Juana - as close to the heart and soul of flamenco as is danced on stage in a show
I am quickly becoming a big fan of her. I took her class yesterday, in my old shoes, cause the new ones were being reinforced in the toe. Alfonso Chaves is an expert craftsman/artesan but not a flamenco shoe maker. There are several details that should be different, but they are so minor compared to having shoes that do not cripple me that for the most part, I don't care at this point.

So the final verdict on my feet is obvious now: it was the shoes. It was not a pathology (though I do have mild supination or pronation or whatever, and high arches). It wasn't anything any of the medical people said, even though they were correct in their assessments. Those things were not the cause, and they all wanted to treat me for what they discovered, for their own interests. My feet have been basically back to normal - I have no problems doing all the footwork I did before. Until I put the old shoes back on for one day.

Juana, by the way has the worst bent in heel I've ever seen. I don't understand how she dances at a high level, let alone as a professional all her life, and has not had serious problems. Either that or her left shoe was broken, which I doubt would be possible to dance on.