alonewiththemoon | free half-sole sandals

I bought a pair of half sole sandals to use for an upcoming recital in which we have to wear some sort of non-fancy sandal-type shoe. I find them completely unwearable--I have never liked shoes with bits that went between my toes, and with these sandals, the pressure of the toe-divider thingy sends my left arch into spasms. That tends to make them rather uncomfortable as dance shoes. Tons of people wear these things, so I think it's just my messed-up feet that have a problem, not the shoes themselves. Anyway, I've worn them for about fifteen minutes max, long enough for the sole to get too scuffed to return but they are basically still in brand new condition. I will give them away to anyone who could use them--they'll fit a women's 7.5 or 8, medium width. Black, if that needed saying. So speak up here if you'd like them, first asker is the recipient.

I am now left with a conundrum as to what I am going to wear on my feet for this recital. Apparently all of the dance sandals I like (and that have arch support built in) are too fancy for this number, which is an americanized Turkish Rom thing. I bet if you offered a Turkish Rom girl a nice pair of dance sandals, she'd take 'em in an instant! But for me to wear them wouldn't be "authentic." Insert rant on authenticity and American belly dance here. Hermes sandals were suggested as another option, but all those laces around my feet would drive me insane. Also I think they are ugly and ungainly. No offense to anybody reading this who might wear them, but I do, even the metallic ones. I suspect I'm going to end up doing this barefoot and burning the hell out of my feet on the 360 pivot turns. Blah. Have I mentioned before how much karshlima is not my thing?

I'm getting feedback from Seyyide tonight on my performance on Sunday. I'm anxious but excited. I wasn't totally thrilled with my technique, but I liked the feel of what I did, I suspect her assessment will be about the same.