![]() They called in a bunch of tap dancers: Derrick Grant, Michelle Dorrance, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Chloe Arnold, Dianne Walker, and myself. What process did you undergo to ensure the shoes produced an exceptional quality sound?Īt the beginning of the whole process Bloch did a focus group. Their shoes are some of the most comfortable dance shoes in the world, so I was really happy about that. Bloch really attacked this, even before I approached it. If you’re teaching three or four classes a day, your feet are just throbbing by the end of the day. We worked on the durability of the shoe and the style, and it was also important that the shoes have their own distinctive sound. The main thing was to create a professional high quality tap shoe as a complete package which to me means a shoe that is a total entity and lasts the distance. What was the most important thing for you working on this project? My foot is naturally wide and Bloch designed the shoe based on my foot, so the male shoe that comes out of the box is wide. I know guys that have bought the female shoe because it’s a narrower cut of the male shoe. ![]() The female shoe has slightly different stitching but it’s not necessarily gender restrictive. Right now we have a basic design for a male and a female shoe, where the sole, the leather and interior are all the same. So you have a female version and a male version of the shoe? So there is slightly different stitching on the shoes, which gives more options in terms of customisation. The other one cuts across and has a sharper cut that goes to the back. One has the hard cut that goes across the toe – that’s the ladies version. I always liked how this looked and so we have done two versions of the stitching for our shoe. ![]() I had seen a clip of Coles (Honey Coles) and Atkins (Cholly Atkins) tap dancing and they’re wearing shoes that have a straight cut across the toe and the toe is in a different colour to the back of the shoe. I gave them a shoe that I liked in a classic Hollywood 30’s or 40’s style and once they had the core design we kept altering it. In the beginning Bloch sent me a model of their top professional tap shoe that looked more like a steel-toe boot than a dress shoe. ![]() How involved were you with the design of the tap shoes? Jason Samuels Smith shows off the tap shoe at Bloch York Street, Sydney They were really open to the idea of allowing me to have full creative say over the design of the shoe, and were willing to make whatever changes I asked. I knew I wanted to create a shoe but I didn’t know how I was going to do it, so when Bloch approached me it was perfect timing. They had been keeping track of me and were very aware of my career, and were interested in developing a professional tap dance shoe. Some Bloch representatives approached me four or five years ago at a national tap dance event. How did your relationship start with Bloch? Tap dancing is too amazing not to have an instrument that can deliver. Tap dancers deserve a good shoe to accompany the art form. It needs to be comfortable enough to wear for a long period of time and stylish enough to be presentable on stage. The tap shoe is your instrument and it’s an extension of your foot, so it’s very important that it’s made well and has a decent sound that you prefer. I caught up with him during his whirlwind visit to learn more about this uniquely crafted tap shoe.Īs a Tap Dancer, how important is it to have good tap shoes? On his recent trip to Australia, Jason officially launched the SO313 at Bloch’s flagship store in Sydney. This beautifully crafted tap shoe is not only comfortable and stylish, it also produces an amazing sound like a well tuned instrument… but don’t take my word for it. It’s taken over four years to perfect, countless hours of research and testing to develop the Jason Samuels Smith Professional Tap Shoe SO313. In a highly innovative collaboration, Bloch, who are experts in technical dance footwear, have partnered with Jason Samuels Smith, one of the world’s greatest tap dancers, to create a professional tap shoe to meet the needs of today’s tap dancer. To all the tap dancers who’ve wanted the rhythmic precision and brilliant feet of Jason Samuels Smith, you’re now one step closer!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |