Instep Stretchers



The dance manager knows where the instep stretchers are kept because dancers must where shoes that fit their feet. New leather is tight and has not stretched, and old leather shrinks as it dries. Bunions protrude from the toes of the feet and sometimes don't fit into a show very well. And shoes should always be comfortable, although it is not unusual for them to be a little tight when they are new.



New dancers know all the basic moves, such as the quickstep, the two step, the tango, and the rumba, They don't need to be told how to perform, although sequences of moves do get choreographed so that the movements are in sync with the music, and the sum of the group of performers is greater than each individual part. Synchronicity guides the dancers they move in harmony with each other and the music. Accomplished and highly trained males and females performing together display exquisite movements that become the human body and seem almost spiritual.

Soldiers, on the other hand, don't get to use a boot stretcher when they are issued a new pair of hard leather boots. When they are told to put them on and march through the mud, they don't ask how far; they just do it. The boots protect their tender feet with hard neoprene soles and hard leather sides that give support to the ankles that is especially needed when walking through difficult terrain where a bad sprain can easily occur, sending a soldier to the medics and leaving him temporarily disabled. Sprang or not, the hardness of the leather will wear big blisters on the feet that sometimes need to be bandaged. But most soldiers will not complain because they are men who have been hardened with training to endure the difficult stresses of war. With time, the leather of the boots will stretch and conform to the soldiers feet, as closely as a warm pair of socks on a winter day. The boot will be so comfortable that the solder doesn't know how he ever got along with any other piece of footwear. He will be happy with his boots for they will feel like a piece of his own body.