Basic footwork dance moves

These simple moves will give you much better footwork.

What I'm talking about is to practice the light touch.

The light touch for me is when you are, for example, walking without any issues; the way you touch the floor is very smooth; you're not hitting it, but you're going from heels to toes. This is something that you can use in your dance to make your moves much softer. And just by spending time to create awareness about it and using it in a most conscious way when you are dancing, this alone can improve your freestyle a lot. 

Why is it important to understand the light touch?

A lot of time, when people want to do footwork, for some reason, they feel heavy, and their legs are stuck on the floor, and when they are moving, you can feel that they are not comfortable with their footwork.

One of the ways you can improve this is to learn how to be much lighter on your feet. And the best way to do that is to practise the light touch. Anything you are doing, approach it as if the floor is fragile, so every step you do is quite light. 

When it comes to the move, it is very simple to use, and I will do a couple of demos to show you how you can use it. 

We are going to see three ways to practice the light touch to make sure you practice it the right way, and you can play however you want once you understand these three ways that you can practice. 

1 THE LIGHT TOUCH 

Don't overcomplicate it; put on the music and start dancing almost like you are just walking. You are just playing with touching the floor with your feet, but it has to be very light. You can move forward, backward wherever you want but keep in mind this soft touch. The ultimate goal here is to be as light as possible, almost like every step you are doing look effortless. 

DEMO

Once you understand how to play with the light touch and integrate it into your way of dancing, the next step is to start playing with the light touch but crossed legged. It is the same principle, but you are now doing crossed-legged movements.  

2 CROSSED-LEGGED LIGHT TOUCH 

You are just playing with this, and by doing it, it will upgrade your level and add more challenge to the same basic move. The more you do it, the more you will realise that it challenges your balance which is actually a good thing. You will realise you are going off balance because you are in the process of mastering the light touch. 

Pay attention to how your body is reacting to this. You can now play with both, moving forward and backward as well as crossing your feet. 

DEMO

Now that you understand how to upgrade the same movements. Here's how you can truly integrate it into your dance.

3 USE YOUR ENTIRE BODY 

Even if you focus on one body part, do not forget your entire body. You can emphasize one part but when dancing, do not forget about other parts of your body because it will help you enhance your movement on the body part you are focused on. 

Example: If you focus too much on your legs, unconsciously, you might end up moving in a way that is not natural because when you are dancing, naturally, you don't just move your legs; your whole body is in action. And even when you emphasize your legs, you can utilise the other part of your body to enhance the movement that is happening on your legs. 

So the next step is to combine the principle of light touch, but this time you want to use your entire body with it. 

DEMO 

These are the 3 exercises you can use to improve your foot based on a simple approach. The light touch. Think of this fragile floor you don't want to break; therefore, you have to be very careful in your way of stepping, and by doing this lightly, you will realise your whole body can be lighter. 

By practising this, you will definitely see a good change in the way you are doing your footwork as well as improving it.