A short story from Deviant Art:

Sophie the barefoot dancer
by
HermanMeister

Sophie was a dancer. In the final year of her dancing studies, she got the opportunity to study abroad for a year. Sophie took the opportunity, and turned out to be very good at what she did. In fact, she was so skilled that she caught the interest of the country’s national dancing society which was owned by the government.
She was taken to a meeting where they gave her an offer. She would be employed as one of the official folk dancers of the country. It was very rare for a foreigner to get this chance. The pay was good, and she would be able to retire at the age of 40 with a good pension, while until then working with what she loved. There was one catch, however.
- “You will have to be barefoot”, the manager said.
- “You mean, I will dance barefoot?” Sophie said. She didn’t see anything strange with that, many of the dances she had performed had been in bare feet.
- “Well, yes but”, the manager said. “You will not only have to dance barefoot. You must live barefoot”
- “Live barefoot?” Sophie asked.
- “Yes, you see. There is a tradition in this country that goes back many hundreds of years. Official female folk dancers must always remain barefoot. All types of footwear covering the soles is prohibited. Because if you are an official folk dancer, you are always a dancer. Dance takes place in bare feet, but your feet can’t wear anything even when you are not dancing.” said the manager.
- “But, how will you control what I wear on my feet during my spare time?” Sophie asked.
- “Yes, this used to be problematic in the past. We had to employ people who always had to keep the dancers company to make sure they were barefoot. If they were caught wearing footwear they lost their job and got a punishment. This still happens of course, but today, thanks to modern technology, you girls get some privacy”, the manager said. He opened a small box to show her a chip. “All our dancers will have two chips like this operated into their heels. They will notice if the feet are bare or not. If they are not bare, job will be lost and you get prison sentence”.
- “But, what about winter when there is snow?” Sophie asked.
- “This is no problem, from November to March, all folk dancer girls get free taxi rides, so you won’t have to walk long distances”, the manager said.
- “But, what about other people? What will they think seeing me walking around barefoot?” Sophie asked.
- “Folk dancers are much respected in this country. People will look up to you, people will idolize you even. Your bare feet will be a sign of pride and other girls, dreaming of becoming dancers will be barefoot most of the time too” the manager said.
Sophie began to think. She would never get a chance like this again in her lifetime. Working for one of the most exclusive dance agencies in the world. She would get to retire early and she would be rich. But spending almost 20 years barefoot seemed like a very hard thing to do. It wasn’t like she completely hated it, she enjoyed walking barefoot in the grass, but she really enjoyed buying new fancy shoes too. Walking around barefoot in the streets was also something she thought would be uncomfortable. Just imagine, I will have to do my grocery shopping barefoot, she thought. It wasn’t like she could just quit either. Once the contract was signed, there was no way out of it, other than a long prison sentence, and a prison in this country was not a place you wanted to end up in.
Finally, she signed the contract. This was it. There was no turning back now. She took off her shoes and stockings. The manager took her inside the other room. It didn’t take long until the chips were inside her. As she went outside, the streets felt cold under her bare feet. It was raining so the ground was very wet. It was April, but still quite chilly.
As she came home, her feet were aching from the cold and the rough surface she had to walk on. She better get these feet toughened up, she thought to herself. Later, she gathered all her shoes, socks and stockings. She called a second hand store, who agreed to come and pick them up. As the man arrived, he asked why she was getting rid of all her footwear.
- “I will be a folk dancer”, she said.
- “Wow, you have my deepest respect”, the man said.
They took out all the footwear to the man’s pickup truck. They put it all in the back. As the pickup truck drove away, Sophie felt sentimental. There they went, all of her shoes, all of her socks and stockings. She would never wear any again for almost 20 years. She already missed it. For a while she regretted her decision. She almost wanted to cry. She stood in the street for a long time. Finally, a young girl asked her.
- “Are you a dancer?” she asked.
- “Yes, I am a new one”, Sophie replied.
- “Wow, it is my dream”, the girl said. “Can I have your autograph?”
- “Yes, let me get a pen”, Sophie said.
- “You are funny”, the girl said as she laughed. “Don’t you know, a dancer always give her footprint as an autograph?”
Usually they would put their foot in paint or ink, but as there was nothing around, she stepped in a puddle of mud before stepping on the paper. The girl got very happy. Sophie couldn’t help but feel happy too. Now she knew, she had made the right decision.

https://www.deviantart.com/hermanmeister/ar...ancer-755576376

Eh good effort, but it ain't no Barefoot Sorority....

https://southerncrossfire44.tumblr.com/post...2/barefoot-love