My wife and I have our first ballroom dancing class tonight. What exactly should we wear? Should we be expecting to sweat? Wear leather soled shoes? Anyone have any experience who can guide us here?
(I’m not sure how factual this question is. Please move if necessary.)
My Fiance and I joined the campus Ballroom Dance club and the first day I wore nice shoes, pants and a dressy shirt, everyone else were wearing t-shirts and flip-flops.
Leather soled shoes for certain, not new ones though, with new ones you will slide all over the place. As far as clothing, I think ‘business casual’ would probably probably work.
Definitely leather soled shoes. If you have new soles, just scuff your feet on the sidewalk a little. Otherwise, your feet could slip out from under you.
I was going to say wear a coat and tie, but it’s been twenty years since I took dancing lessons. I’d follow lalenin’s advice and wear at least slacks and a collared shirt. Personally, I’d go for loose slacks, as you’ll want to move easily.
[NerdAlert] If you do get interested in ballroom dancing, they have special ballroom dancing shoes with (I think) suede soles. The suede gives just right amount of friction and slip. I’ve danced in them and will never go back to regular shoes for dancing (if I have a choice, at least).
[/NerdAlert]
J.
The shoes are the most important thing. Wear leather soled shoes. Your wife should wear leather soled shoes with closed toes until you get to the point where you’re not stepping on each other’s toes much. You may have seen female ballroom dancers wearing sandals, but that’s not recommended for beginners. You should wear shoes that won’t slip off too easily- for your wife, that means no slip-ons, but something with a strap to hold it on her feet.
I have heard recommendations that women should wear high-heeled shoes. I would go with something with a larger, chunkier heel, not a spike heel. This is for her safety- she’s going to be moving in ways she’s not accustomed to, and a larger heel gives her a little more margin for error. It’s also for yours- if she steps on your toe with one of those tiny heels that some women’s shoes have, it’s going to hurt. I wouldn’t go with super-high heels, either, if I were her, unless she’s used to wearing very high heels.
Definitely don’t wear anything with a rubber sole, and absolutely no sneakers- those will give you too much traction on the floor.
They ain’t cheap, though. Don’t buy a pair until you know this is something you’re interested in doing a fair bit. And most of the selection of ballroom shoes, for women at least, don’t tend to be what you want as a beginner- they tend to have open toes and high spike heels.
As for things other than shoes:
Wear something that you can move easily in. Your wife should wear loose pants or a loose-fitting skirt, definitely not a tight skirt.
You’ll probably be learning the basic step for a few dances- probably waltz, fox trot, and rumba, possibly something like swing, tango, or cha-cha. You probably won’t be doing anything that will make you sweat, unless you’re learning something more energetic like salsa.
Thanks everyone. Hopefully I’ll have time to change before we head over (I have an hour to get home, change, and get to the class. Forget about dinner.)
Most important - don’t forget your tu-tu 