During my 8 years of dancing I have managed to amass no less than 19 pairs of danceshoes, of different types and styles, and along the way I've come up with a few handy tips for getting the most out of your shoes.
Whenever I have a new pair of shoes, I find that the seams and edges of the shoes can be a little stiff or sharp, which can cause blisters and/or cuts after the first few wears. My tip for avoiding this is to slightly rough-up any sharp edges with a nail file, preferably one of the metal ones, to soften the edges a little, and then rub on some vaseline.
Always carry a suede brush with you for the times when the dancefloor is very slippy. Roughing up the soles of suede danceshoes provides extra grip.
Suede brushes are also very useful for removing the dirt and gunge from your suede soles when dancing on dirty or sticky dancefloors. For leather soles use rough sandpaper.
I also carry with me one of the instant shoe-shine sponges, which are available from any shoe shop. These sponges are impregnated with silicone, and when rubbed lightly across the soles of your shoes, this makes dancing on sticky or dirty dancefloors much easier. Don't try this when dancing on a good dancefloor though - you are likely to end up looking like Bambi on ice!
And last but not least - you can never have too many pairs of dance shoes
