CHARLIE: What's up, everybody?
I'm Charlie Dando.
You're probably watching this video because your legs and feet just
CAN'T keep up with the rest of your body.
But fear not.
I'm here with five tips to help you get stronger,
stay balanced,
and be less awkward on the dance floor.
Let's fix your footwork.
If you're noticing that your footwork doesn't have enough power,
GET LOW.
Tip Number One: Get low to get more power.
Less experienced dancers
oftentimes stay in their everyday, pedestrian comfort zone.
And when asked to curl and bend and move their body,
they tense up
and limit their potential for more powerful movement.
Let's tap into that power.
BEND at your KNEES to give yourself as much room
for potential movement as possible.
If your legs are straight and your hips are bent,
then you don't have access to your bigger, more powerful muscle groups–
and that's whack!
Next, don't be a scared puppy by tucking your tail.
Stick your butt out to give your hip flexors as much room as possible.
You'll notice when a basketball player's in defensive stance,
they're sticking their butt WAY out
to PRIME themselves for really quick movement.
So, if you want to have powerful footwork,
bend at your knees and stick out that booty.
[voice cracks] But footwork isn't–
[high-pitched voice] but footwork–
[high-pitched voice] but footwork is not just about power!
But footwork is NOT just about power.
Agility, which is the ability to move quickly and easily
is JUST as important.
Tip Number Two: Increase your agility by being more efficient.
A common misconception is that more muscle equals more speed.
Actually, the trick is to be more EFFICIENT with your muscles
by relaxing and eliminating any non-necessary movement.
It takes time for our bodies to acclimate to newer movements.
SO, when learning a new step,
first, learn the sequence of the step-
then, practice it with the rhythm- slowly,
THEN you can increase the tempo.
In between each of these three steps,
do a quick check for any extra muscle tension
or accidental embellishments,
like swinging of your hands,
one too many bounces,
or an over twisting of the torso.
Remember, it's about EASE and speed.
DON'T be too extra-
not yet at least.
Tip Number Three: Make music with your feet.
It's important to remember that most popular dances you see today
find their roots in Africanus culture,
where rhythm is EVERYTHING.
Knowing this,
the rhythm should inform your movement.
It DOESN'T work the other way around.
If you're not in sync with the music,
you're not in sync with your move.
Have YOU ever heard yourself dance without music playing?
Rhythmic deficiencies can cause people to think that they're on beat,
when in fact they are not.
So how do we train ourselves to be more on beat?
You can start by dancing with your ears.
Practice without the music.
Listen for any patterns that your feet are making on the floor.
If your steps don't sound like music,
try recording yourself
doing the same drill
WITH and WITHOUT music.
Listen for any inconsistencies in timing,
like awkward gaps or
slowing or speeding up your steps.
Correct yourself accordingly.
[footsteps clattering rhythmically]
Another good tool is to download a metronome app
to really train the accuracy of your timing.
Kind of like our dancers do in this Reverse Choreography series.
Tip Number Four–
CLAY: Get a seven-day free trial to STEEZY Studio!
You know, Charlie,
I know our AMAZING viewers
can improve their footwork by watching YouTube videos,
BUT-
if they want to get really good, really fast,
what should they do?
CHARLIE: Get STEEZY Studio.
CLAY: Damn straight!
And on STEEZY we have classes SPECIFICALLY made to improve your footwork,
ranging from beginner to advanced classes.
CHARLIE: You can even take my House Dance Drills classes.
CLAY: Exactly-
so, click the link in the description to get a seven-day free trial
to turn your two left feet into...
CHARLIE: Regular feet?
CLAY: Regular feet.
Now back to the video!
Tip Number Five: Feel out your space and get out from underneath yourself.
If you're noticing that your footwork feels small,
or you simply feel uncomfortable when doing it,
it's likely that you need to get OUT from underneath yourself
to increase the RANGE of your steps.
DON'T be afraid to step big.
To train this,
I recommend using the lines between your floorboards
or even using tape as a reference for your body-
to make a plus sign on the ground
and then practice crossing your midline.
OR, you can see how far AWAY from the midline you can get.
Say for example, you're trying to practice the swivel step.
You may THINK that you're ARTICULATING your movement,
when, in fact, you're MUMBLING
by not crossing that midline.
It simply doesn't look as interesting and complete as it could.
B- B- B- BONUS tip..
tip, tip, tip, tip, tip...
If you REALLY want to be a footwork master,
you're gonna want to cross train.
Work on your quads and your hamstrings, yes,
but- it's ESPECIALLY important
to focus on your stabilizing muscles,
which are your abductors and your adductors,
AKA the insides and outsides of your legs
that help you squeeze and spread.
Here are some of my favorite exercises.
♪ Let's get physical, physical! ♪
♪ Physical! ♪
The Heel Toe Walk.
Walk heel to toe across the floor WITHOUT swinging your hips.
Extra credit points if you can get your toes
pointed to EACH WALL every time you step.
Single-Leg Deadlifts.
Keep your hips square to the floor and don't lift your outside hip.
Try to be parallel to the ground before coming up.
Do it until you don't wobble.
Single-Leg Glute Bridges.
This one's for your booty, y'all!
Thank you for watching this STEEZY video!
If you enjoyed it, hit that like button
and please consider subscribing!
CHARLIE: Five, six, seven, eight.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Five...
six...
five, six, seven, eight.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Good, that hip is coming back as you do it.
Your arms– this is a social dance, right?
So your arm- it was traditionally–