The new session has me absolutely thrilled and not a little bit because it's got a routine to "Single Ladies." Beyonce is a singer who only came onto my radar recently. I tend to be back in the 1970s, and maybe a bit in the 1980s/90s with some of the music my children got me onto. They weren't ever into Beyonce so I missed her. I own several "Nirvana" and "Offspring" albums and still think of them fondly. My boys weren't ever into Beyonce so neither was I.
I happened onto her while reading an interview of her in "Shape" magazine where she was talking about her workout. If you're on a concert tour you can't gain weight and out grow your fitted costumes. In describing her diet and fitness plan to keep herself in her costumes, and she does wear pretty skimpy costumes, she mentioned that even though she did "Single Ladies" all the time it was still a tough routine to do so she has to keep up on her squats and lunges in her off hours.
That inspired me to go looking for this "Single Ladies" dance on U-Tube. When I found it I had to agree that it's a tough routine. There are also gazillions of take-offs on it, even one of Barack Obama.
Here is the original -
She does the move I can only dream of in seconds 57-61.
You'll notice that she does this entire routine in heels. During last year's coverage of Michael Jackson's death I watched some of his dance scenes and noticed that those loafers with the white socks were really short boots with white leather designed to look like socks. I can only hope that Beyonce and her dancers have some similar tricks to make the shoes they're doing their thing in more stable!
I have had my own "Body Jam" shoe issues. As I mentioned above, my dogs are old! Most athletic shoes I own are for going forward only -
You'll notice the deep horizontal tread on the shoes on top. That's designed to keep you moving forward without slips. When one is moving sideways and sliding across a gym floor shoes that want to keep you going straight are hard on your knees. I love my knees and want to keep them happy! I consulted the Internet and bought the shoes shown below as they were recommended for this type of activity. They're missing deep horizontal tread and have a circular zone which works well for ball of the foot direction changes. I have a narrow foot so Nike is my go-to brand. They run a little short so I always go up half a size.Sadly those shoes, despite costing $70 and having a pair of insoles put in them killed me! The ball of the foot was rigid and the leather upper, which I haven't shown, caused my little toes to complain after 15-20 minutes. In the words of another blogger, I'm a "sturdy girl" type, but if my feet hurt I revert to a "silk stocking girl" and something must be done!
Since I was already down $70 I started looking at other athletic shoes I owned. Surprise, surprise these fit the bill. They were bought off the last-chance sale rack for $20. My intention was to wear them in New Hampshire with my Park Service green shorts. But, with a pair of insoles from Dr. Scholls they're perfect. 
You can see that they have some horizontal tread, but it's very shallow and doesn't provide much resistance to sideways movement. The little Nike swoosh hits about at the ball of my foot and accommodates spins and twirls. 
