Footwear to Preserve Your Body & Passion Meet Apolla

We are rounding out this month's episodes on shoes with a conversation from one of the founders and owners of Apolla performance Kaycee.  Kaycee and I sat down to discuss Apolla Socks, the science behind their products and the greater impact that they are creating in the dance community, including being our primary sponsor for this season.  If you have not heard or checked out Apolla Socks you can find them at apollaperformance.com.  I am a true believer in this company and their greater mission, and my feet have been a little happier since I began wearing their products back in 2017.  I hope that you enjoy my conversation with Kaycee and make sure to listen until the end to find out how you may be able to score a pair of Apolla Socks!

Tell us a little about you and Apolla

• Idea development for Apolla began in 2014, and first launched in 2016

• Founder are all women who grew up dancing, understood the demands of the dance industry, and the injuries that these demands could lead to

• Kaycee holds a Masters in Kinesiology, yoga teacher certification, NSCA, CPT, and CSCS

• She focused her graduate work on dancers and dance injures

• Wanted to help dancers with the information that she wish she had known growing up

• Took what sports science and athletic training were already doing for traditional sports and applied it to dancers

• Focusing on helping dancers to train smarter within the rigors of traditional dance

• Decided that they wanted to be the change for whole dancer wellness, body, mind and spirit

• Began doing it from the ground up- starting with the feet, with socks and compression that would not take away from anything that the dancer needed to do

• Inflammation, overuse and repetitive strain are some of the primary causes of below the knee injuries in dancers

• By using targeted compression, and levels of compression they were able to see a difference in dancers being able to do more, longer, stronger and noticing a reduction in injuries. 

• Started with a product, but Apolla is a mission based company that is working to bring dance medicine and science into the dance world from their blogs, to free classes every Friday

How have you developed/created your products?

• Founders were very connected within the competitive/ competition dance world

• Originally started by word of mouth

• Were able to get feedback and testing from top dancers and companies including Jen Freeman, Boston Ballet, Cirio Collective and many more

• The Joule and the K-warmer were designed in conjunction with principal dancers from Boston Ballet, and specifically for ballet dancer

• Created a product that will also assist with recovery not only during the dance day but after

• Give support but flexibility more like kinesiotape, but the socks can be worn over and over again

How many products are now in your line up?

• 6 different styles, all with the seal of approval from the American Podiatric Medicine Association

  • Half sole

  • No show- can add grip on the ball of the foot and heel

  • Crew- performance that hit just below the calf

  • Mid-Calf

  • Leg Warmer

  • Barefoot/ Joule- that works under a pointe shoe/ballet shoe

• Always wanted inclusion in the line-up of socks

• Have focused on a full line of colors including neutrals and pink to accommodate skin tones, as well as pink to fit under tights

• Footwear should not be what stands out on stage it should be the support that lets the dancer shine

What research has been done in understanding the benefits of the Apolla socks

• Force Attenuation Properties of Padded Dance Socks - Authors Russell, Jeffrey A.; Mueller, Isabella F.

  • Conclusion- We offer evidence that padded dance socks may reduce foot forces dancers commonly encounter during modern dance.

• Dr. Alicia Fong Yan- presented information at IADMS and awaiting publication

  • Compared Apolla socks, ballet shoes, barefoot and regular socks

  • Showed a reduction in forces in the foot when using Apolla Socks

• Apolla is not involved in any study design, they donate all their socks and wait to see the results

What sets Apolla Socks apart

• Apolla offers a flexible arch support that continues to allow for full ROM through the foot and ankle, and allows for building strength instead of just giving it a rigid support

• Great addition for hypermobile dancer, as it helps to make the body more aware 

• Its almost like having Kinesio tape that you can wash and wear over and over without needing a professional to apply them.

• The compression from Apolla socks is holding up over time for long term use

• They are anit-microbial and moisture wicking allowing for increased wear time between washes

• Sustainable and recyclable

• Have made sure they are being the change that they wish to see

• Socks are made with sustainable yarns and recyclable packaging

How are you impacting the dance community outside of your socks?

• Check out Apolla on Shark Tank April 1, 2022!!

• Have partnered with companies that focus on training the dancer

  • Sugar foot therapies

  • Relative motion

• The Bridge Dance Project

  • Bridging the gap between dance medicine and science and the competitive/commercial dance community

  • Have a conference coming up in August, 2022

  • Focus on all the pillars on how to properly train dancers with a focus on incorporating dance medicine and science

• Dance Medica w/ Josephine Lee

• Every Friday they offer Live classes Beyond the steps

  • STEPS- Studios for Equity Prevention and Science

  • Course focus on racism in dance, gender inequities, nutrition/eating disorders, prevention of sexual preditors, and dance medicine and science

  • Free friday classes dive deeper into these pillars with these experts on Facebook and Instagram

• Blog posts

  • Mind, body and soul information from experts in the Dance Medicine field

Dancer wellness company that dabbles in socks

Check out our instagram on April 1, 2022 to enter our giveaway for a pair of Apolla