"It is possible to contract the lower abs without also engaging the hips but doing so requires a complex action.
It's easier and much more effective just to tighten your butt."

Conceptually easier perhaps, but quickly counterproductive to continued progress. Especially if you do so bilaterally.

The most important physical part of becoming a dancer is about learning the precise control to activate the muscles that will help you at the specific times when they will help you, and to relax everything that will impede you at any time when it is not able to productively contribute.

(Much of the remainder is about strengthening the muscles you have identified for productive use in key actions - though employing them a lot soon accomplished this)

So that's the secret.

I think that can be learned in tai chi.

Muscles activate themselves when called upon as trained to do so.

jj

"Muscles activate themselves when called upon as trained to do so. "

Sure. But this is equally true for muscles productive towards and goal, and for muscles counterproductive towards it.

To maximize dancing - both capability and comfort - it will be necessary to be far more specific about which muscles are and are not activated, and when, than what you have been advocating for. That is the precision part of training (building strength is the other)

Dancing is so much easier and more enjoyable when one learns not to fight one's own body, but instead to use it efficiently. It is easy to assume that top dancers are simply stronger (ultimately they are, in key areas). But what is actually much more important is how efficient their expertise lets them be.

The layman would also quickly notice how much more flexible skilled dancers are in key areas of their body. And there again, flexibility is a process both of slightly adapting the structure of the body through physical training, and gaining the ability to relax muscles which would otherwise limit range of motion.

Let us not forget that muscles that serve to move a joint work in pairs: e.g., for hip (a joint) flexion, we engage the iliopsoas and rectus femoris, and for hip extension, the hamstrings and gluteus maximus (butt). We need both sets of muscles to walk efficiently. To dance efficiently, their activation needs to be timed precisely.

Some muscle sets, e.g., the "core" (transverse/rectus abdominis, internal/external obliques) serve the primary purpose of spinal stabilization. For dance, that relates to posture and balance.

When we are told to "relax" certain muscles, that usually means they are overactive, owing to everyday use. E.g., pectoralis major/minor (chest muscles). It would be a mistake, however, to conclude that such muscles play no part whatsoever. Every muscle plays a part, in the correct proportion, of course.

Even the apparently relaxed movements in tai chi require the efficiently timed, synergistic interplay of complementary muscle groups, coupled with a foundational core. For unimpeded chi flow, however, there must be no excess tenseness. The aim is appropriate muscle tone through internal awareness. These are not empty buzzwords.

Very well - and concisely - expressed.

Proper tone is the product of training over an extended period of time. It is something that is expressed not consciously but subconsciously.

"Keep your butt tightened" does not mean "keep your core locked."

jj

--"Keep your butt tightened" does not mean "keep your core locked."

Agree.

On the other side of the relaxation issue, muscles that don't usually work enough need conscious attention during training, especially the butt and core.

"It would be a mistake, however, to conclude that such muscles play no part whatsoever. Every muscle plays a part, in the correct proportion, of course."

At the correct time.

There is an important difference between using opposing muscles in proportional opposition to position a joint, and release the joint completely to allow it to respond to body inertia.

Both have their time and place in dancing. But the free movements can be both the hardest to learn and the most rewarding in the capability they deliver when achieved in their proper context.

Muscle activation is something that can be electrically measured with a trio of taped on electrodes - most dramatically with equipment which converts motor nerve activation to sound. A person moving a limb with intention can easily be distinguished from a person relaxing their limb and allowing it to be moved by a force external to its musculature.

That is a great question! As a dance coach and judge , I can certainly answer such a question.

Steps taken with heal leads are typically ballroom ( International Standard) and smooth ( American/social style). Latin dances are not typically danced with heal leads, with the exception of Paso.
What is a heal lead?? It is when a dancer takes a forward step and the first part of the foot that so.mes in contact with the floor is the heal. This means the ball of the foot has to be lifted off the floor at some point.
A side step or back step can not be taken with a heal lead, since on side steps they are either taken on the inside edge of foot, or ball/toe of foot. In dancers where there is elevation changes, then the first forward step coming out of a the lowest elevation would be taken with a heal lead. Eg. In waltz there are 3 beats, where the 1st beat is the lowest in elevation and that woul dbe taken with a heal lead , the second and third steps have elevations, and a dancer to create elevation to the max have to have their weight on their toes.It is very incorrect to have an elevated position with weight on toes and then take the next forward step with heal....very common mistake with beginners, since you would have to lower your elevation first with the supporting foot BEFORE you can take a step forward with a heal . Latin dancing typically involves having the balls of the feet in contact with the floor at all times with very few exceptions, meaning that you can not take a heal lead, since to do so, it would require you to lift the ball of the foot from contact with the floor.

Hope this helps, happy dancing ! Giorgio Argentini