🧽 Travel in Ballroom Dance

Definition: Travel is the movement of the Center of Support (COS) from one place on the floor to another.
More precisely:

Travel = a change in x, z position of the COS.

We measure position in a 3-dimensional space (that's you on a dance floor) with a simple term: xyz

Where:

  • x is side to side

  • z is forward and back

  • y is up and down

So if you are standing in xyz and 'travel' you have moved to a different xyz

Example; you are standing at 0,5,0 and travel to 3,5,3 (that's diagonal travel!)

0,5,0 to 3,5,0 would be travel to the side

There are only two true travel directions:

  • Forward and Backward
  • Side to Side

Everything else is just a combination of those two

Travelling in What Direction?

Remember the old adage "if you don't know how you got here or where you are going you are qualified to be a Politician", well in Ballroom we have a chart describing the important directions that crop up time and time again. More on that in the Alignments section.

🧠 Travel Isn’t a Step — It’s a Plan

Dancers don’t move by chance. Travel happens because:

  • The COG is placed over a specific part of the foot
  • The torque, COG, and muscular push-off are prepared
  • The COS shifts — and then the travel occurs

This is preparation + intent, not just "step and hope for the best."

Who has ultimate control over the length of Travel?

It's the dancer going backwards! They can put weight on their foot for all sorts of reasons not the least of which is to “lock in” the travel vector. Also note that the dancer going backwards has a longer extension than the dancer going forwards

This means:

**Even in rotational or "curved" figures, the foot travels in a straight path.

The illusion of curve comes from successive angular redirection and rotation of the frame — not from a curved trajectory.

☝️ Important Concepts

  • Poise Zones on the standing foot determine where travel begins
  • COG must be inside the COS or instability will occur
  • Foot placement alone doesn’t cause movement — it's the COG shift that drives it

What About Sway?

Sway isn’t travel, but it often accompanies it.
When dancers travel with a tilted upper body, sway influences the direction of torque and where the COS projects.

Lets look at the forward, backward and side travel

Please don't skip over these as they are literally the foundation of your dancing.

And then to Alignments, Angles and SBAS