At Blackpool Dance Festival in May International Dance Shoes launched their New and Improved Elite heel and were pleased to have receive such excellent feedback!

Whilst the original Elite heel was designed at the request of many dancers, they learned that many dancers preferred the tip of the heel to be a little bit further back for better balance.  Knowing that balance is such an important element of a shoe for a dancer because the better balance a dancer feels, the more comfortable the dancer feels and that brings greater confidence which can result in a much better performance!

So, over a few months last year and earlier this year, IDS tested a few different ways and now they’ve made a real enhancement to this sleek and stylish heel, which looks very similar, but the key is that the heel pitches a little further back which is enough to dramatically improve the feeling of balance and comfort that the lady will feel in these shoes!  It was available in Blackpool which was treated as the biggest test as there is nothing better than taking a new heel to the biggest dance event on the planet and getting the opportunity to service dancers properly by discussing the improvements, and with many during the quieter periods, comparing old and new.

IDS were really happy with the feedback and the great compliments received and over the past month or so they’ve switched to the new version of the Elite heel, which offers much improved stability, heel positioning, balance and comfort – and ultimately, these characteristics can really allow the dancer to perform to a much higher level.

One of the reasons IDS made this improvement is because they took sometime to sit down with some pretty legendary dancers last year and wanted some feedback on the shoes.  The dancers weren’t wearing International Dance Shoes at the time so they knew it would be a great opportunity to get some valued feedback from someone not used to these shoes.  The dancer explained how the look of the shoes was much more beautiful and stylish, the materials felt superior and the comfort with the padding throughout the shoe was better than anything else she’d tried.  Also, the softness and flexibility of the shoe made it easier for her to point her foot.

These are three of the four essential characteristics of a ladies Latin shoe it was discussed, however, she thought other shoes offered slightly better balance in terms of their equivalent heel and if a dancer doesn’t feel stable – then no matter how good the shoe looks, feels and flexes – it counts for nothing if the dancer doesn’t feel stable, because a lot of confidence comes from the feeling of being stable.

So knowing that they had a tick in three of the four boxes, the challenge since the end of 2017 has been to improve the Elite heel to enhance the shoe to tick that last essential box to make their ladies Latin shoes truly complete!

Now, whilst they know nothing can ever be absolutely perfect, they think they’ve made a great improvement and can’t wait for you to all try it out!

Both the 2.5″ Elite and the 3″ Elite heel have been improved and this heel is available on all of our Ladies Latin shoes on our website and you can shop that stylish, flexible and incredibly comfortable collection by clicking here.

Our hottest shoes right now and from the Blackpool Dance Festival are our ‘Lucia’, ‘Mia T-Bar‘, ‘Elena‘ and ‘Mia‘!