in a performance I think some shoes look dorky.. I'm staring at the awful shoes instead of the dancer.. gold ballet shoes are the worst...

I like barefoot.. unless they have bad looking feet.. or gross toenails..

period shoes/sandals like native earth are cool..

as for class, and splinters.. heck ya shoes! I don't know how some dance in tennis shoes...hummpph..

I wear shoes - black Maryjanes with the plastic-ish soles.
I am old, and my feet are a MESS for dancing 15 + years barefoot - It is wise to mention to your students, if they plan on dancing for a while, to use shoes.
Foot damage is irrepairable.
Just sayin'...

This is why god invented pedicures...lol.

haha i dont like my feet, I go with shoes :0)

Is it part of the Tribal uniform? I don't think it was originally: Bal Anat didn't wear shoes, I'll have to watch early footage of FCBD to see if they did. The first people I remember wearing shoes were Romani (Frederique and Clandestine were original members).

I prefer to dance barefoot, unless of course its in a nightclub, outside, or where I might get splinters. I think both ways of dance should be explored, so that a student who gets to the performance level will experience both and be prepared to perform no matter what happens.

I like to be barefoot because I can feel direct contact with my supporting surface. There's a certain level of stability and connectedness that I feel when I'm barefoot. Shoes separate me from my connection, and I never feel as good with them on. But if I have a performance with shoes, I try to practice with them on a few times before I perform.

My feet are very sensitive and need a lot of love: hot soaks, stretching and massage every night.

I tried really hard to build up calluses, but they are awfully wimpy even after months and months. They tear off quite painfully and unevenly with spot turns or dancing on rough surfaces. With most drills, classes, and practices on rubber ballet floors or carpet without padding, the skin and the bones in my tootsies just can't take the abuse of being barefoot. It is exhausting!

I am used to being the one weirdo in class with socks or split-soled jazz shoes on. I don't mind if I look different, since I am just working with the messages my body gives me, and the ones from my feet are clear.

Same reason I chucked all of the four-inch heels I used to wear every day. F%ck fashion, I want to walk and dance gracefully when I'm 88!

And I am more than a little disgusted with how filthy most floors are. Are you kidding me? You want me to dance on what? Some cafe and classroom floors seem to have the same nasty sticky ick on them every time I go, like they just push a dirty mop around with a little cold black water once in a great while. I guess no one steam cleans or scrubs... where's a good scullery maid when you need one? When I do dance barefoot, I have to rush off to wash and dry my feet before I can even put shoes back on. Bleah.