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Why "Staying Light On Your Feet" Is Actually Bad Advice

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Why "Staying Light On Your Feet" Is Actually Bad Advice

Charise Roberts
January 23, 2024
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Dancers are often told to stay light on their feet.

This advice is somewhat misleading, because it gives the idea that you shouldn’t put any force behind your movements.

When you dance, you want to be able to rebound and shift your weight effortlessly.

So it’s not necessarily about staying light on your feet without any force.

It’s about manipulating your weight transfers to be able to move of that step in any way you want.

What’ll make you look heavy or slow is keeping your weight on one or both feet for too long a time.

Think of your foot as pushing into the floor to power the next move, rather than stepping and staying there.

The more of a handle you have on controlling where your weight is, the more agile your movements will be, with the added “umph” power in your footwork.

Another tip is to use specific parts of your foot when you step. Use your toes, heels, and even the edges of your feet in a way that best transitions you into the next step.

footwork

If you plop down flat-footed, it’ll be harder to roll through to the next move with the speed and control you want.

You don’t have to be light and airy all the time. When you want to be stable and grounded, then it’s helps to be flat footed.

But when you’re moving around, you just have to know when and how to distribute your weight to make your traveling look effortless.

Hope these tips helped your happy feet!

Do you have any footwork tips that could help other dancers? Comment below and share with us!