Hi,

Instead of "Hold with Pressure from both ends" I would tell " Hold with inside pressure in all directions "

In order to explain how to get feeling of lady in your right hand I use word "inner space" of each partner. Also this feeling in right hand should be "dynamical" - breathing and not produced statically, as if you produce it statically, you will lose it when you start to move.

Before you contact each other you should have right posture (I call it vertical part of couple, each partner has his own vertical line), both of you should produce inner space feeling in your bodies between lower back and lowest ribs which are in contact.

2nd - both of you have to produce good frame (I call it horizontal part of couple and it is shared by both partners). You have to feel which muscles are placing elbows in emphasize position to your shoulders and your wrists to your elbows. At this point you should understand that shoulder blades and shoulders belongs to back of inner space and elbows and wrists to front part.

3rd - you have to produce poise, which is turning your frame slightly to the right to match your partner (natural turn). In order to do this in right way you should both turn your right side of lower back backward trying to produce contact in your ribs .

And another important point is head. Head belongs to back of inner space, so it should work simultaneously with lower back.
So if head doesn't work properly, it could be the main thing(of course if other things are OK), that you will lose your lady in your right hand.
There are also some tips how to keep this feeling during natural movements and during revers ones. Generally as Pro-Am dancer (I am Pro), if lady has posture -poise problems I can little help to get her back to my right arm on natural movements, but never on revers ones.
But generally this topic is very complicated and this feeling should be built in dancer step by step from the basics.

Hi,
Great question.
I like to use the following tips/analogies:
1.) Identify the muscles - chest, lats and shoulder. Gently squeeze and keep tone in the chest and lat (muscles under the armpit)while keeping shoulders rolled back and down. This should be done while maintaining a light and responsive armhold with your partner.
2.) Analogies - "Playing the accordion": Compare the feeling to slowly squeezing an accordion between your arms.
3.) Tools - I use the pole from a broken broom (both ends are cut and sanded and the pole is about 3.5 ft. long) and have my student place one hand on each end (as if in closed position) and try to hold the pole in front of them as lightly as possible yet without dropping it.
Hope that helps!

thanks...the actual problem is when a couple dance in closed contact hold the lady doesn't provide resistant or pressure to gents right hand which placed on her shoulder blade. and how can we improve that problem in a beginner. Thanks

hiruni. The contact point is on the mans right wrist below the thumb. On the lady there is a place at the back of the right armpit which fits perfectly onto that place. Forger about the mans hand on her shoulder blade it depends on the height of the couples. The wrist is where the main contact should be. Nobody would do it this way but it is a fact that the mans hand could be straight out on the same line as the arm and wrist without making any difference to what you are doing.
This is another area which has evolved since Ballroom Dancings beginning.

Wow. thanks and appreciate what you know. Thanks a lot

Actually they have tried to answer your question. It is hard to teach a woman to do this and honestly not many new dancers are going to be able to do this. It is hard to do because it has to do with isolating the muscles. Explain to the woman that she needs to fill up his hand with her back like filling a teacup. Have her go through this several times and explain that this isn't putting weight or really even pressure in contact but rather making a point of connection so she can understand what his hand is doing while he is leading.

Understood and Agreed....Thanks a lot for explaining things from the other end of the world...

I am glad someone understands because as a newbie to dance and a woman I have no idea what is being talked about? I know what frame is and hand positions but I don't understand the pressure: who is applying it the gentleman or the lady? If this is something I need to check to see if I am doing I would rather correct it before it becomes a habit. I know in class when I get nervouse about a new step I have a tendency to apply pressure (squeeze) to my instructers arm but quickly realize it and release my hand. Is this the pressure you are talking about? thanks for any clarification that can be given.
Terri

"I don't understand the pressure: who is applying it the gentleman or the lady?"

Pressure by physical definition must be mutual. The light pressure between the man's right hand and the lady's left back has to be applied equally by both. If it's not, the hold would be expanding or contracting until it is.

Something that's not often realized, but often encountered, is that less experienced couples in which neither partner comes with built-in padding, will find it hard to have a good connection at both the lady's left back and between their chests. It takes a lot of experience for a lady to learn how to fill up the space between the man's ribcage and a reasonable position of his wrist, without distorting her posture.

As a result, to learn the left back/right wrist part of the connection, it can be useful to spend a substantial period of time intentionally dancing with a slight space between the bodies. This will tend to develop both dancers' sense of balance over their own feet, and their perception of the partner through their frame. Only later, once that is set, will it be possible to dance in contact with sound technique and while maintaining a functional frame - try to do it all too soon, and many parts will suffer.

Y E S......