Canvas or leather?

[Balletgirl19892003]

My studio has marley floor in all 5 of its studios. Is there any difference between wearing canvas or leather if you dance on marley floors? Should I wear canvas or go back to my leather ballet shoes? Sometimes I tend to stick to the floor when I'm turning if I wear my leather ballet shoes though. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

 

 

~C~

Edited December 6, 2003 by Balletgirl19892003

[Mel Johnson]

Six of one, half-a-dozen of the other. It makes little or no difference when it comes to ballet technique shoes. Your own comfort is your guide.

[Balletgirl19892003]

Thanks for the advice Mr. Johnson! I'm going to stick with my canvas because they are more comfortable to me!

[coffee]

I hate leather shoes. Whenever I do tendues, the toe doesn't slide smoothly across the ground and it trips me up. It doesn't seem to give other people that problem though, so I dont know why it does that for me.

[Guest thumpinhippo]

Maybe someone here can explain to me why our teacher is reluctant to let us students wear canvas ballet shoes despite the fact that she wears them herself. It's one of those "not-got-for-you" situations.

[Guest Terin]

I can't see any reason for that. Personally, I prefer canvas shoes because I feel that they give my foot more flexibility. It is true that canvas shoes wear out a lot faster than leather, in my experience, but I don't know why your teacher would have a problem with them because of that. I would just assume she knows something you don't.

[coffee]

My teachers do the same thing...But for me I think it is because my teacher sells leather shoes...and that is just the kind of thing he would do.

[Dolphingirl]

I prefer canvas because I can move my feet more. Plus, leather always seemed too squished for me. They didn't conform to my strangely shaped feet as well as canvas. My teachers have never had a problem with it, though when I was younger, my mom did. She thought it was cheap and unprofessional...mind you, we still bought those incredibly cheap leather shoe that are fine for the littlest kids but not at all useful for older dancers. I was about 10 at the time. I finally managed to convince her that our teachers didn't have a problem with canvas and that all the older dancers were allowed to wear them on stage. My feet inproved quite a bit after getting them, because I could actually move through the real motions instead of trying to get my foot to bend the impossible sole.

[Guest monte]

My teacher prefers us to wear full sole leather shoes but will allow seniors to wear canvas shoes with or without a split sole. I started to wear split sole canvas for class because I liked the way it looked on my feet but after a while that old sickled foot problem started to show up. When I realised that, I changed back to full sole leathers and the sickle has gone, I think because I wore leathers for a long time before canvas I got so used to working in them that when I changed over to canvas the difference in the feel of the shoe translated ( or something) into the way i used my feet. Just something to keep in mind maybe when you decide what type of shoe to use.

[Guest Terin]

That's interesting. Come to think about it, when I first started (wearing leather shoes) I had no sickle at all. But now (wearing canvas) I get a sickle every once in a while. But I'm getting much better at it. Is it possible that because the leather is stiffer it actually holds your foot in the proper position? It's a longshot, but....

[Mel Johnson]

That could very easily be the case.

[Dolphingirl]

I have never had a problem with sickling my feet, but no matter what shoe I wear, I've always had a problem with rolling. I am happy to say that my most recent pair of shoes, which are very foot specific, show that I am no longer rolling. The dust marks are only on the outside of my my foot!

[Guest Terin]

Wow! So the leather shoes actually hoold my foot in the correct position. How strange... I think I'd still prefer to use canvas because that way I can learn to hold my foot properly without a shoe to do it for me. And I still feel that canvas shoes show my foot more. But if I did want to wear leather shoes, what would happen? Would I not be able to hold my foot properly without those shoes? This is so weird... I never imagined the shoes you wear could change the position of your foot.

[Mel Johnson]

The pressures in a well-fitted ballet technique shoe are very subtle. They're not like the hard parts of a pointe shoe, but they can influence the way your foot works in very gentle ways. If it does make a difference in appearance in your foot, by all means wear the kind of shoe that guides you to the proper point of the foot. Otherwise, it doesn't make any difference, but you're giving us information that says that your foot operates differently in canvas from the way it operates in leather. Therefore, go with what looks right.

[Guest Future Star]

My old teacher said that leather shoes make your arches stronger, is this true.