{{unreferenced, date=January 2011
A weight transfer or weight change is
dancer
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...
's movement so that their weight is moved from one
supporting foot
This is a list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances. See List of dances and List of dance style categories for those.
This glossary lists terms used in various types of ballroom partner dances, leaving out terms of highly ...
(or supporting limb/body part) to another one fully or partially.
Walking
Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...
, for example, involves shifting of the body's weight from one foot to another, so freeing the first so that it may be lifted and moved forward. This process is a 'natural' movement in humans and other animals, but is in effect a complex process of
biomechanics
Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of ...
.
In the full weight transfer, the
center of gravity
In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weight function, weighted relative position (vector), position of the distributed mass sums to zero. Thi ...
becomes vertically projected onto another body part (e.g., foot) freeing the first one so that it may be freely lifted or moved. (In fact, lifting the foot off the ground is a simple test often suggested for the beginners to ensure that they have completed the practiced
dance move
Dance moves or dance steps (more complex dance moves are called dance patterns, dance figures, dance movements, or dance variations) are usually isolated, defined, and organized so that beginning dancers can learn and use them independently of each ...
and their weight is on the proper foot.)
In partial weight transfer the center of gravity is shifted to project between the old and new support body part. In some dance moves, such as
ball change Ball change is a dance move that consists of two steps: a partial weight transfer on the Ball (anatomy), ball of a foot (placed e.g., behind), followed by a step on the other foot.
Kick ball change
Kick ball change is a dance move that consists of ...
, the force produced by pushing with the new supporting foot at the moment of the partial weight transfer makes it possible to lift the previous support foot for a short time, followed by the drop back onto the first supporting foot subject to the gravity force.
Partner dancing
Control of weight transfers is an important part of the
partner dance
Partner dances are dances whose basic choreography involves coordinated dancing of two partners, as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually in a non-coordinated manner, and as opposed to groups of people dancing simultaneously in a ...
technique. In general, important components of foot action during a dance step are foot movement, foot placement, and weight transfer.
Weight transfers of the leader are important cues in
leading and following
In some types of partner dance, lead and follow are designations for the two dancers' roles in a dance pairing. The leader is responsible for guiding the couple and initiating transitions to different dance steps and, in improvised dances, for cho ...