Dancing shoes with a difference

Statistics show that there are over 2,000 toe injuries every year in Canada. Safetytoes International Inc., manufacturer of the 'Slipp-R', has produced a video of Irish musicians and dancers wearing its steel toe overshoes. The video was filmed in Toronto using professional Celtic musicians and dancers from the Brogue Celtic Music and Dance Company. Two of the dancers are wearing flat-soled runners while the third dancer is wearing traditional Irish dance shoes with a full heel. The Slipp-R is a purpose-designed safety overshoe with an all-flat sole. Unlike other overshoe styles with a moulded heel, the Slipp-R has no excess material underfoot when worn with flat-soled outer shoes. The Slipp-R safetytoe overshoe costs many times less than regular safety footwear. It provides for the same legal toe protection as any 'CSA Approved' safety shoe.

Development of en point shoes

By the time of the French Revolution (1789-1799) ballet dancers exchanged heeled shoes and heavy costumes for lighter, flat-soled slippers, pointe shoes, and flesh-colored tights. This allowed performers freedom to move and achieve greater grace. The move to en point came from Swede, Charles Didelot who had studied dance and performed in France and Russia around 1800. Didelot is credited with advancing the art form with innovations and developments in style and costume. Among other things he created a “flying machine” of rigged wires that carried dancers into the air. This made them appear weightless which delighted audiences who came to expect more challenging movements in dance. Pointe shoes evolved with a flat toe box as a platform. This base helped develop calf and leg muscles during strenuous routines and allowed the entire weight of the body to be precariously balanced on the rigid points of one or both feet. The new footwear enabled maneuvers like pirouettes, arabesques and the dancers required to develop skill, strength, agility, and grace. Ballet dancers do suffer many foot ailments as they develop the en pointe technique. The major distributors of ballet shoes are Freed of London, Gaynor Minden, and Bloch. Europe’s leading online retailer of dancewear are Dance Direct .

From clogging to tap

Clog dancing became very popular in Victorian times among the working class people in the North of England. The hardwearing wood against the cobbled streets allowed the dancer to create rhythm by tapping with the toes and heels. To make the clog lighter the uppers were cut lower at the ankle and the soles made from ash wood. Dancers required to be nimble because the steps were complex. Solo dancers danced on a slab of hardwearing wood that made a ringing sound. Amateur dancers added drama to their performance by using metal tags, nailed to their soles, which caused sparks to appear. Clog dancing was mainly a male preserve with troops of male clog dancers found all over the North of England. Gradually however female clog dancers became very popular in music halls. One of the most famous professional clog dancing troupe were J.W. Jackson's Eight Lancashire lads. A young Charlie Chaplain joined the troupe in 1896 and was paid one pound sterling per week plus his keep. Clog dancing was introduced to US, towards the end of the nineteenth century, where upon it was quickly transformed into tap dancing. The mania swept from coast to coast. At first the tap shoe was a modified clog but later these were replaced with tap shoes with metal jingles. Initially tap dancing was a male preserve but soon became popular with women and chorus lines. The girls wore special shoes known as Mary Janes, kept on with ankle straps fasten with a buckle or button. The shoes were often split clogs with half a sole and the heel in wood. To emphasise the sound some shoes had jingles attached to the shank. When the heels hit the floor they made a sound like two coins struck together. Clog dancing still can be seen at traditional folk festivals and dance exhibitions all over the world.

CAD/CAM Foot Orthoses: CNC technology

Foot orthoses come in different types from simple insoles to biomechanically calculated platforms to help stabilise the foot during phases of walking. In recent years there has been a sizable industry grown around the manufacture and prescription of the latter which is now estimated at $30 million US per anum. Prescribed foot orthoses often referred to as function foot orthoses are used by sports specialists, surgeons, physiotherapists and podiatrists and prices vary from $20 to $300 per pair depending on the type, time spend and materials used. Over the counter foot orthoses are often as effective as bespoke varieties but due to the material combinations may not always last quite so long. Conditions definitely apply. For over a decade the manufacture of foot orthoses has involved Computer Numerical Controlled(CNC) systems where CAD/CAM software programs are used to produce a computer file that is interpreted to extract the commands needed to operate a particular machine, and then loaded into the CNC machines for production which involes a complex series of steps needed to produce in this case a foot orthoses. CAD software produces 3D scanned design data which can be manipulated to add a range of models, add-ons and cut-outs or corrections to the foot mould. Many companies which supply bespoke foot orthoses use the technology to increase their production. The established method of producing bespoke foot orthoses was both time consuming and prone to human error. After physical examination of the leg and foot, technicians took plaster of Paris moulds of the feet set in a reference position. These negative casts are then filled with setting plaster before drying at hot temperatures. When the foot models are completely dried high temperature plastics are melted over the prepared cast before trimming. The process of creating unique prescriptions for patients suffering from various foot and joint ailments will take anything from 3 days to three weeks to complete. A primary advantage of CAD/CAM manufacture is the time reduced in producing quality foot orthoses as providing prescribed quality foot orthoses in a timely fashion translates well to high profits. Turnaround time is extremely important in the bespoke foot orthotic business. Delcam's OrthoModel , is a new software specifically for modelling and machining custom foot orthoses. Once the information is input into the OrthoModel CAD software, the information is transfered to the CAM component OrthoMill and routed to complete the milling process. Top covers and other finishes are added once the foot orthoses have been milled. Delcam Crispin is a UK based company founded in 1965 and their software includes a series of menus which incorporate the biomechanical terminology used by the industry to describe the various features of the foot orthosis.

Shoe size conversion: iPod

If you have an iPhone and want to put it to good use when buying shoes you might like to get the 99 cent "Measures - Unit Converter. " Now available at iTunes App Store this useful app will convert just about anything including shoe sizes. U.S., European, Mexican, Japanese, UK, and Australian. Women's sizes available for conversion range from U.S. 5-14, and men's conversions are available for U.S. sizes 3-14. "Measures" was created by Neuwert Media.

Interesting site
Shoe Size and Conversion Charts

Street Culture: From Docs to kicks

When kids in the late 60s rejected hippy music and heavy metal and instead created alternative fashion which was utilitarian and unisex. Bomber jackets, fitted shirts, Levis & braces with Doc Martens boots was hip and dancing took second place to a punch up. Very machismo the skin head movement soon became hijacked by racists and neo nazi. The once ultra conservative Dr Martens shoes became the trademarks of urban youth excited by violence. Dr Klause Martens of Munich had invented his air trapped soles in 1945. The inspiration came had come from a personal injury he experienced when skiing and from necessity invented comfortable shoes. He started to produce the air sole in 1947 but it took until the mid to late 60s to peak. DMs became the essential accessory of youth harnessing the aggression of the storm trooper into the streets. European skinheads made it their own in the seventies and used their DMs (Bovver Boots) fierce weapons to shatter the complacency of the bourgeoisie. Skinheads were not the first to do this and in the seventeenth century young men called 'footpads' terrorised the highways and byways. DM's were readily adopted by all and became a youth phenomenon worn by women and gay men and not just as weapons of terror. Punk represented a return to more simplistic music. This generation of kids identified less with the sophisticated sounds of studio and instead preferred live performances. Unemployed street kids were less interested in finesse and just wanted to be rocked. All this took place at a time when the Western World was experiencing the beginning of economic hardship. Clothes were less sophisticated but shocking and footwear had to be long wearing and unisex e.g. DM boots. Later almost as a mark of defiance, unemployed youths gathered in groups called Casuals and wore extremely expensive designer clothes and shoes when most had no visible means of support. Many were involved in crime and particularly illicit drug trafficking. Dancing was less sophisticated and movement to the music more akin to shaking than dancing. As informality became intertwined with the cult of health of the 70s had a marked effect on footwear. Keeping fit set in motion a movement which affected all ages being fit and trim. This meant looking and feeling good came with a new sartorial awareness. Shoes needed to match the outfit and a hungry market was created. To keep demand high, the giants like Adidas, Puma and Nike produced what were virtually fashion ranges. Each season brought new design modifications, colour combinations and logos, most of which were sales promotion ruses and had little to do with improving the efficiency of the shoe for exercise. The fad for keeping fit passed but the trainer market was established. The young enjoyed the exclusive, designer element and older people found the broad based cushioned footwear comfortable fit. Cost was cheaper than traditional footwear and fashion accessories such as track suits were popular with young and old alike. Celebrity endorsement and support from medical experts enhanced the trainer in its various guises. Marketing was targeted firmly towards inner city youth, mainly Afro American, Hispanic or Asian. The shelf live of designs is very short and rarely lasts many months. A combination of clever marketing and the desire to rebel against conservatism has assured the sneaker culture endures into the third millennium. Rappers, Hip Hoppers and sports personalities extol the virtues of being cool in them and peer pressure ensures parents part with enormous amounts of money to get the latest styles. Shoes which have been developed for the extreme, street sports like skate boarding are the new elite, worn by all ravers. The origins of hip hop come from clog dancing which was common in Northern England and some Scandinavian Countries. It was brought to the US in the mid nineteenth century and local performers refined the steps of clog dancing into tap dances done by generations of minstrels and music hall performers. Tap dancing was originally performed as an accompaniment to song and the percussive and rhythmic patterns produced by the snags heightened effectiveness. Movement grew larger as rhythms grew more intricate and greater emphasis was placed on elements of dance composition and design. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, refined the minstrel tradition, and Fred Astaire made ‘hoofing’ a modern art form. By the 70s street dancing became a phenomenon not witnessed since earlier in the 20th century. In clubs and on the street young American kids known as b-boys and b-girls performed break dancing influenced by groups like the Jackson 5 and rappers such as Kool DJ Herc (Clive Campbell). Break dancing became the conrner stone of Hip Hop.

Glam, Glitter and Disco Foot

By the 70s dancing took place within the confines of high tech disco's with light shows and glamorous settings. Statuesque dancers needed to stand out and the fashion for elevated or platform shoes came to pass. Rod Stewart, the Cickney Scottish football fan extraordinaire, was a humble boot boy at Brentford Soccer Club long before he became gravel voiced lead singer of the post Mod band, Faces. Rod, unlike his musical chum (Sir) Elton John, wore platform shoes on stage to look sexy. Tiny Elton on the other hand needed the extra leverage his boots gave him to reach the piano keys on his Steinway during live performances. Later Elton appeared in the film Tommy sporting the largest pair of DM boots ever seen. The Faces first album was called 'First Step' (1970). Greek actors wore raised shoes to tower over their audience and the resulting swaggering gait was understood to send females into sexual ecstasy. Platform shoes were first introduced in the Middle Ages and were worn by court ladies but the fashion was short lived and fell to the prerogative of the height challenged. Paul Gadd (aka Gary Glitter) was certainly the latter and used his glitter platforms to achieve the former. He was, in his heyday, an act to catch. His platforms were specially made for his feet and allowed him to achieve quite spectacular choreography during his live shows. Young people expressing their sexuality began to dress in ambiguous ways, the style was called unisex. The Thin White Duke aka David Bowie was certainly not stuck in the cupboard when it came to express his female side on stage. Ziggy (Stardust) definately wore the boots and shoes to be seen in tights. For the first time in hundreds of years men appeared in clothing modern society had designated as female attire. Whilst this was a zenith for excellent dance music, ironically the dance styles were remarkably bland. There is a certain irony here in that whilst the styles were unremarkable, people did dance a lot and a common injury associated with "all nighters" was a flat foot caused by ligamentous collapse. The condition was called "disco foot."