I spoke to used chrome only on the front of their soles so they could both slide with the soles and grab with the heels.

WHERE TO GET THE STUFF

In Noho, there is a wholesale shoe supply store at 346 Lafayette Street on the west side of the street just 2 doors north of Bleeker Street. They are open 6:30 A.M. to 2 P.M. Sunday thru Friday. They will sell to anyone although they are wholesale. They will do mail order for those of you out of the city.

Kaufman Shoe Repair Supplies, Inc., 346 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012, 212-777-1700.

Make sure you use their lingo-and I doubt you can get just enough leather for one or two pairs of shoes, these guys are wholesalers!

Chrome Leather-tell them the thickness you want (I think 1/8" is good), and about how large a piece (I think they are all about the size I got-for about 10 pairs). It is always grey.

Italian or German strap leather-This is the hard leather. Women's is a bit less than 1/4" thick and men's is a bit more than 1/4". You get enough for about 4 or 5 pairs of shoes for about $15.

HOW TO CHROME YOUR OWN SHOES IN FIVE MINUTES

I have chromed almost everything: sneakers with uneven bottoms, patent leather shoes with a golf shoe bottom (no cleats though), and rubber bottomed shoes. It doesn't matter if the surface is uneven, rough or in parts.

Buy a bottle or small can of Weldwood Contact Cement (or some other brand). It will cost $2-5.

Put the shoes/sneakers over the chrome, draw an exact outline. You can do just one and then make a copy of it when you cut that one up for the other shoe.
Using sharp strong scissors, cut out about 1/8" smaller than your outline. If you don't, parts of chrome will stick out creating a sloppy look.
If parts of the shoe do not make contact with the floor, you don't need to chrome those parts. (Like between the heel and sole.)
Clean the bottoms with soap and water or rubbing alcohol. Get all dirt and soap off the bottoms. Make sure it is totally dry.
Apply contact cement to both the bottom of the shoe and the chrome.Enough so the surface is fully covered, but not dripping with it. Sometimes the chrome will absorb a light coating, so do it again. Try not to get any glue on the edges of your shoes or on your hands, as sometime it's hard to get off.
Let it dry fully.
Carefully put the chrome onto the shoe bottom. Then press it on firmly, or hammer it on (like the shoemakers do!)
Close the glue bottle/can firmly, as it will dry up if you don't.
Dance!!

You can probably search around for a shoemaker that can do all of the above for you, but you will pay much more than if you at least get the chrome leather or hard leather first. Be careful, my shoemaker tried to keep all the leftover leather which I can use for another few pairs of shoes.

Don't tell anyone else your secret!