Dancing With Tootsie

Dance for Healthy Hearts

2006-12-14T13:20:00.000-06:00

Confirmed again - dancing is good for the heart! This is true, not just the aerobic sense with the increased endurance giving us the ability to sustain entertaining activities, but also improved posture. Good posture speaks loudly about a person. dance dance dance! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6622283

Feet Blending with the Floor?

2006-10-05T13:35:00.000-05:00

Feet Blending with the Floor?

The trend for flesh tone dancing shoes that allow the feet to blend in with the floor has gone too far! Does that mean women should not wear lipstick so our lips blend into our faces and thus we will not be heard? How about having no jewelry? Don’t fall for the "disappearing feet" or the trap of having to be like everyone else. Shoes are a means of expression, and this is especially true for dancing shoes. The primary goal should be comfort on the dance floor followed by completing the look you want. This season’s hot colors are deep gold, purple, and of course red shoes, which every woman needs, but also watch for the trend back to black, silver, gold, and ivory neutrals.

Why Dancing Shoes Make a Good Wedding Shoe

2006-09-27T14:33:00.000-05:00

Three daughters’ weddings and I finally learned that comfortable shoes for the bride are a must. Brides are on their feet the whole day and need the support of a shoe designed for weight distribution and comfort. Cutting corners on wedding shoes may mean all of her weight is on the ball of the bride’s feet, which will not make for fun dancing when she most desires it.

Shoes made for dancing have a steel shank connected a rod in the heel which distributes a lady’s weight. The extra cushioning in the metatarsal and heel areas adds comfort for long periods of standing. A custom made dance shoe with a street sole is a very good option for brides or anyone who must stand for long periods.

Dancer's Prayer

2006-09-01T15:33:00.000-05:00

This prayer is taken from the Prayer of the People at Blue Valley Christian Church on June 25, 2006 following a sermon based on a poem by Kathy Galloway.
Wonderous God of Love, you are the lover dancing with us within the storms of life. You are the source of all who share our burdens. You are the teacher who encourages and uplifts us to be dance partners with those who suffer, grieve, wait anxiously, struggle, and are beaten down and hurting. Sustain us, strengthen us, bless us. You call us to regonize and practice your presence not only with those familiar to us but to the stranger in our path as well. Help us to be dancers to the music and rhythm of your love as we share the storms of others.

Dance Benefits: Tootsie's Top Ten Benefits of Dancing

2006-07-28T13:38:00.000-05:00

Tootsie’s Top 10 Benefits of Dancing

1. Dancing brings improved health and fitness – agility, balance, coordination, and posture.

2. Dancing increases your self confidence and improves your feelings of well being, and gives you a sense of accomplishment.

3. Dancing improves your ability to connect with others, enables you to have more social interaction and opportunity to develop friendships.

4. Dancing allows you to express yourself in new ways – nonverbal communication is very powerful.

5. Learning to dance increases one’s appreciation of the talents of others.

6. Dancing helps people stay engaged in physical activity or exercise.

7. Dancing increases one’s awareness of rhythm and music and provides opportunity to hear music you otherwise might not hear.

8. Dancing slows the mental aging process. It improves the mind and reduces memory loss by increasing blood flow and oxygen to the brain and improving mental activity required to learn and perform dance steps.

9. Dancing gives you something to look forward to, a psychological boost!

10. Dancing gives you one more reason to shop for shoes!

What Color is Taupe Anyway?

2006-07-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

How many kinds of "taupe" are there and what is that color anyway? There must be dozens of different taupes. I hereby call for standardization of the color "taupe". Just try to describe to someone over the phone what a taupe shoe looks like. Taupe to one person is quite different than taupe to the next person. I have several pairs of taupe shoes, none of which are the same color. When does "taupe" become "dark ivory" or some sort of ugly tan? And what's the difference between tan and taupe? I am sure I know. Tan is tan. Taupe isn't tan.
It seems there are a lot of others who have the same problem. I searched for some examples of taupe.

Here's taupe that's tan.

And then there's one that's kind of green.

And there is one that's taupe the way I think of it.

But it turns out that the real taupe is....

a European mole

Dance Shoes on the Move

2006-07-18T19:52:00.000-05:00

Moving the dance shoes, box by box, to Tootsie's new location in Overland Park was not the first test of our friendship. The tired crew of friends and family caravaned from Omaha to Kansas City, enjoying jokes via walkie talkies, and tackling the task of unloading over 1700 pairs of dance shoes.

Aren't these boots cute!?

It seemed as if we would never get them all unloaded.

How high a stack can you carry, ShoeB?

2006-07-14T10:40:00.000-05:00

Shoe B and the Garage Door
With an unexpected downpour on a steamy afternoon, I ran to get my partner from the back where he was working.
"Your car windows are wide open and it's pouring rain!"
We both scurried toward the door when he suddenly turned and said, "I'll give you the keys. You go. I'll get back to work."
Now you have to know ShoeB to really understand this. You never know what might come out of his mouth (and sometimes I wonder what customers think), but I knew instantly that he was teasing as usual by the twinkle in his eye and his silly loving grin. It was just one of those moments, and he immediately took off running with me in a fast chase behind!
Sometimes a spontaneous act has unintended consequences. Such was the case with what happened next.

ShoeB got totally drenched running out to his red van, so it seemed it would make little difference if he got even wetter. I was laughing as I hit the button to close the garage door, thinking about how wet he would be when I opened it in about 30 seconds. Down it went as he headed back into the garage. He was going to be able to get underneath it, so my return tease was foiled.
The word "headed" is more descriptive than I had ever thought. When you're running in a downpour, you are likely looking down. At least this was the case in the rainstorm that day.
WHACK!
ShoeB hit his head on the garage door so hard that he fell backwards and went splat on the driveway! OMG! OMG!
This was awful! What had I done? He hit his head and it was my fault! My laughter immediately turned into crying as I ran over to him. But ShoeB was laughing hysterically. He was laughing so hard he couldn't even get up. There he was in the torrential rain with arms and legs sprawled out, his head downhill on the steep driveway, and his whole body shaking with laughter! In spite of my anxiety, I couldn't help laughing, too, which I still do when I picture the whole thing.
I'm not sure I believe this, but he says there's a dent in the garage door. Gives new meaning to the word hard headed.

2006-03-23T10:03:00.000-06:00

Dancing with a smile. For months, my partner and I have attended lessons at Louis’ Dance Studio in Kansas City, practicing steps over and over. It seemed we were not making progress. Was this just frustratingly fruitless? Others got it, but there we were, still trying to do the turn correctly, or trying to connect with each other, or getting the count right. Over and over with such persistence we worked. He concentrates too hard, I think, and I wonder if he is enjoying this at all. Is it too much to work all day and work at dancing, too? After a couple of hours of this serious work, we decided to relax. We took off our dance shoes and somehow ended up at a local nightclub we often frequented in the days before Tootsie’s Dance Shoes. Out came the shoes, and we “went dancing”! Something finally clicked. A breakthrough! The sheer fun of letting the music carry us brought a smile to my face. The steps we had learned, though less than perfect, came easily. We danced for fun, unaware until we left, that someone watching thought we were good dancers. Her compliment made me realize that we were indeed making progress. Ah! What satisfaction.

2006-03-22T10:47:00.000-06:00

Dancin' with Tootsie. What kind of dancing do I want to do now that I witnessed some of the best West Coast Swing imaginable last night? The Kansas City Cow Town Dance Club dancers moved with sultry smoothness as I felt the music flow and watched them with admiration. Cha Cha was a blast to learn, and now I crave to learn more! Somehow, my one lesson a week has turned into 4! Still, Tootsie's dance shoe business awaits...