Ballroom Dance Shoes

If you've fallen in love with Lord of the Dance, which was featured on the Academy Awards show, desire to tango the night away like Al Pacino did in the film Scent of a Woman, or simply need a pair of Irish "jig" shoes to tap away in, you can find them at Hobsons Professional Dance Shoes.

A store and factory that showcases ballet, jazz, tap, flamenco, tango and ballroom dance shoes. It is headed by Jim Brown with the assistance of his sons, Kirk and Mark.

Brown started his love affair with the dance in England, where he attended the prestigious Cordwainer College and received degrees in both pattern-making and design. He went to work for Gamba, a well-known dance-shoe manufacturer, staying there for 14 years before he went out on his own with Hobsons. Actually, he says, his great grandfather, George Hall, was a shoemaker in Scotland, starting a family tradition.

Brown came to America in 1986 because a brother who lived here encouraged him to emigrate. Since his brother lived in Brooklyn, that was where he set up shop at 1563 St. John's Place.

But while the Crown Heights location worked for manufacturing, it wasn't the best site for getting his business known. Brown explains that his business in the States still has not equaled his success in England.

"Come to America, my brother said, and you'll sell more shoes." This hasn't happened yet, Brown ruefully admits. But he is gradually building a reputation selling ballroom dance shoes to dance stores around the country, doing custom work and producing theatrical dance shoes.

Ballroom Dancing Shoes Values