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The walk is one of the most critical parts of the Rumba. It's so important that judges would focus on it in competitive dance.
Rumba walks vary considerably, and it will take practice to perfect the fundamental walk. When done right, a Rumba walk would look effortless, natural, smooth, and sexy. Unfortunately, the basic rumba walk is often executed poorly in social dances.
The most important thing to remember when executing a rumba walk in the form. You should look elegant as you walk, not hunched over like Quasimodo. Here is a step by step guide on how to perform the perfect Rumba walk:
How to Perform a Basic Rumba Walk
Check your posture. Stand up straight with your head over your shoulders. Pull your tummy in with your body weight slightly forward. Keep the shoulders and shoulder blades down, open up the chest. Now here's the important part of the walk: keep the balls of your feet on the ground. To move, you have to slide, never lifting the foot to take a step.
When sliding to take one step at a time, place your full weight on the front leg before pushing the back leg until both legs are straight. This motion looks like you are following a triangle pattern between the feet and hips like the legs are crisscrossing as you walk-glide. The movement has to look smooth, so your overall walk appears natural.
As you push off the back leg to slide-walk, roll from the ball of the foot to the inside edge of the big toe, turning out the foot to create a straight line from the toe to the hips. This will help create a longer silhouette while also pushing the hips forward as you move, like the sexy snake that you are! Remember, point your toes in the rear leg before moving to the next position and keep the arms up and slightly away from the body.
Key Points to Remember
Pivoting
Swiveling has to look smooth, and it should follow the walk-glide motion of a basic rumba walk. To turn in Rumba, put your body weight on the standing leg and swivel in one smooth motion. Lead with the heel of the free foot forward, point the toes as you pivot, tucking the butt as you move to keep the heels turned out.
Forward Walk
When shifting your weight between your legs as you move, keep the front leg extended and the toes pointed. When you’re shifting your weight from one leg to the other leg, lower the heel and push off the back foot - like flicking the foot, so the heel strikes the dance floor almost immediately. Use your back legs as you walk to create pressure into the ground, but the back foot should remain straight before bending to move for a nice visual look.
Back walk
To execute a graceful back walk, set your moving foot behind you with a straight leg; the heels should come down as you shift your body weight and collect the front foot to make the next step.
In a rumba walk, the body moves ahead of the foot, which is the opposite of the motion on a regular walk. As you move, the spine should continuously move with your entire body.
During practice, some of the key things to keep in mind as far as the motion goes are the rumba walk’s sharpness, cleanness, and fluidness. So getting the form right is paramount to proper execution.
Also, don’t forget to slip into a comfortable pair of Latin dance shoes with 3 to 3.5-inch heels to achieve a graceful silhouette. We’ve got the comfiest, most stylish social dance shoes on the market! Rule the dance floor with your superior performance and shop for Yami dance shoes here.
