Shoes

Bloch Dancewear is selling a new tap dance shoe developed in cooperation with tap dancer Jason Samuels Smith. The black patent leather shoe features a serious build-up on the sole and (probably) a phat sound. Order it online from the Bloch web site. Check out a close-up image in PDF format.

Capezio has announced a new "athletically styled" tap shoe named Tap Dawg. Available in January, 2006, the shoe is similar in style to their existing Fierce tap sneaker but uses the superior 3-screw taps. Any chance these shoes will make sounds on the sides of the shoes? Looks doubtful.

Capezio Dancewear has a new tap shoe coming out in February. The QuadraFlex Xtreme is a slip-on tap shoe that features an "already broken in" leather upper and a "shock absorbing, foam footbed" with a "full pig skin lining." Capezio also says that the shoe is "loud".

Fierce and Hammer sound more like music idols than tap shoes, but that may just be the angle Capezio and Bloch are working with these new tap models. Capezio's Fierce replaces their previous high-top tap sneaker with a flashier looking low-cut model. This one's got the same Teletone Rayow (single screw) taps built-in and a split-sole.