Newport Heel

Newport Beach – The birthplace of Balboa.

Newport Beach was home to the important and influential Rendezvous Ballroom and the Balboa Pavilion. Located in sunny Orange County Southern California, the Balboa Peninsula gave rise to the close embrace, fancy footed ‘dancers dance’: The Balboa (Hop/Shuffle) in the 1920’s/30’s.

Known for being “Sin City”, Newport Beach housed many options for gambling, dancing and despite prohibition; drinking. With its sandy seaside location, and the Pacific Electric Red Car Line (which began at or near Pasadena, winding down through Los Angeles and Long Beach and ending in central Balboa) it was the perfect evening and weekend destination.

Balboa was born at the Pavilion -originally a bath house, and later a bowling alley-, where due to construction and the land it was built on, the “Jitterbug” and breakaway weren’t allowed. Later, the dance grew into adulthood at the Rendezvous, a block long dance hall facing the Pacific Ocean that opened March 24, 1928. Near the pier with a 12,000-square-foot dance floor which could hold over 1,500 couples, a 64-foot long soda fountain traced the dance floor, fitted with couches and tables for listening. The mezzanine, which looked down on the main floor and its dancers, had a second soda fountain and 50 couches. The ballroom was often referred to as ‘the queen of swing.”

It’s come a long way from its original designation as swamp land, and we highly recommend learning more about the villages and the dances that are rooted in Newport Beach.
Check out:

Newport Beach’s Balboa and Balboa Island
By Jeff Delaney
Brief History of Balboa
A Way-Too-Breif History of Balboa

 

About the shoe

6cm heel with plastic cap, balanced to distribute your weight throughout your foot.
Original color options:
Blue calf suede, very soft to the touch, shoe has a very light textile between the two layers of leather to help maintain the shape.
Snake print calf leather, with light peach undertone. No textile, but has a small toe puff. This one fits a bit more snug than the blue.

Using our A sizing, the Newport fits a bit wider in the toe box than many other common models, with the ability to still tighten the ankle strap as needed and snug on the heel cup. The last is the same as used with our Seneca model, though feels different because of the whole foot coverage, and runs true to size. For example if you typically wear a “womens 38”, order a 38.

Heel Height: 5cm

Length of the lasts in CM:
35 – 23’5, 36 – 24, 37 – 24’5, 38 – 25, 39 – 25’5, 40 – 26, 41 – 26’5