Why do I need dance shoes, won’t ordinary shoes suffice?
Dancing shoes are expensive, £50+, and if you are hobbyist only starting off, I suggest you give it a few weeks to see if you like dancing before forking out! I am sure I am not the only one with a house full of stuff that was only used twice! Wear soft soled, low heel (not flat), closed toe shoes. That should do for your first few sessions.
With the right shoes though, you will find it easier to dance, they are a lot more flexible, the soles are made of suede so you can glide but not slip – and I believe there is a strong psychology behind putting on your “dancing shoes”. Also it is probably true to say that a normal shoe would not stand up to the hammering a pair of dance shoes can expect! A beginner stomping out a jive in a normal shoe takes the chance of snapping a heel (or an ankle!) Remember though, some places will not let you in with your normal shoes, because it will ruin their very expensive floors. Check with your studio.
The favourite shoes in our house at the moment are:-
For Standard
Manufacturer - DS Paris - Flesh Satin with diagonal Bar and Silver & Diamante Buckle. Round Toe. 2.0″ Flared Heel
For Latin
Manufacturer - Supadance 1029 Flesh Satin T bar with 2” flared heel – diamonte strap detail
Neither of these are particularly high – but they look the part, and are a joy to dance in. Highly recommended to those of you not used to heels
Any men out there??? You should wear 1” low heels for Standard and 1 ½ “ Cubans for latin dance. You can get 2” shoes, I have heard of them – but don’t know where from. Sorry! If your lady is a bit taller than you because of her heels, you can purchase build-ups that go inside your shoes. That extra half an inch might be all you need! Failing that, make her get flatter shoes!
Any kids out there?? Juveniles luckily only need one pair of shoes! You can get white ones, silver ones, gold ones, black ones! – The most important thing for you to remember about yours is that you must look after them! They are not cheap! You should never wear dance shoes outside because they will get wrecked, and your mum will be really angry!
Tips for cleaning your shoes
SOLES – Suede picks up all sorts of gunk – you need to “scratch” this off with a special brush that you can get, generally from the same place you bought your shoes.
UPPERS – Wash them gently using a sponge and some warm soapy water. Obviously you take the sponge to the shoe, don’t dunk the shoe in the water! Leave them to dry for a few hours. Don’t use heat on them.
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Posted by Suzanne - January 17th, 2008
Posted in Dance Shoes - 1 Comment »
Eyes
One rule - The more the better, as long as it’s tastefully done. We don’t want lots of pandas wandering around the floor. Lots of black eyeliner to emphasise your eyes, if you can’t do it yourself get someone else to. White eye shadow (Barry M – also Superdrug – is very good although Bourjois also do some nice pots, lots of stuff around) around the top of your eye, under the brow and out towards the hairline. Use some colour on the bottom of the lid – gold and other shimmery colours are nice, or a deep grey or brown can also look nice for emphasis or try and match your costume – but not if it’s red…
Finish with ooooodles of mascara (after curling lashes) or alternatively false eyelashes Some people use the fake eyelashes that come with diamante already at the base… I personally dont like these - but each to their own!
Another good make up brand to look out for is Mac. There used to be stage make up called Leichner - but I havent seem that in years (more’s the pity)
Especially important with eyes - a message for the kids out there - DONT USE ANYONE ELSE’S EYE MAKE UP!! Eye infections are nasty!
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Posted by Suzanne - January 14th, 2008
Posted in Dresses & Make-Up - No Comments »
SCD Christmas Special DARREN ALL HAIL THE KING!!! Eh by gum, the gaffer’s dun good!! - or has he? Did I imagine it or did he drop the lovely Lilia on her bonce? …. isn’t “On me ‘ed” a football term? Sorry, but I just don’t get why people rate Darren so highly. I only reached for my 10 once tonight and it was not for the Dazzler. I expect I am in a minority, but it would be interesting to know what the outcome would have been had he:- a) not been the last person to danceb) didn’t bring his fan club to the filming c) strike lucky with an extremely popular professional. From the start I was annoyed with the old “I’m a bloke, this dancin’ lark isn’t me… I’m a bootstrap n’ braces Yorkshire lad born n bred in’t mines!! He is arrogant, smug, self important and so on………… Enough already!!! LETICIA – Nice. But instantly forgettable? I do have a soft spot for her though, she reminds me of myself if I was blonde, a good bit lighter and was able to dance! MARK –Why did you Jive, you gorgeous man!!! It was sloppy and messy, but also stiff and kind of random. I felt cheated. The AT is your winning dance – don’t you remember!!! (I remember every moment of it)…… I am choosing to believe that you were all told what you were to dance… ALESHA – Did you forget to get dressed dear? I have the exact same number in my wardrobe from a different lifetime… As for the dancing, I can only assume you were both just having a laugh and keeping your eye on the main comp – loved the piggyback though – good for you! MATT – I can’t even think about his dance knowing what I know about him now. Yes, Flavia and Vincent’s relationship may well have ended anyway – but that is for them to sort out and not for this forum. GETHIN - Beautiful. My winner – without question. I was enraptured. Not too keen on the song though… I wonder what the outcome would have been if Geth had done this waltz in the semi finals???? JUDGESLen – For god’s sake stop with the macho crapBruno – Stop copying that old fool next to youArlene – Abandon that appalling and abominable alliterationCraig – Keep up the good work The scoring was rubbish – far too high. I can remember when 3 8’s and a 9 was a good score. I wish the judges would remember that for a high score to mean something there has to be some lower ones! I pray for some impartiality and objectivity in the next series. I don’t want to hear “I just want sex”, “you come out, and dance like a bloke”, “I vote with my heart”… etc………… Constructive Criticism – bring it on in 2008 That’s all for now!
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Posted by Suzanne - December 31st, 2007
Posted in Strictly Come Dancing - No Comments »
No doubt Suzanne will be doing a full run down on the excitement that was the Strictly Come Dancing final some time soon but in the mean time on behalf of both of us I’d like to wish everyone a very merry christmas!
Paul & Suzanne
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Posted by admin - December 24th, 2007
Posted in Personal Messages - No Comments »
This is from another website - I don’t suppose they will mind! The cheek of her! The least she could do would be to keep her head down! (or keep out of Alesha’s life at least)
Singer Javine Hylton is backing Alesha Dixon to win this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
Dixon lost her husband, MC Harvey, to Hylton last November, after the pair were revealed to be having an affair.
Hylton is now pregnant with Harvey’s child, but has said that she would like Dixon to be happy as well, and wants her to win the dance contest final at the weekend.
She told the Mirror: “Alesha is doing brilliantly and good on her.
“It might sound strange for me to say this but I genuinely want her to be happy and I really hope she wins.”
Talking about her affair, she said: “I’d do it all again. The only regret I have is the hurt I caused. But Harvey and I wouldn’t be together without hurting people.”
Hope Javine remembers the old saying “what goes around, comes around”
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Posted by Suzanne - December 19th, 2007
Posted in Strictly Come Dancing - 1 Comment »
Sorry readers, but my ramblings are not going to be uplifting tonight! Tonights result was as expected, but I still feel saddened by what has happened.
It was always to be this way though. Firstly, think back to last night and Aleshas AT, what can you remember? I bet whatever it is is dressed in red? - but what about Matt and Gethin?? Did you look at them at all - or did your eyes keep drawing back to the ladies - I know mine did. In that dance particularly, Alesha was competing against Flavia and Camilla- not Matt and Gethin!! Secondly, Gethin’s Paso - the tune was just too fast and did not lend itself to any of the halts, poses and attitude that is needed in this dance. Gethin did nothing wrong, but was let down by the routine which the speed of the music dictated! Finally, Matt’s waltz. Yes, it was very nice - but it was no better or no worse than a lot of waltzes we have seen over the years and I personally feel it did not warrant 4 tens! I was very disappointed in Len and his one man standing ovation - Judges are meant to be impartial, Len. Sorry but that was anything but!!!! HOWEVER - a thought came to me last night when thinking about these 4 tens. I don’t normally believe in conspiracy theories but heres what I reckon…
The Judges want Alesha to win. It is quite plain that Gethin is getting the vast majority of the public vote (he must have, or he would have been in a dance off by now) Craig and the gang do NOT want to take the chance of having Alesha in a final with Gethin, in case everyone votes for Gethin to win?! They needed Gethin out of the way, and the best way to achieve this was to keep Matt out of the dance off this week - SIMPLE AS!
As for the rest of the show. Well, what can I say!
1) I really cannot abide baby ballroom kids - and this is speaking as a mother of a dancing child! This lot would put people off dancing. Bruce said “everyone’s started dancing” - not this lot! they are from dancing dynasties I reckon - why can’t the BBC go to a normal dance school and see how kids learn to dance.
2) Victor and Hannah - YUK - I like my dancers to dance - I thought I was watching Cirque Du Celeb on Sky, only for the fact it finished last week!! BUT I will forgive Hannah a lot, remember she had to put up with Chris Parker.
3) Lilia’s and Ola’s trousers. They looked like something a person might buy from the back pages of the News of the World!
AND THE WORST THING - To add some weight to the debate as to whether singers mime on SCD, the look on James Blunt’s face when he looked down at his guitar to see the plectrum stuck behind the strings, which would of course “mute” any noise coming out… yet there was noise?!? Miming on SCD, surely not?!
Thats all folks!
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Posted by Suzanne - December 16th, 2007
Posted in Strictly Come Dancing - No Comments »
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