Everything you need to know: Sansha Pro ballet technique shoes

This is the Sansha Pro ballet slipper, also known as Sansha Pro 1C, SA1C, or SA1.  It is the third most popular shoe on discountdance.com.  It is my preferred ballet slipper.  This shoe is extremely durable for a canvas slipper, and it is pretty reasonably priced.  

It is also one of the most difficult shoes to size.  Here is the size chart as it appears on discountdance.com:

Sansha Pro slippers only come in whole sizes.  The basic rule according to discount dance is: For women's whole sizes, go up 1 size.  For women's half sizes, go up 1.5 sizes.  For Men's whole sizes 6 and above, go up 3 sizes.  For men's half sizes 6 and above, go up 3.5 sizes.  For men's whole sizes under 6, go up 4 sizes.  For men's half sizes under 6, go up 4.5 sizes.  While this appears complicated, it is essentially correct.  

I have intentionally left out the "children's to adult's size conversion chart" found under the Sansha size chart on discountdance.com.  This chart is very, very incorrect and will contribute to ordering the wrong size.  That chart claims that if you add 2 to any children's size, you will get that child's adult size (IN WOMEN'S--there is little difference between girls and boys shoe sizes in most brands).  This is usually correct for street shoes.  In most US shoe brands, a child's size 3 is the same as a women's size 5 and a child's size 4 is the same as a women's size 6.  

However, in Sansha shoes, there is no overlap.  The sizes make a clean ascension from children's size 2(ish) to women's size 19.  The "women's sizes"3, 3.5, 4, and 4.5 referenced on the chart are analogous to women's sizes 5, 5.5, 6, and 6.5 in US street shoes.  The "women's sizes" 5, 5.5, 6, and 6.5 are generally analogous to sizes in between US women's street shoe sizes 6.5 and 7.  

There are also widths Narrow, Medium, and Wide to consider.  If you are not sure what width you need, go with Medium.

Here are my complex, but extremely accurate sizing guidelines for a proper fit.

Start with your street shoe size.

1.  If you are a whole size, choose your regular width (narrow, medium, or wide).

2.  If you are a half size and your foot is wide, round up to the next whole size and choose wide width.  If you are a half size and your foot is narrow, round down to the next whole size and choose width narrow.  If you are a half size and your foot is medium width, think about if you like your shoes to have a very tight professional fit, or if you prefer a looser fit.  If you like a tighter fit, round down to the next whole size and go with a wide width.  If you prefer a looser fit, round up to the next whole size and go with a narrow width.

3.  If your regular (or rounded) street shoe size is a women's 5 or 6, subtract two sizes to get either size 3 or size 4.

4.  If you are a woman or child (wearing children's shoes in size 4 or under), add one size.

5.  If you are a man, add 3 sizes.

6.  Add your width (either your regular width or the width derived from step 2).

For a real life example of how this works, here's how I calculate my size.  I wear a ladies size US 5 or European size 35.5 or 36.  (Fun fact: to calculate US size from European size, subtract 30.5).  My foot is medium to narrow in width.  I choose medium width.  Because I wear a women's size 5, I subtract 2 to get a size 3.  I then add 1 to get my Sansha size.  I add my width to get 4 medium.  

**Note: ballet technique shoes are supposed to have a very tight fit that accentuates the lines of the foot and does not wrinkle when the dancer points his or her foot.  For beginning dancers who are not used to wearing dance shoes, this may feel uncomfortably tight.  To get the best fit for you, visit your local dancewear store for a fitting.  

If you order a shoe and it feels way too small, return it for a size larger.  If you order a shoe and it feels only slightly too small, you can do a couple of things to alter the fit.  However, if you do these things, you will not be able to return the shoes.  You can use a spray bottle of water to slightly dampen the toes of the shoes, then wear the shoes while walking around.  This will stretch the fabric slightly.  You can also pull the insole lining out of the shoe.  This will make the insole area feel more rough to the foot, but it will not compromise the construction of the shoe.

The Sansha Pro ballet shoe comes in several colors: light pink, white, black, gray, and flesh.  The flesh color is a light olive toned color with yellow undertones.  This best matches slightly tanned Caucasian and Asian skin tones.  If your skin is very pale or very dark and you need a shoe to match your skin tone, buy the SA1 in white and use pancake makeup to color the shoe in the color that you need.  It will match better without another color shining through underneath the makeup.

These shoes are made of durable canvas.  They are washable, though I would not wash them unless they are extraordinarily dirty (like you spilled coffee on them or your dog buried them in the flowerbed).  If you put them in the dryer, they will shrink, so if you wash the shoes, put them on to shape them, then take them off and let them sit outside to dry.

On the packaging, the SA1's say that they are "demi-pointe shoes."  This just means that they are flat technique ballet shoes.  These are NOT the shankless pointe shoes or training pointe shoes that are also called demi pointe shoes.  Anyone can wear these slippers; they are great for professionals, beginners, and even Halloween costumes.

Sansha technique shoes used to come with a mesh bag to carry the shoes (They stopped doing that about 2 years ago).  They do not come with mesh bags anymore.  If you order from Sansha directly or from an online retailer like discountdance.com, you will not receive a mesh bag.  Dancewear stores are rather notorious for holding onto old stock, so if you buy a SA1 shoe from a dancewear store, you may very well end up with a mesh bag.  The bags are great to have, but they fall apart easily (very unlike the shoes themselves).

These Sansha Pro technique shoes usually cost around $20.00.  This is a great value for an adult shoe.  Many other brands cost the same thing, but don't last nearly as long.  

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