Dance Skates

[Hydroblade]

Hey, everybody.

I have been doing dance for about three years now and I think this year me and my partner are going pre-novice next year. The current skates I have are risports super crisstello and I've had them for 2 years(I've obviously stopped growing.) And I'm thing of getting dance skates and blades but I don't believe Risport has a dance type skate so I must change brands but I am not very sure which direction to head in.

So here's where you come in:bow:

If you know of any type of good quality dance skates and blades could you let me know the brand of boots and blades and the aproximate price it would be much apreciated.

Oh and I'm a guy by the way if thats anyhelp

[BladeGal]

Ok so I haven't been in here in maybe a year...oh well.

Aaron, I'm happy that you and Olivia are going pre-novice, it sounds pretty exciting. Whilst I have no clue about skates and their types and what you're looking for (:giveup: ), I hope there are people on here who can and that you find what you're looking for!
xxx
-A-

[jenlyon60]

Graf makes a dance-specific boot, so do Harlick, SP-Teri, and Jackson. Klingbeil includes a dance boot among its custom options.

as far as blades are concerned, the 3 biggies generally used are

MK Dance blades
Wilson Super 99 Dance
Ultima Ascend

John Watts also makes a dance blade, but don't know much about it.

[cassarilda]

Hubby is a dancer...

He has MK Dance Blades and Wifa Customs Dance Boots...

Blades were approx $600, boots $550 + import fee (all in $AUS).

And he has been very happy with them :D He is about due (well.. over due) for new boots, but currently we dont have the money :roll:

Good luck with everything :D

[jenlyon60]

I forgot about the Wifas since they're not real common in the USA. Shouldn't have, because my coach wore them for years when he was still competing.

[cassarilda]

They are certainly not common in Australia either... hubby's coach was Russian and Im pretty sure he recommended them... they had to get them imported specially. :)

[TashaKat]

The Wifas are nice boots for Dance (Torvill and Dean wore them ... so did I :) ). Harlicks are also fantastic boots as, I believe, are Klingbeils. You can get Wifas (in the UK) at a fairly reasonable price, Harlicks and Klingbeils are more expensive.

If I were still skating I would go for the Harlicks now though I didn't have any problems with Wifa (I had the Super Goldstars).

I've only ever had MK Dance blades which I loved :D

[JulieN]

I wore the Graf dance boot for about a year or so. At first I liked them, but they broke down pretty quick. In addition, they are extremely low cut, lower than other dance boots. They aren't too stiff to begin with, and when they started breaking down, combined with the low cut, made them feel unstable.

For reference, I was working on Silver dances (US) when I wore those and was skating about 6 hours per week.

[dooobedooo]

Opinions differ wildly on dance blades - they tend to have a shorter heel and a narrower blade. Some dancers swear by them. Others think they are a waste of time - the shorter heel can make the man unstable in lifts, for example; and the flatter blade can make spins harder.

[jenlyon60]

I know several high level adult dancers (working on USFSA International level compulsories & Senior FD) who wear Phantoms or Gold Seals rather than "traditional dance blades".

Re the low-cut on some dance boots, my coach had his last pair of competitive boots and a couple other pairs he's worn more recently custom cut extremely low (1 pair looked not much taller than high-top sneakers) and he was still able to do all the compulsories and the occasional free dance. His last pair he had cut a bit higher, but that was mostly because the top of the back of the previous pair rubbed the back of his ankle right near the achilles tendon.

[Mrs Redboots]

I have John Watts dance blades and absolutely love them. They are possibly very slightly too much blade for me, if I'm honest, but only slightly. But our elite dancers tried them and hated them - they have always used MK Dance, which would have been too much blade for me at my present level (which would, in USFSA terms, be adult pre-Bronze, I think). John Watts are a mid-level blade, I would say, although the Freedom ones are for the advanced dancer (no way, alas, could I justify having a pair of those!).

My husband has Coronation Dance, which is the basic dance blade based on Coronation Ace - he decided to go with those as less of an upgrade from his worn-out Aces.

Neither of us has dance boots, we both have mid-range Gams, which suit us.

[luna_skater]

Hey, everybody.
And I'm thing of getting dance skates and blades but I don't believe Risport has a dance type skate so I must change brands but I am not very sure which direction to head in.


Risport does make a dance/synchro boot, seen here: http://www.risport.it/index.php?IDsezione=18962. They are actually not as ugly as that photo makes them look. :) A friend of mine has them, and really likes the lower cut. They do not offer a lot of support though, so that would be a major adjustment. They are probably worth checking out if Risports work well for you.

[Perry]

I know several high level adult dancers (working on USFSA International level compulsories & Senior FD) who wear Phantoms or Gold Seals rather than "traditional dance blades".

I'm working on internationals (I've passed 2 so far), and I've had no problem with Klingbeil freestyle boots and GoldSeals. Freestyle blades make twizzles more difficult, but since I'm still doing freestyle, I've decided I'm really too lazy to even try dance blades. Dance blades are nice, but they're certainly not necessary. If you're doing freestyle, too, I'd stick with whatever you're using now, or, to save money (a lot of dancer/freestylers I know do this), put new dance blades on your old freestyle boots (assuming they're not too small) since they're softer and give almost the same feel as a dance boot.