The Ballo 'brother and sister' team: Giuseppe and Anna at the 2008 Montreal Salsa Congress.

Giuseppe Maiolo Creator and designer of Ballo Shoes By Stephen Dancey

 

Ballo Shoes is the Canadian dance shoe company, based in Montreal, that has revolutionized the design, style, comfort and functionality of dance shoes by producing shoes specifically designed for the needs of salsa dancers.

 

Stephen: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. There are many fans of Ballo shoes here in Vancouver, but for people here who don't know who you are, please tell us a little about yourself...

Giuseppe: Thank you for your interest in Ballo Shoes. My name is Giuseppe Maiolo and I am the originator of the 'Ballo' concept of dance shoes. Ballo is a small Canadian dance shoe company that is making shoes that are unlike any others on the market; these are not our parents' or our grandparents' dance shoes. Our shoes incorporate features from different types of shoes to produce a unique type of dance shoe that was conceived primarily for Salsa dancing.

How did Ballo Shoes start - what was the idea behind it?

The whole concept got started, as so many other ideas do, by necessity. Up until the time I first started taking dance classes I knew next to nothing about Salsa. It took a while for me to see the need for appropriate dance shoes since I was a slow learner to begin with. I was taking Salsa classes and dancing for about a year and half when I finally decided it was time to get some dance shoes because I was unable to do the things we were learning very effectively such as multiple turns, spin turns and some shines with sliding movements. At this point I was still designing clothing full time but I was also starting to design clothing for Salsa dancers as well so I was being exposed to this world from different angles.

I then proceeded to look for shoes and try different types of shoes. I looked at the dancers around me and all the guys were wearing jazz slippers. I found this really weird because they were effectively socks with patches on the sole but they allowed you to spin and slide. I abandoned those when on one outing I returned home to discover the side of my foot had turned blue. Coincidentally I had a doctor's appointment the next day and I was told I had broken all the little capillaries in the side of my foot either from repeatedly striking the floor or by having had someone step on my foot; either way that was the end of the 'sock'.

I tried a few other shoes but none were comfortable and I simply could not bring myself to wear a pair of Latin shoes. I simply did not have the clothing for these shoes and they really did not appeal to me aesthetically. I then went on to Diesel and Puma running shoes trying to make their sticky soles slippery. They looked cool but my legs and feet were getting tired and in the long run you are simply making micro tears in your knees due to the resistance of the shoe when you're spinning. The majority of shoes I had tried were, simply put, either ugly or uncomfortable.

I then searched all over the world to find cool dance shoes and could not believe they did not exist and that although the music was evolving the shoes are the same ones people have been wearing since the early 1900s. My next question was, 'If I can design clothes, how hard could it be to design cool-looking, functional dance shoes?'

I am fashion designer by trade and so aesthetics were very important but not at the expense of function and comfort. Although I design clothes for a living I did not know the first thing about making shoes so it took a lot of research and cold-calling to design them. I am lucky that one of the only companies in Canada to make 'lasts' for shoes is situated here in Quebec. I then had the good fortune of working with a company here in Montreal that is owned by a really talented artisan who has been making shoes all his life and the company's speciality happens to be nurse's shoes and orthopaedic shoes, and this design lends itself to its high degree of comfort. I soon found out though that it took a lot of trial and error to get the prototypes made correctly. People were very helpful and I finally had some lasts made up for what I wanted to be the shape of the shoe and went on to design the shoe and have the pattern made. The design came into being as I simply incorporated everything I wanted and needed in a dance shoe. Then I had a prototype and samples made locally and took to testing.

I had a lot of help and support at the time by my instructors and friends alike. At the time I was developing the shoe I was taking classes with Roberto Arenas Jr. and his partner Marie José. I was designing their outfits at the time so I had Roberto test the original prototype to get a professional's feedback and input, and to point out things that needed changing, while my other instructor Edson Vallon of Saltimambo put the pre-production shoes to trial. My classmates and friends then put samples to task. In all this my sister, Anna, who is also my partner, put a female perspective on the shoes and suggested I make them for women as well to give women an alternative to heels. My female classmates all agreed and the women's sizes were introduced - so the women were entirely responsible for the existence of a woman's shoe and the design simply evolved on its own; it was not any one dancer that inspired the shoe but the dance itself.

The name was the first thing that I was sure of when the idea came to me. Being Italian it was natural for me to pick Ballo as it means 'dance' hence 'Ballo Shoes' ie 'dance shoes'. I had an idea for the logo and branding as well, but a good friend of mine who is a brilliant graphic designer helped me brainstorm it and put it all together. The letters 'LL' were meant to be dance steps and the idea of a spin spot/target underneath just summed up the concept. The official launch was at the Montreal Salsa Congress in April 2006 and since then I am always looking for new ways to freshen up the shoes and improve their characteristics all the while keeping in mind what brought the shoes to market.

So what is that makes your shoes different from other dance shoes?

From the beginning, Ballo dance shoes were conceived with Salsa in mind from the ground up. All dance shoes serve a particular type of dance but people adopt them for other dances. We are effectively forcing a shoe to do something it was not ideally designed for. I wanted a shoe that had maximum contact with the dance floor for stability; a shoe that looked good with a variety of clothing; a shoe that looked like it was designed for dancers of this day and age; a shoe that was as comfortable and as lightweight as a sneaker with no need to break it in or suffer in it for a while and, lastly, a shoe that would allow a dancer to use his heels while doing shines without slipping.

The wedge sole is the single most notable difference from a classic dance shoe. It was used because, in my mind, it stood to reason that the closer your center of gravity is to the floor the more stable you are. Your turns are quicker and more stable because you have a larger surface of the shoe in contact with the dance floor. The arch is built into the sole so there is strong support built-in and this helps alleviate fatigue without the need for a separate heel and sole. This design also facilitates more stylish and modern design and styling.

I believe the wedge sole allows a dancer to dance and stay on their feet for longer periods of time than split soles. The split sole jazz sneaker is a design that people have adopted for Salsa. That shoe's split sole is ideal for jazz and ballet. It is designed for lots of pointing and standing on the balls of the feet. This is fine for women as they are on the balls of their feet all the time but when men dance Salsa they are not on the points of their feet most of the time but closer to the ground hence that design will not offer the much-needed support. And the little jazz slipper for example is effectively a sock with a patch underneath. This is fine for jazz and jazz ballet but Salsa is a different type of dance and those slippers simply don't have the support for Salsa dancing. Many Salsa dancers are wearing shoes designed for other dance styles, not really related to Salsa, and causing damage to their feet.

A wedge-soled sneaker has the comfort and flexibility necessary but the rubber sole which is designed for traction is counter productive when dancing and will eventually tear away at the knees with the stress it produces upon turning. I believe every design has its intended purposes and one can choose according to their needs. For example, our wedge design is useless for jazz ballet but works for Salsa, Hustle and Swing, and even as a practice shoe in Ballroom dancing.

Like most dance shoes the soles are made of suede, but contrary to most dance shoes the heel piece is not. I chose to put a little rubber heel piece on our shoes to allow for footwork using your heels as well as a brake for stability in multiple spin turns. I put padding in the collar and tongue of the shoe as well as the insoles to allow for long periods of dancing in comfort because I found most shoes to be painful after a while. There is even sponge padding on the ball of the foot, where Salsa dancers spend a lot of their time on while dancing.

I chose to forego any synthetic fabrics in the construction of the shoes and use only all natural leather for its wearability and ability to breathe. The shoes were designed from the beginning to be comfortable while dancing for long periods of time and look good while doing it. I tried to incorporate everything I wanted in a dance shoe. I wanted the shoes to be fun to look at while having fun dancing. My goal was not to do what others were already doing very well for so many years.

Buying dance shoes can be an expensive and frustrating experience for people. Tell us a little about the different styles of shoe you produce so people can get an idea of what would be best for them...

All our shoes use the same Ballo lasts but all have slight differences and unique attributes. At this time there are basically three models of shoes and variations within each model: the Classic, the Fly, and the Slide. New differentiation is being phased in to reflect the lines' main differences. The blue 'Ballo' label is the lightest and most flexible leather shoe we produce. The original orange label is the Italian-sourced leathers and suede with the 'premium' details in the suede 'Classic'.

So the first model is the 'Classic'; this is the shoe that started it all. It is a fully constructed shoe and is our all around staple. It comes in 2 styles: suede and leather. The suede has just undergone a year-long series of improvements that make this shoe the best one to date. The suede 'Classic' are now made of Italian-sourced suede and leathers; they have kid leather interiors; new, more resilient and impact-resistant mid-soles; greater cushioning in the collar, tongue and insole; a new, more crush-resistant toe-cap and brass eyelets. The last detail is that the shoe now has a dart in the heel area giving it a more rounded contour as well as a gentle contouring on the sides to hold the foot in place. The leather 'Classic' continues in the tradition of the original generation but now uses ultra lightweight and flexible leathers all the while incorporating the structural improvements such as the brass eyelets and improved cushioning.

The next model is the 'Fly'. This shoe epitomizes the fun concept of our shoes. It was introduced as a limited edition shoe but was in such high demand that we expanded the line. It is our lightest and most flexible shoe. It is partially lined and has no toe cap so it feels like you are wearing a cross between a sock and slipper but with the construction on a dance shoe. This model is available in black leather and blue embroidered logo; white leather and red embroidered logo; white and blue embroidered logo as well as all black leather customizable and soon-to-arrive all-white leather customizable.

The latest model is the 'Slide' and is the only shoe for men only. This is a shoe designed with the elegance and simplicity of a dress shoe with the comfort of a sneaker. It is a fully constructed shoe with a very sleek profile that men can wear with dress pants or jeans. It uses the same ultra lightweight leathers as the leather Classic model and has all the same features. It comes in black leather and white leather.