Want to Dance? Here’s Your Guide to Basic Dance Steps
Millions of kids get enrolled in dance classes every year. Chances are, you probably took ballet or tap class when you were younger. Even more likely, you’re probably reading this article to at least gain back some of this coordination.
Whether it's been a while and you need a refresher or you are one of the few people that has never stepped into a dance studio their entire life, you’re in the right place!
Keep reading to learn how to do basic dance steps that are the foundation of most dance styles.
Basic Dance Steps To Get You Moving
At the heart of all dance are a few basic steps. Learn the following before attempting anything too advanced, like a pirouette or a leap!
Step
Yes, in order to dance you need to know how to walk. You might be thinking, but I already know how to do that! Sure, you do, but can you do it gracefully? Can you change your tempo without getting tripped up? A lot of dance comes from the ability to quickly and clearly change your footing.
Plie
Try this: put your feet together with your legs straight. Now, bend at the knees. Congrats, you just did a basic plie. A plie is essential to dance. It’s what allows you to feel grounded on the floor. And without a plie, you can’t jump.
Jump
Jumping and leaving the floor can be scary. It also takes a lot of pile to jump high. To get the hang of jumping, put on a song and try jumping to the rhythm. Can you land on the beat? Can you get higher each time you jump? In dance, you also need to push off the floor with your feet so that when you’re in the air, you have pointed feet.
Tendu
A tendu, while simple, is a move that even professional dancers still try to master. In the most basic terms, a tendu is when you brush one leg out from underneath your center. To accomplish this, you must articulate through the foot, bone-by-bone, until the foot is completely pointed. You can tendu devànt (in front of the body), a la second (to the side), or derriere (to the back). In each other positions, you also have to think about turning out the leg from the hip.
Passé
A passé is when you connect one foot to the knee of the other leg. The leg that is lifted up should have a pointe foot and should not rest on the other knee. You can either have a turned-out passé with the lifted knee facing the side, or a parallel passe with the knee facing the front.
Dance is Difficult, Leave it to the Professionals and Hire Deya Dancers for Your Event
Even with these basic steps, you’re probably working up a sweat. Leave the hard dance moves to the professionals and hire Deya Event for your next wedding or corporate event
Our professional dancers are based in NYC and are rockstar performers. Choose from our catalog of shows or contact us to create a custom show for your event.
