Footwear

I need some new ballet slippers, obviously. See those holes in the toes?

This is not a cause for celebration. Most dancers feel proud of ratty, worn out slippers. They show how much we've worked. Plus, new ones are a pain to break in. You have to wear them and sweat in them until they mold to your feet and start to feel good.

For a while, I thought about getting martial arts shoes
--I thought they might help that inflamed tendon below my ankle. It's hard to workout barefoot on a hardwood floor, especially as one gets older. Brian, who has plantar fascitis, wears shoes for Tae Kwon Do; in fact, he wrote about them in his black belt essay.

And now Master Hughes has started wearing shoes in class. He has the same plantar fascitis trouble. For a while he wore martial arts shoes. But now he wears

Crocs!

In ballet, teachers often wear "pedinis,"
a teaching shoe that's flexible, but has a heel to give more support through long days of being on your feet to teach. Maybe Master Hughes and Brian should try them!