How to Perform a Ball Change in Tap Dance

A ball change is an easy, yet important move in tap dancing. Each time you shift your weight from one foot to the other, you complete a ball change. Once you have the ball change down, you can move on to more complicated tap dancing combinations.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Tap shoes
• Hard floor

1. Warm up your ankles before you start. You can do this by doing a shuffling warm-up exercise. Or you can simply stand on one foot and rotate your raised foot in circles and then repeat warm up exercise with the other foot.
2. Perform a right foot ball change. Lift your right foot. Bring the foot behind you and step on the ball of your right tap. As you do this, shift your weight back onto the right foot. Then lift your left foot. Step in place on your left foot and put your weight on this leg.
3. Step forward with your right foot in preparation for a left foot ball change.
4. Lift your left foot. Bring the foot behind you and step on the left tap. Put your weight on that foot as you pick up your right foot and step in place.
5. Bring your left foot forward to prepare to move back to the right foot ball change. Repeat Steps 2 through 5 until you are comfortable with this new tap move.

Tips & Warnings

• The counts in a ball change are even. This means they happen at the same rate. When you first practice a ball change use whole counts. Ball change will occur on counts one, two. As you use a ball change in combinations, you can make the counts quicker, one-and two-and.