Of course not.. one has to be careful to not " overdance " a movement causing instability and lack of control.

Learning to " swing " the body at required speeds, and all the other technical aspects ( CBM, R and F, Turn etc. ) may take yrs to develop.

Make sure you have a teacher who can break down steps to their components . ANd, be PATIENT !

Always remember the Constant "3"

Muscular Control

Timing Control

Balance Control... Lose one, and you lose all 3 .






Muscular control

Timing control

Balance control

LOSE one, and you lose all 3..

The " Push " as you word it, is created thru compression from the Ball of the foot.. the release of that " energy ", should be in concert with its required need for the ensuing movement. "Power " needs control and is often "overpowering " !

Hi Terence2
I'm from an engineering background, which can be a bit of a curse when it comes to dancing which is an art form.
I think i know what you mean by uncontrolled power - i'm guilty of it myself . Power is the rate at which energy is generated. So if you increase the energy used in say, slow waltz, since the tempo is fixed, this must be accompanied by an increase in power (there's the engineering talking again).
One useful hint which my physio has told me: it's absolutely essential to engage the abdominal muscles properly when dancing. I'm doing this much more diligently since recently, and it improves balance and posture greatly. How to do this? well, this cost me money ! but here goes: stand tall. Take a very deep breath, making sure to keep shoulders relaxed. (this puts diaphragm and rib cage in correct position). Now pull in lower abs strongly (belly button to ribs etc). Now breath normally while dancing but HOLD abs.
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Keeping the abs tone is only half of the job; you also need to "tighten" your rear end (assuming that you weren't born that way ).

jj

And how is that done?

Act as though you're trying to keep yourself from breaking wind.

Sorry if that response seems vulgar but it's what I was originally taught and it works.

jj

Being impeded by counterproductive muscle tension seems as common a problem as not using the muscles necessary to create a given quality in dancing.

So I'm a little cautious about out-of-context advice to activate this muscle or that muscle.

Instead, I find it more productive to teach the specific properties of body alignment and movement which the student should be trying to maintain, and how various muscles can contribute to that.

By being aware of the goal, the student is better able to find just the right amount of muscle tone at the times when tone is needed, and relaxation at the times where that is what is essential.

The core is never relaxed at any time in any dance.

jj

"The core is never relaxed at any time in any dance."

There is enough difference between the core tone needed to "hold together" the dramatically swinging body when moving towards and through step 2 of a feather, as compared to the relaxation that was needed when first arriving onto step 1, that I'd be strongly inclined to disagree.

Dancing is a study in contrasts. We need to use the muscle tone needed to hold our alignment when the movement forces challenge it, but it's equally important that we find the relaxation needed to move through a foot in an easy and settled manner when that is appropriate. At the times when we are simply following our inertia with our body vertical, there should be no need for any real "dance" tone in the center, because there should not be any more forces to distort than there would be if we were just standing there waiting for the bus. If we carry muscle activation when it is not appropriate, we are just wasting energy and inhibiting our ability to settle into the ultimate character of the dance.

Excess tension is also notorious for its interference with partners' ability to be sensitive to each other, or even to be fully aware of the position of their own weight.

One must also learn that there will often by marked contrast between one side of the body and the other - one leg and its hip active, the other at times as relaxed as our motor system can allow it to be.

I see from your response on his thread and your completely pointless response on another that you want to start another fight. I'm not going to accommodate you.

Your claim that there is such a thing as "the relaxation that was needed when first arriving onto step 1" is just silliness. Even if there were some part of the dancer's form that would be relaxed at such a time, it would not be the core.


There are no such times.

Also, I have no idea what you mean by "excess tension." Do you seriously believe that some dancers could be tightening their core too much? Are there any recorded instances of a dancer suffering a hernia, for example, due to extreme exertion of the abs and glutes?

If by "excess tension" you mean a lack of flexibility then you don't understand what tone is.

As I and others have pointed out many times, if something the dancer does is painful then the dancer is doing it incorrectly.

Go ahead and prattle on with your nonsense. I've said my piece and I'm done.

jj