Activity calories · 2024 Compendium METs

Calories burned dancing

Quick answer

A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns about 133 kcal in 30 minutes of dancing (Contemporary, general), and about 266 kcal in an hour. That is 3.8 METs.

30 minutes: 133kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 266kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 228kcal; 60 kg (132 lb)
1 hour: 304kcal; 80 kg (176 lb)

Dancing is a wide family, and the Compendium rates each style on its own: a slow waltz is gentle, a fast ballroom number or a vigorous nightclub set is much harder. The table lists the most common social and club styles; choose the one closest to how you danced.

Calculate calories burned dancing

Starts at 70 kg (154 lb) for 30 minutes of dancing at 3.8 METs; enter your own weight and time.

Calories burned dancing by weight and time

Kilocalories for dancing at 3.8 METs (Contemporary, general), by body weight and minutes. Read across from your weight; the pace table below shows the other rows.

Calories burned dancing at 3.8 METs, by body weight and duration
Body weight	15 min	30 min	45 min	1 hour	1.5 hours	2 hours
50 kg (110 lb)	48	95	143	190	285	380
60 kg (132 lb)	57	114	171	228	342	456
70 kg (154 lb)	67	133	200	266	399	532
80 kg (176 lb)	76	152	228	304	456	608
90 kg (198 lb)	86	171	257	342	513	684
100 kg (220 lb)	95	190	285	380	570	760
110 kg (243 lb)	105	209	314	418	627	836

Dancing: calories by pace or effort

The Compendium rates dancing on 8 lines, from 3 METs (Ballroom, slow (waltz, foxtrot)) up to 9.8 METs (Nightclub or folk, vigorous). Each row below is one of those codes with the calories it works out to.

Calories burned dancing by pace or effort
Pace or effort	Compendium code	METs	30 min, 60 kg (132 lb)	30 min, 70 kg (154 lb)	30 min, 80 kg (176 lb)	1 hour, 70 kg (154 lb)
Ballroom, slow (waltz, foxtrot)	03040	3	90	105	120	210
Contemporary, general	03070	3.8	114	133	152	266
Ethnic or cultural dancing	03025	4.5	135	158	180	315
Salsa, with a partner	03090	4.8	144	168	192	336
Folk dancing, moderate	03033	5	150	175	200	350
Ballroom, fast	03030	5.5	165	193	220	385
Ballroom, recreational	03042	6	180	210	240	420
Nightclub or folk, vigorous	03031	9.8	294	343	392	686

The Compendium’s own wording for each code: 03040, “Ballroom, slow, examples: waltz, foxtrot, slow dancing, samba tango, rumba, 19th century dance, mambo, cha cha”; 03070, “Contemporary dancing, general”; 03025, “Ethnic or cultural dancing (e.g. Greek, Middle Eastern, hula, salsa, merengue, bamba y plena, flamenco, belly, and swing)”; 03090, “Salsa Dancing, with partner”; 03033, “Folk dancing, moderate effort”; 03030, “Ballroom dancing, fast”; 03042, “Ballroom Dance, Recreational (Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha-cha, Swing)”; 03031, “Nightclub or folk dancing, vigorous effort (e.g., nightclub, disco, folk, line dancing, Irish step dancing, polka, contra)”.

What changes the number for dancing

Pace is the biggest lever. The hardest listed way of dancing (Nightclub or folk, vigorous) is rated at 9.8 METs, 3.3 times the 3 METs of the gentlest (Ballroom, slow (waltz, foxtrot)). For a 70 kg (154 lb) person that is 686 kcal an hour against 210 kcal.

Body weight is the second: the same 3.8 METs of dancing for 30 minutes comes to 95 kcal at 50 kg (110 lb) and 209 kcal at 110 kg (243 lb). To reach 100 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) takes about 23 minutes at the starting pace.

Laid out in half-hour terms for 70 kg (154 lb): ballroom, slow (waltz, foxtrot) is 105 kcal; contemporary, general is 133 kcal; ethnic or cultural dancing is 158 kcal; salsa, with a partner is 168 kcal; folk dancing, moderate is 175 kcal; ballroom, fast is 193 kcal; ballroom, recreational is 210 kcal; nightclub or folk, vigorous is 343 kcal.

How the calories are worked out

The formula is calories = MET × body weight in kg × hours. A MET compares an activity with sitting quietly, which is 1 MET and is taken as roughly 1 kcal per kilogram per hour. That equivalence is an approximation, which is why every figure is rounded and called about.

For dancing at 3.8 METs, a 70 kg (154 lb) person for 30 minutes: 3.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 133 kcal. This is a gross figure: it includes the energy your body would spend at rest in the same time.

The MET values are those of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE, et al., J Sport Health Sci 2024), read from its activity list on 2026-10-23 and copied with their codes. They are averages for adults; see how we calculate.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories does a 70 kg person burn dancing in 30 minutes?

About 133 kcal at 3.8 METs (Contemporary, general). The whole range for dancing on this page runs from 105 kcal (Ballroom, slow (waltz, foxtrot)) to 343 kcal (Nightclub or folk, vigorous) in the same half hour.

How many calories does dancing burn in an hour?

At 3.8 METs, about 228 kcal for a 60 kg (132 lb) person, 266 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) and 304 kcal at 80 kg (176 lb). Heavier people burn more because they move more mass.

How long does dancing take to burn 100 calories?

For a 70 kg (154 lb) person, about 23 minutes at 3.8 METs (Contemporary, general). At the gentlest listed pace (Ballroom, slow (waltz, foxtrot), 3 METs) it takes 29 minutes, and at the hardest (Nightclub or folk, vigorous, 9.8 METs) about 9.

Does the number for dancing include the calories I would burn anyway?

Yes. Of the 3.8 METs, 1 is the resting cost, about 26% of the total here, so the activity itself adds about 98 of the 133 kcal in 30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb).

Why would my watch show a different number for dancing?

A watch uses its own model, often with heart rate, age and sex, while this page uses the Compendium’s average. For dancing that average already spans 8 entries from 3 to 9.8 METs, a 3.3-fold range, so a gap between the two is normal.

Which line in the table should I choose for dancing?

Pick the row that best describes how you did it: this page starts from “Contemporary, general”, about 12% of the way up the 3 to 9.8 MET range. The rows are separate Compendium entries (03040, 03070, 03025, 03090, 03033, 03030, 03042, 03031).

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These are estimates for healthy adults from average MET values. How much you actually burn varies with your fitness, body composition, technique, terrain and conditions, so use the figures as a guide, not a measurement. This is not medical advice.