On ITT last night Natalie's heels were stupidly high. She tottered down the stairs. All the women pros wear daft heels for ITT. I know it's fashion but isn't it actually a potentially dangerous and career-limiting thing to do?

You could fall over or strain/sprain something.

I know ex-Army chaps apparently always opt for the softest shoes/trainers after discharge as the boots traumatise them. You'd think dancers would take more care of their feet!

Or do dancers have no feeling left after years of dancing? Does anybody know?

Not sure... but from a personal point of view, and one that upsets my PT, I leg it round in 4inch heels most days and that is round the office, out to lunch and walking, carrying stuff etc.... I get more foot problems if I wear flats every day.

Also, they only walk in the studio in them in that, that's all you see, they may take them straight off when the camera goes off!

High heels are not great when standing on public transport, not least because they are wont to impale the feet of the poor beggars standing close by when said transport lurches to a halt.

It a chance for them to indulge themselves a bit in girly things that they do very well. I haven't seen them tottering around in similar shoes in their everyday life.

It seems fine on ITT, although it maybe did hold them back a bit when Natalie and Iveta were trying to demonstrate this type of back bend.

http://www.spokeo.com/Aliona+Vilani+...47321:49775981

Being dance professionals, and level-headed ones I would assume, I am sure that they know and understand any risks involved.

I would hope so anyway ..........

Sofa shoes

No but are very useful for dealing with the accidental gropers!

[quote=ESPIONdansant;75583732]On ITT last night Natalie's heels were stupidly high. She tottered down the stairs. All the women pros wear daft heels for ITT. I know it's fashion but isn't it actually a potentially dangerous and career-limiting thing to do?

QUOTE]

I thought they were beyond stupid - given that she's had a foot injury keeping her off the show last year. And the short skirt looked just odd with the shoes. When you say ALL the women Pro's wear daft heels, I would say Natalie and Kristina seem to favour them more, and always with the platform sole at the front, which is a bit old fashioned now. Interestingly Flavia never seemed to wear heels like those - just beautiful elegant heels but minus the platform - and she's only 5' . 2". I know which I like the best

I love heels, always have and the higher the better. I can do most anything in heels - run, stand etc. Even as a child aged 7 (ie BH Before Heels) it was noted I walked around on the balls of my feet. As Feline Fantastic says I am far more uncomfortable in totally flat shoes - ballet pumps for example.

However no longer in the first flush of youth I think it is very likely I have paid the price for wearing FM heels all my life. I haven't developed the hammer toes and bunions some of my friends are getting but I do have a couple of issues with nerves that are constricted (I forget the medical names for these conditions now - planta fascitus maybe?) I am told by the podiatrist that it is the style of shoe as much as the height that causes foot problems - the classic court shoe being the worst.

I also suffer from chronic cramp in the feet and legs which I think is exacerbated by a life time of wearing high heels by day and also having chosen an exercise to suit my lifestyle, but one where the proper foot wear is a high heeled shoe.

I now manage the problems by wearing much lower heels whenever I have to walk anywhere, low heeled soft shoes in the house and religiously doing stretch exercises after dancing or having worn high heels for an evening.

Fortunately the current high heel trend which incorporates a solid raised sole is not to my taste. I feel I am walking clumsily because the sole won't bend and I certainly can't dance in anything where I have to put my foot down flat. And whose bright idea was it to design a platform sole where the sole is narrower than the foot it supports?.

One of the many things I like about the show is it's OTT approach to everything, one thing I think the lady has is balance, most would end up sat in a puddle even attempting to walk in those shoes, which were tremendous by the way.

Perhaps next time she should wear a pair of hotters sandals and a tartan skirt from the Edinburgh wool mill shop with a big safety pin just to avoid any mishaps

I cannot bear the fashion for skyscraper heels. So ugly!

I did wonder about Natalie in particular after being off the show for the whole of the last series. And they definitely don't help them when they practice moves for the 'Ask the Pro' section. You'd think they'd consider that.

I just don't understand it. And you end up taller than your partner - Natalie towered over Aljaz last night on ITT. Looked very silly.

I'm always amazed by the very high heels the female pros wear. They are usually fashion shoes which have no straps or support and the angle their feet are at often looks perilous and they risk injury. I must admit that part of me is jealous as I'm not that good in 3" heels and any higher is a no-no!

She may have been dressing up because she was on tv. Just a thought.

I bought dancing shoes with Cuban heels a couple of months ago off ebay with massive 4 cm heels and slightly narrower than the base of the foot at that.

Quite scary the first time I put them on and tried to stand. Quite wobbly. I have got used to them already. I got strange looks when I forgot to change after a milonga and swapped them on a tube platform for my usual Monk's Shoes. [always wear slip ons to go dancing as I am often late and don't want the hassle with laces]

4cms?? Pah! Heels for wussies.

When you can manage 7cms or 8cms you can come and play with the big girls and not until.

I was waiting for that. Though I have tried "proper" heels as a dare. I couldn't stand; let alone take a step.

Though I did get a one-liner out sharpish and in public: "When I first saw you I knew I wanted to get into something of yours. I wasn't sure what - but it clearly isn't your heels ... "

O.M.G....I could have written this myself. As a student, I failed my first year exams and much to the chagrin of my father, I became an "Air Hostess" as we were called then. I wore upwards of 6inch heels morning noon and night on the aircraft...then went back to my studies & continued working on my feet for 16 -18 hour stretches... in high heels. I was known for my "stillies"...and warned by my mentor a fabulous older lady that I would one day pay the price for my vanity.

Why didn't I listen

Today whilst not being an elder lemon quite yet..my poor old feet and legs are in constant pain. Plantar fasciitis & Metatarsalgia are torture and I will need surgery in the very near future. I only wished I had listened to my elders.
These days it's a lower heel and high heels only from car to bar.

As a hot-blooded bloke...I love heels...so good on ya!!

Try wearing them then

FWIW I don't. I see the point of dancing in them in terms of generating a lean and stance on the balls of the feet but aesthetically I far prefer the look of women in ballet pumps or better still, bare feet.

For me nothing more ridiculous than women in bikinis (or less) and heels. Pass.

I discovered this dance video a few days ago. No heels but she is dancing on the balls of her feet. I haven't seen such earthy sexuality for ages. Sort of like driving a Porsche on an autobahn or going on a gallop on a racehorce (and I have done both) but not nearly as good fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vytovQq99Q

Yes those are the babies. Although I have had stunning results from cortisone injections. I now wear FM heels for nights when I am either dancing or posing! (or lying down )

Pro dancers (and experienced amateurs for that matter) are so used to dancing in heels that wearing them at other times would be no bother to them at all. Having said that, I daresay, like most people on TV they'll have their flatties in their bag to put back on the moment they leave the camera!!!

I would like to say though, that the height of a heel is more to do with the size of the foot than anything else. As I take a size 3 shoe, there is no way I could wear a 4 or 5 inch heel - I would be on my tippy-toes, whereas someone who takes a size 7 or 8 shoe could wear them with ease.

By the same token, as far as dance shoes are concerned, someone taking a size 3 shoe can get away very nicely wearing a 2.1/2 inch heel, whereas someone with a large foot would look as if she was wearing flats!

Interesting. Makes sense. These are the dance shoes I got off ebay. Standard 4cm across the size range.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Comfortabl...item232f225a70

Same here - love my heels! Find flat shoes very uncomfortable. People seem surprised when I wear heels all day (I'm on my feet all the time), but when I occasionally have to wear trainers, it just doesn't feel right. I blame years of ballet!