Gary is an instructor in his own dance studio Dance En Motion. Though young, he has many years of dancing experience under his belt.

Gary has choreographed and performed with En Motion in various nationwide events like Chingay 2005, and was involved in many International Salsa Festivals like:

- Choreographed and Performed for 2006 Taiwan International Salsa Festival
- Choreographed and Performed for 2006 Malaysia International Salsa Festival
- Choreographed, Performed and Taught for 2006 Singapore International Salsa Festival

His teachings have benefited many where his students gone on to win Salsa Champion titles and others gone on to carve their own Dance teaching career.

We are pleased to have him in our forum to answer your queries.

Thank you Gary.

Hi Gary,

Thank you for joining us at the forum.

People here wants to learn everything. Hope we wont be keeping you too busy w our qns. haha!

Cheerios,
Christina

Hi Christina,

Haha... am happy to see you all so passionate abt dancing. Its my pleasure to offer my help =)
see u in class and on the dance floor!

Gary
may we dance forever...

Hi Gary,

Welcome ! hee

Hi Gary,

I have been doing 'hardcore' practising for the past 2 weeks- dancing 5-6days per week and each time at least about 3hours.

Lately, i felt that the arch of my feet are 'pulling' and the the balls of my feet to my toes area are aching and hurting abit when when i try to wriggle them (esp my left foot ).

I am wondering if this is normal and for professionals like yourself who dance long hours, how do you 'pamper', care, and manage your tired feet?

Thank you for your time in helping me out with this

cheerios

Hi Christina,

From ur descriptions, there are a few possible reasons for the pain.

1) Unfitting footwear (heels)
This is the most frequent case for ladies who experiences the pain u had describe. Heels by nature is already not a healthy footwear as it creates extra amount of pressure to certain areas of your sole, esp the Ball of the feet and toes area. Thus a fitting pair of heels is very impt esp for dancing. The pressure created will be alot more than just walkin wif it.
Solutions:
- Be very particular abt buying a pair of dancing heels. Prioty must b comfort before looking into design.
- FOr beginning stage, try not to get anything more than 2 inches.
- Purchase padding to be slot in ur heels for extra comfort if need to

2) Over-exercise
This is one of the most common case which might amount to injury. RIght now, i think ur foot are over-strained (it will be esp so if footwear are inappropriate)
Practising is gd, but over-practice might have an adverse effect intead. An overdose will always create more harm than gd.

Solutions:
Try to understand ur own body limit. If its strained, take a short break then dance again. If it hurts, then its gd to listen to the signals send out by ur body. TIme to take a rest and stop dancing. As the chinese saying goes, "RESTING is for you to walk a longer route"
So keep in mind.

I dun particular pamper or manage my feet. But i do warm up before class or dancing to help reduce the possibility of cramps or injuries.
And to keep hygiene of feet, i sometimes soak it with warm water + used tea leaves. It kills bacteria and prevent STINKO foot.
U can oso try Foot massage if there's a need to. Cheap thrill to scream oso haha

Hope my reply helps =)

Gary
May we dance forever

Wow, thanks Gary! Your reply is really helpful.

Thanks for being here with us to share tips and provide advice Guess we will be helpless lot without you here... hahahah

hope you have a gd week ahead. See ya!

Cheerios