Starting with the feet

Starting with the feet

When you’re starting any dance format, you can find it very difficult to work out what’s going on. You may look at other dancers (on your screen or in person) and wonder, “Why can they seem to get this when I can’t?”. You may think it’s because they’re a better dancer, or maybe it’s they’re a “natural dancer”. But what if it’s something far more simple?

Focus on your Feet

Your feet connect you to the dance floor. They’re also what positions you on the floor.

When you’re having issues in dance class, come back to the feet. Take a look at where your feet are:

  • Are they under you?
  • Where is your weight?
  • Is your whole foot on the floor (is it suppose to be)?
  • When you step, how big is your footstep?

Usually you’ll find if you focus on your feet, the rest of the moves just sit on top. Or they become more accessible, or maybe, you’ll just be able to keep up because you’re not rushing to keep on top of where the movement is.

How do you fix this?

This low mirror helps me check out what my feet are doing.

Depending on the problem you’re facing, one of the following ideas will generally get you back on track.

  1. Keep your feet under you.
    This may seem like a silly idea, but if you make sure that you’re keeping your body on top of your weighted foot, then you are more stable. This stability brings a sense of peace to be brain and you won’t feel rushed and out of sync with the music.
  2. Take smaller steps.
    This is heavily related to the above point. Taking smaller foot steps lets you keep your body on top of your feet. This will also help fix the issue of where is your weight and is it in the right spot.
  3. Check if your feet is doing the right thing.
    Are you suppose to be on the ball of your foot? Yes, well, are you? Or are you “half way”, not quite flat, but not quite risen? That little act of either having a fully flat or fully risen onto the ball (or releve in ballet terms) can make the biggest difference.
  4. Look after your feet.
    In this previous post, we looked at how your feet are made up and ways you can give them a little TLC. Maybe something as simple as a little love might help you feel them better on the ground.

It’s not particularly difficult to get your feet right, which can make you feel more secure on the floor and then give you enough brain space to think about the other parts of the dance happening.

So if you get lost, come back to your feet. Then before you know it, you’ll be that dancer that everyone else is looking at who “gets it”.


Why not try out your fancy footwork in an APB Dance class. Check out what’s happening near you, including our online classes.