Understanding The Technique

• Stand high on the balls of both feet with the legs straight but not locked, and the heels well off the floor.
• Point the RIGHT foot forward, toes still in contact with the floor, but do NOT allow your body weight to shift (either forward or backward.)
• Using only the hip joint, draw a circular arc on the floor with the toes of the RIGHT foot from directly in front of you to directly behind you. This circle represents minimum range outside of which you must place the foot before transferring weight onto that foot.
• Point forward again, and find some small object to mark the spot where your RIGHT big toes touches the floor in front of you. I generally use my chapstick, since I learned a long time ago that the real secret to dancing well is always having chapstick available.
• Now, maintaining your vertical posture, slide the RIGHT foot forward until the heel of the right foot at least passes the spot you marked. Do NOT allow the knee of either leg to bend, but DO allow the hip weight to shift forward as necessary to accommodate the forward movement.
• When you have reached the desired distance, but at least as far as your heel being past the marked spot, lower your RIGHT heel to the floor and allow pressure into the heel of the RIGHT foot, while keeping the weight strongly into the ball of the LEFT foot.
• Now bend BOTH knees allowing the weight to transfer onto the RIGHT foot, so that the weight passes from the HEEL into the arch of the foot.
• Continue into a Forward Step on the LEFT foot, making sure you feel the hip weight continue to move forward through the RIGHT foot.
• At no point do you want the hip weight to back up, or even fully stop. We want to maintain the forward progression of the hip weight through the foot allowing for a continuous flow from the landing step into the next forward step.

The goal here is to make sure that the body weight moves forward at all times. In order for that to happen the weight MUST pass from the heel forward to the arch and then out the toes of the foot.

Again, we have created a specific sequence involving footwork, knee bend and weight transfer which causes the desired effect:

1. Place the foot (TOE)
2. Complete the footwork (HEEL touches floor, foot now FLAT)
3. Start the knee bend (foot flat, weight transferring into the heel first)
4. Complete the knee bend, weight transferring from heel toward arch then toes

Once again, repetition is key to mastering this technique. Repeat the actions over and over until you are clear about how weight is transferring through the foot to allow the body weight to continue in a forward direction at all times.

Once you have solid on one foot, switch to the other and repeat, repeat, repeat. You will dance this action more than any other lowering action, and any judge will easily spot the lack of continuous movement of the weight through the foot if you fail to master this technique.

But more than that, being able to smoothly transfer the weight forward from one foot to the next while maintaining clear balance and a clean relationship to partner is essential to being able to create good dancing and really enjoy the Standard dances.

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