Heel Leads in Ballroom Dancing are Optional and Here is Why

In walking based dances such as Fox Trot, Waltz, and Tango one of the first lessons taught in dance studios is to walk “naturally” forward using a rolling heel to toe action or inversely backward rolling from toe to heel. The reasoning given is that is allows for a smooth walking action, better balance/control, powerful movement, and is essential to quality swing/sway technique and the resulting rise/fall. This explanation of need of such technique is taught worldwide and accepted universally in the competitive ballroom arena. Professionals with 50+ years of experience are steadfast in advocating the necessity for heel to toe rolling action.

So, why then am I telling you that all of them are wrong? The direct answer is; Fox Trot, Waltz, and Tango all substantially pre-date the use of the natural walk i.e. heel/toe rolling steps. The first use of this movement was documented in the 1948 publication “A History of English Ballroom Dancing: (1910-1945)” by Philip J.S. Richardson. Richardson was the editor of “The Dancing Times,” a London publication which was the leading dance trade magazine of Europe as well as playing a key role in the formation of the ballroom division of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance. He vividly notes that it first became utilized in England in 1922 and was used intermittently within a dance. He later goes on to express that by 1930 it was becoming the dominant form for competitive English dancers. Waltz had been popular of over a hundred years by then, the Tango came into vogue in 1911, and the Fox Trot came to be in June of 1914. The English style of dancing using a rolling action came to influence American dancers even later still.

Armed with this knowledge it is clear that ballroom dancers were quite able in dancing without the need for such a technique, but rather it was a new tool added to enhance the dances. A dancer can be impeccably smooth and not use heel leads. I offer as example the Tango dancers of Argentina whom more often than not do not use heel/toe & toe/heel rolling actions in their dance walk. The Argentine Tango is a very smooth, complex, and nuanced dance which requires exceptional balance and responsiveness in partnership. This is made possible via controlled grounded weight shifts despite being toe/ball based movements. Stranger still is the call for use in Fox Trot. Fox Trot is not necessarily a smooth dance, though it’s slow form often is. The first forms of Fox Trot were very vibrant with hops, lilts, and Trotting i.e. a bouncing (rise and fall) from foot to foot as you stepped. The Fox Trot eventually splintered into several forms based on tempo; Slow Fox, Westchester, Quick Time/Fast Fox Trot, Peabody, and Collegiate/Swing versions.

Below right is an except from Betty White’s “Ballroom Dancebook for Teachers” (1962) which clearly articulates the differences of toe vs. heel leads

Below left I’ve include a walk description from “How Become A Good Dancer” Arthur Murray, 1938 . Note that the image above conveys the common usage of toe leads in ballroom dance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
It is my aim to not chastise but rather remind that there is room for all and we as teachers and practitioners need not limit our creative expression to only one of many tools available. I enjoy the use of many styles and techniques in any dance form, the greater the vocabulary the greater the possibilities that arise.

One final note; please don’t tell others it’s “wrong” to toe lead, not only are you wrong, but you may have made a simple enjoyable dance unnecessarily complex. I challenge you to learn and teach all the tools and not just your preferences. Art is subjective and what is desirable has always been argued, but natural is not a universal term for some toes leads are much more comfortable and as such shouldn’t be shunned. The marriage of the old and new ultimately leads to a better understanding of what dancing was, is, and can be.
I hope to one day see all of you unabashedly toe leading, until then, happy dancing and don’t take this article too serious it’s only dancing.