From trampolining to simply breathing, it’s all so much harder in heels. Yet there’s bomb-ass women dancing already difficult routines flawlessly in heels. It’s an art that brings confidence and feminine power to the world.
So how would someone go about doing something as cool as this?
The first step is warming up. Just like before every physical activity, stretch out your arms, back, and especially your legs and feet before you start anything. Stretching gives your body the chance to understand it’ll be moving in more ways than normal. There’s less of a chance of hurting yourself once you’re prepared.
An important way to start is in little heels. Our styles like Beverly 3, Katerina 3 are perfect for us with large feet who are learning to dance in heels. You start small for everything: school, jobs, walking. Which means flop around like a chicken in heels and call it dancing. It gives you room to be you and breathe while learning something new. Get used to the feeling of relying on your toes.
Comfort, comfort, comfort. When something’s already hard, why do it in the most painful shoes you own? Get that extra padding and comfortable round toe. Let your feet breathe and have the ability to move. You’ll perform better if you’re calm and painless. A few cute and comfortable shoes for big feet or wide feet are our Gwenneth, our Camelina and our Jonelle 3 or 4s.
When you’re dancing, focus on every small movement you make. Your self awareness can make you understand what you could be doing wrong or right, which is important when you could get hurt in just a quick second.
Figure out what your downfalls are. If you know what you can do better, it’s easier to learn and improve on it. Practice makes perfect, redo the same thing you couldn’t get the first time and it’ll work out for you eventually. Giving up shouldn’t be an option.
The same way warming up is important, so is cooling down. The first few times you’ll feel pain in your feet. One of the stretches that can help with heel pain is a plantar stretch, where you lean forward with your hands against the wall, straighten one of your knees and bend the other in front. While extending the back leg, make sure you keep your feet planted, switch legs and do the same. Some other simple stretches are getting up on your toes while against the wall and slowly lowering yourself down, or roll a tennis ball underneath your feet for comfort.
There’s a process to everything, and dancing in heels is a difficult one, but set your mind to it and you can accomplish it. Stretch, start small, practice, be comfortable, and cool down. These are the 5 steps towards mastering the art of dancing in heels.