I've only caught a couple of snippets of training, but so far I've noticed....

Judy doing most of her training wearing trainers, not dance shoes
Alison wearing heavy boots up to her knee.
Pixie doing a fast dance wearing only socks, no shoes. And this week she was dancing wearing a sheepskin jacket.

I would have thought the first thing a pro should do is make sure their pupil is wearing something appropriate for dancing

I don't often watch ITT and spotted Alison's boots. Very odd. I have seen professionals / teachers dance in boots and thought that gave a poor message.

Were Judy's trainers dance trainers?

Socks can be more appropriate than grippy trainers or shoes.

I would have thought the exact same thing!!

why arent the celebs provided with dance trainers or those latin training shoes? it cant be easy learning in heels all the time, esp as their feet wont be used to it but trainers and knee high boots - it baffles me!

I can't imagine trying to dance in the wrong shoes. I get neurotic even if the soles are not quite right or I need to replace the heel protectors. I have more than one pair of spare shoes for both Latin and Ballroom just in case something awful happens and my shoes decide to self destruct one day.

Seriously though. It isn't just heel height. It is about flexibility, support (especially when doing heel turns in ballroom), having the right sole for all those pivots they like to do etc etc.

Some brands of shoes require wearing in too (my International ballroom shoes do), and so if you don't wear the shoes a few times before the performance they won't feel right. Some brands less so (e.g. Ray Rose).

Appreciate that they may want to wear lower heeled round toed. practice shoes for some of the time.

What you see is a staged "photo shoot."
We've no idea what they are wearing for the majority of the time they are practicing.

Ian in his Wednesday Warm Up commented on Alison's footwear in training, especially in the context that she is getting criticised by the judges for being flat footed.

There is no point learning in footwear that doesn't replicate what you will be wearing for the actual performance as it will feel totally different.

Probably. But that makes it even worse. What message are they seeking to convey? Couldn't really be bothered?

Pivots will be difficult and there is also a question of posture. What does Alison wear during the dances. I haven't noticed.

I noticed that on Monday. My new tango shoes have a 4cm heel and I danced again after changing into 1 cm heel loafers. Though both had leather soles my posture was very different and needed adjustment.

This ^ especially the BIB. In my opinion It can be downright dangerous not to be in suitable footwear. If the shoe sticks to the floor when pivoting and the foot continues to turn that is a sure fire recipe for injury.

Some, probably not.

"We've been waiting ages for you to turn up to film us, we have got other things to do you know."

I don't watch ITT, Zoe Ball's too "hyper" for me.
What were they wearing earlier in the week, or do they just have one training "shot" for each couple?

According to Ian Waite on ITT this week she was training in wellies!

Last night she explained that she has flat feet or fallen arches or something and can't walk in heels. She demonstrated and did seem very flat footed in a heel.

As an aside - The DS spellchecker doesn't recognise wellies and changes it to willies.

I meant "what does Alison wear during the show?" I don't think she wears heels.

I get some very odd results with spell checker An Thropologist.

I think you also need to get used to doing heel leads in the shoes you are going to wear . Although good technique should help avoid any problems, any shortcoming in technique leading to slipping will be exacerbated when using high heels....and that can be dangerous.

on a saturday alison wears what we call a junior dance shoe similar to this http://www.internationaldanceshoes.c...via-tan-satin/

No I don't think she has so far.

Ooo! A bit sneaky calling a shoe style "Flavia?"
It's not a common name in this country, does she get royalties?
I very much doubt it.

The shoes Alison wears in the show should not impede her technique. I think the focus on her low heels is a bit of a red herring. Children and men dance in low heels with correct technique.

The boots she wears in practice are unsuitable though.

DR, I've seen a skirt style named Flavia too. Perhaps she does get royalties?

I spotted that. I thought it ironic since Flavia favours at least a 4 incher!

Oh now that is quite interesting (In the Stephen Fry/Allan Davies sense). I wonder if the name Flavia comes from the same origin as the one we get the word flavour from.

Interesting because in salsa we speak of sabor. Or at least 'we' do if we are talking with Spanish speakers or being very pretentious when talking with fellow English speakers. Sabor means flavour and is something one tries to add to salsa.

My point? -- none whatsoever.

No nothing so meaningful . The Flavia Latin skirt appears on the same page as the Ola and Lilia (and the Natalie ballroom skirt).

This is the "Wiki" entry for the name. Apparently, it's very common in Italy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavia_%28name%29

Curiously, it's also the brand name of a coffee machine.

Alison was wearing ordinary fashion boots in the training clip - not wellies!

She explained on ITT that she wears low heels so as not to tower over Alijaz (she's 5'10" and hes 5'11"/6', and she has foot problems of some sort which make it hard for her to wear heels anyway.

As a (ahem!) larger lady myself, Id hazard a guess that she can't wear heels because of her weight issues. I can't bear to wear heels - even modest ones - for any length of time due to a combination of artritis in my knees and my weight. I wear similar shoes to hers when I go dancing - they are 1"heels and usually sold for kids.

Oh well bang goes that theory.


Game on again - tastiness back on the agenda.

Similar issues for me as I have always been flat footed despite exercise classes as a child. Arch supports are a godsend. They help posture & hip alignment and reduce the occurrence of back problems for me.

Actually Intenational dance shoes sponsor many many Briish couples maybe in her competing days they were sponsored by? them or the name is just a coincidence been round long time