Patent ID: 7337558

Claim:
A dance shoe comprising: a shoe upper made of a flexible material, said shoe upper including a toe region, a heel region, a foot opening at the heel region, and an arch region extending between said toe region and said heel region; a split sole secured to a bottom of said shoe upper, said split sole including a front sole under said toe region of said shoe upper and a rear sole under said heel region of said shoe upper, said front and rear soles being spaced from one another for defining a gap between said front and rear soles that extends along the bottom of said shoe upper; an elastic material attached to the bottom of said shoe upper and covering the gap between said front and rear soles, wherein said elastic material covers an underside of said dance shoe; at least one support band attached to said shoe upper and being connected with said elastic material for supporting said elastic material and for minimizing wrinkling, puckering, pinching and sagging of said elastic material in said arch region of said shoe upper.