How dificult to find good dance shoes in Bali island

The idea of the ‘Bessie’ shoe collection spawned from the difficulty I experienced in purchasing well-made and stylish Latin dance shoes on the island of Bali.

I own a small Latin dance studio where we teach Balinese students how to dance Salsa, Rumba, Cumbia, and the Cha Cha Cha . Before ‘Bessie’ was born, we ran into problems finding Latin dance shoes on the island. Every time I went to abroad to Mexico, Singapore, or the US, I had to buy shoes for my students and myself. Though we were glad to finally have shoes to dance in, I honestly did not like the styles or materials of the shoes I brought back.  In addition to this, the price of dance shoes from abroad made most Balinese people think twice buying them.

This was challenging, but I was determined to succeed! I went to several local shoemakers and asked them to make the dance shoes that I had in mind. In the end though, they weren’t able to produce the high quality shoes that I wanted.