DWTS Ask Courtney – What’s a “Heel Lead”?
Judging from the comments of my inaugural Ask Courtney post, it looks like many of you are baffled about this one. But fear not, I am about to shed some light on the mysterious “heel lead” Len seems to prattle on about 😉
Before I start, though, I want everyone to stand up and take 5 steps in whatever direction you have a clear path. Did you do it? Well congratulations! You just did a heel lead. 🙂 Literally, all a heel lead really entails is taking a step where the first part of your foot that hits the ground is your heel, and then the ball of your foot, and then your toes. Unless you’re injured or just prefer to walk on your tiptoes all the time, this is how people normally walk. It’s a very natural motion.
Where it gets dicey is on the dance floor. In the ballroom dances (waltz, tango, foxtrot, quickstep, and Viennese waltz), you’re (almost) always supposed to step forward on your heel; in the Latin dances, you’re always supposed to step forward on the toe. You step backward on the toe in both dances (it’s nary impossible to step backward with a heel lead…I dare you to try. You will feel silly ;-)). When Len starts bitching about heel leads, it seems like it’s usually a male celeb stepping forward on the toe in one of the ballroom dances – it leads to a very stilted, awkward gait, and seems to throw both the male celeb and the female pro off balance. It also negates the possibility of them getting the proper “rise & fall” characteristic of the ballroom dances (with the exception of tango, which has no rise & fall). This is probably most noticeable in the regular waltz, which has the most exaggerated rise & fall.
As for doing a heel lead when you’re not supposed to – the only thing that springs to mind is Derek’s infamous rant after Shannon’s rumba in season 6, where he accused the judges of overlooking some other couples “doing heel leads out there!”. I haven’t the time or patience at the moment to pore through all of the other rumbas from that particular night and look for heel leads, but I imagine that they probably looked kinda bland. Part of what makes rumba (and all Latin dances, for that matter) look cool is the hip action – hip action that can really only be done well if you’re leading with your toe. So if you’re doing heel leads in Latin dances, it probably looks like you’re just walking like a normal person – hardly the exciting movement we’ve come to expect from dancing on this show. 😉
Hope that clears things up a bit 😉 Keep the questions coming, guys!
nice post! i like it =]
love these posts. Thank you Cortney for sharing the knowledge! 🙂
sorry… COURTNEY ..i typed too fast and i didn’t spell check..sorry
Thanks from me too! Fascinating!!
Thanks Courtney! I really enjoy these posts and the one you wrote last season about normal order of learning ball room dances. All the info you share here really ups my enjoyment of the show.
You’re very welcome guys 🙂 Glad that it enhances your enjoyment of the show!
Carlos, I’d love to do a post where I compare traditional Brazilian samba to “ballroom” samba – my stepmother is Brazilian, and I remember the day we had a great samba debate – I showed her a samba routine that my teacher had choreographed for me, and she waved her hand dismissively after watching it, exclaiming “Isso não é samba!” (“That is not samba!”) I just think it would be a post that requires quite a bit of research, as I’m not totally sure how what we call samba her in the States evolved from Brazilian samba. Verrrry different!
Aaaahhh, it makes sense to me now! Thanks Courtney! It’s all so technical isn’t it? Such an art form. Have only discovered DWTS in the past yr and a half and I’m hooked! Have been watching it online at 3 in the morning and voting like a mad thing. (Derek all the way!) I’m from Ireland and have never danced before apart from a few months of Irish dancing when I was four! 23 years on I have decided to sign up for ballroom dance classes in the New Year! I’m so excited! I pray my teacher looks like Derek!!
Courtney could you possibly explain the difference between the “slow” waltz and the regular waltz?(aside from speed what the heck is so different?) and what is the difference between the Tango and the Argentine Tango(seriously cause they look the same to me). Thanks!
Very nice piece on the heel lead, Court. Clearly and easily defined for us here, and just as important, what dances require it and which dances shouldn’t have any.
Extra bonus from reading your piece: I now know how to recognize a heel or toe lead without looking at the dancers’ feet. whoo hoo!
I have a question. Whats the difference between a jive and a lindy hop exactly? I don’t really see the difference honestly and after Carrie Ann comment (or was it Len’s comment) about J.R.’s first jive I was kinda perplexed.
Good question Vin. I have been wondering the same thing as well, so now I will have my answer. 🙂
thanks Courtney for this post, i’m no dance expert and the little i know about ballroom technique is from watching dwts and sytycd, i vaguely knew what a heel lead is so it’s nice to fully understand what the judges are talking about.
it would seem to me that doing toe leads in latin is harder so i wonder why a lot of the male celebrities have trouble with heal leads if that’s how a person normally walks it shouldn’t be a problem.
also, i have a Q: I’ve recently been obsessively watching youtube vids from karina’s competition days with slavik, i see that they did a lot of showcase routines, now i know in a ballroom competition all the couples are on the floor, dancing at the same time, so what are these showcase dances for? do all the couples get to do them and do get judged on them?
Thanks for clearing that one up courtney 🙂
question; what is the difference between jitterbug, lindy hop and swing dancing?
I clearly know nothing about dancing except for what I’ve learned from this wonderful site, but I do know a little about flexibility, strength, kinesthetics…and I would guess that the reason it can be hard for the males to do heel leads while dancing is that you need a good amount of flexibility and strength at your core to hold that frame. Try it. I admittedly have always had tight heel cords so it’s hard for me, but if the pecs are tight, the hip flexors, etc, and core isn’t super strong it’s really hard to keep that frame without a bit too much trunk extension which can throw the body forward and therefore onto the front of the foot. And (I’m just thinking as I go here, trying it out after reading Courtney’s post…) that could be why some of them look stompy because it takes some extra effort to keep heel down, plus they might be compensating by flexing their knees and hips a bit on the stance leg. Hmm. Courtney, please feel free to tell me I’m full of sh.. if none of this is right. 🙂