Written by Perfect How To Place Your Heel
When it comes to heel placement , try to pause and take a second to intentionally think of your foot as a paintbrush gliding across the floor like it would on a canvas. This can be broken down into four smaller steps to gain the total understanding of situation.
- Step 1: Plant the ball of your foot
- step 2:Roll through the arch
- Step 3: Let the heel follow naturally
- Step 4: Push smoothly into the next step
This will create a “signature float”, look that makes dancers appear to walk it effortlessly. For a more detailed breakdown or instruction you can find that information in my 8 Steps to Master Slaying Your Strut in Stripper Stilettos Checklist
Is Heel Placement A Defining Factor?
Yes! The heel placement of a dancer is actually the defining factor in many different ways. In regards to mastering you signature walk in stripper stilettos though it is a determining factor in whether or not the dancer has control and stability or not. This is crucial for safety as well. If either one of those are missing , its just an accident waiting to happen.
Common Mistakes and Misunderstanding
The most common misunderstanding or incorrect conception for pole dancers is how to correctly and effectively walk in stripper stilettos. Most new heel wearers have this idea in their mind that if they manage to bear all the weight on their toes and balance it out enough to walk only on the toes that that is how heels are supposed to be walked in. But that couldnt be farther from the truth.
Most beginners will stomp instead of stepping. This will cause your movement to be choppy and disconnected. which the majority of the time choppy and disconnected dancing tends to be stiff or robotic almost. So to land the perfect heel placement with each and every step., you are going to roll through the foot instead of slamming them down or falling into each step. This gives a connected and fluid flow. When every step glides fluidly it drips with intention and confidence.
After Control And Stability
After you find and lock in to you stability and when you have no problem controlling it at all times, then we can focus on the second necessary factor in mastering your heel placement This is the fact that mastering your heel placement is the very thing that shapes the flow and attitude of your movement. It is the part of your signature walk that will set the tone of the room or energy of a performance.
Endurability
Correct heel placement helps to protect your body from unnecessary injury, while also allowing you to effectively build up your endurance. When your ankles and your feet are aligned it reduces the strain on your knees, hips, and lower back. Every step deserves intention.
Your heels should glide and connect, moving across the floor like a paintbrush would, instead of crashing into each step. Check out Slay Your Strut in Stripper Stilettos with these 8 steps (pdf) , my master how to guide for slaying your signature walk confidently. Or if you are more of a visual learner, you can find tutorials on my Services where i break it down on more of a personal level where you can actually see individual steps of how its done you tube
When it comes to getting a pair of dancer heels, I highly recommend going to the city or looking online to have a bit of variety in the height and style of dance heel you you will be wearing. All of those attributes do play a part in how your strut turns out. I usually get mine from pleasers shoes. If you are not able to find a suitable pair there, then my next go to is Amazon. There you should be able to find tons of choices as well as many different barands as well.