Exercises to Improve Dance Balance

Ready to learn how to dance any pattern without losing your footing? Now that we know the shoes to buy, the posture to strive for, and the muscles to strengthen, it’s time to try some exercises that build your dance balance for all the main movements in ballroom.

Remember as you try the drills below, that good dance balance means holding your position on every weight change, without falling out of it. As your dance balance improves from the easier exercises (the first ones) to the more challenging, you will find increasingly that you can choose exactly where you want to step, instead of having uncontrolled momentum make the choice for you. Let’s get started.

1. The One-leg Exercise

Basic: Stand with your blocks of weight (hips, ribcage, head) over the ball of one foot, with the other foot pointed and pressing on the ground in front or behind for stability. Keeping your body position steady, slowly lift the free foot off the floor and hold it for 5 seconds before returning it to the floor. Repeat on the other side.

Advanced: Gradually increase how long you hold on one leg. Try bending your standing leg gently while balancing.

2. The Walking Exercise

Basic: Keeping your feet parallel, take a walking step forward, feeling your weight roll through the heel and pausing at the ball of the foot. Repeat with the opposite foot, letting the ball brush the floor and gradually switch to the heel as it passes under your body. Repeat going backwards. Also, try the Latin/rhythm version, brushing the balls only.

Advanced: Increase the pause between each step to really test your dance balance. Try combining quick and slow steps, at rumba timing for example (SQQ).

3. The Chasse Exercise

Basic: A chasse is three steps in any one direction, where the second step is a closing step. Practice chasses first one direction, then the other, pausing on the last step in each chasse to make sure you are balanced. Gradually increase the speed.

Advanced: Add a little bounce to your step if you’re practicing for east coast swing or jive. If cha cha is harder for you, dance a cha cha basic, making sure your forward and back steps are perpendicular to your side steps.

Ready to take your dance balance to the next level? Next week, we’ll add turns to the mix, so you can pull off multiple spins and still stop on a dime.