LaDuca's Prima Student Line
You know his shoes. You know his name, and recently Dancer readers learned about Phil LaDuca – a street kid in South Chicago who credits the musical "West Side Story" with his conversion from basement performances to Broadway.
His shoes are on the Rockettes, film stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uma Thurman, Meryl Streep, and Kate Winslet and Broadway babes such as Charlotte d'Amboise, Anne Reinking and Bebe Neuwirth. Dancers in ‘Music Man,' ‘A Chorus Line,' ‘Wicked,' ‘Chicago,' ‘Movin' Out,' and ‘Legally Blonde' do eight shoes a week in LaDucas. Vogue magazine and the 'Style' section of The New York Times have done features on his creations. Seasoned gypsies to fresh-from-the-nest wannabes stop by his shop on Ninth Avenue regularly to tell him of the part they felt they got because of the magic of his shoes.
And it is those fresh-from-the nest wannabes, as well as talented students, who have Phil LaDuca introducing a new line of shoes. "I believe there's a higher echelon that has been ignored," speaking of those students who deserve to "be recognized in the field as serious students."
Enter: "The LaDuca Prima Student Line" with three styles to choose from – the T-strap Lexi, Charlize or Terri.
Forever aware of the needs of the dancer first, not the dollar, LaDuca created this new line for those students "who need to have the proper equipment to move in a serious style." This shoe is affordable yet still offers the superb LaDuca construction of his professional line.
"There is a whole generation of students who haven't studied in heels," he said. Oxford tap shoes and hip-hop jazz sneakers have been popular foot gear for the past generation. Students with that rare shot at a professional career onstage in a Broadway show or with the Rockettes need that "proper equipment' to work in. LaDuca has one they can afford. Noting the poor knock-offs that have proliferated recently, LaDuca grew "tired of seeing them." He felt it was time to give this pre-professional group their chance to own and perform in a pair of LaDuca's.
A dancer, choreographer, performer, director, teacher, writer and coach, he also became an astute observer, watching the dancers and listening to what they wanted in a shoe. "There was no character shoe on Broadway designed to give the dancer the functions of a ballet slipper. The words ‘strong' and ‘flexible' were incongruous." Allison Ellner gave him his wings to create what the dancers were looking for with a 4x6 booth at the Broadway Dance Center. Now, having set the standard for design and function in musical theatre and ballroom shoes, he remains aware of growing needs. "There is so much to do and so much to address."
But wait! There's more! He is already at work on a line with a ½" heel, "a replica of the Roxie tap shoe for little ones and ‘vintage' dancers, and a ballroom fashion line."
Visit their polished site at www.laducashoes.com or call 212-268-6751.