Ballroom Dance 101

Today I decided to start off with some basics of good dancing and go from there. 

First off, one of the most important things about dance is BALANCE!  Without being balanced as an individual, the ability to be balanced in a partnership is almost impossible.  Just like with relationships, each individual needs to be able to keep control of themselves and have the ability to move their body in a way that is balanced and controlled.  The best way to do this is to practice any patterns and movements solo and very slowly.  The slow-motion practice will not only teach the muscles to remember the correct movements (and then allow the brain to think about other things), but will also strengthen the muscles and allow for more complicated and intricate movements and patterns later.

Secondly, CONTROL is needed to allow sudden and smooth changes of direction while maintaining the integrity of the frame and partnership.  Without self-control it is a given that leaders will be unable to lead and followers will be unable to follow. Trying to Dance without control is like trying to drive without a steering wheel or sail without a tiller.  The partners will drift haphazardly around the floor, careening off of others and taking away the poetry and expression each individual puts in to the dance.  With control, the partnership and the individuals within the partnership can each express what the Music is telling them to do.  The above mentioned exercise is the best way to learn control, as well as learning to isolate your different muscles and muscle groups. 

Most people in American society have little to no body awareness.  We don't take the time to learn how our bodies work and then when we have an ache or a pain, we can only say "it hurts here" or "this isn't working right today". A dancer has the ability to isolate different parts of the body and find the source of movement for each action.  Take the time to learn about how your muscles work and how to make them do what you want them to do.  Be in control of your body instead of it being in control of you. Learn to appreciate this amazing machine we have been gifted with and realize that with all of the advanced technology humans have created, NOTHING in this universe compares to the AMAZING technology right within ourselves.

Thanks for reading and I'll be back in a week or whenever an important or amusing thought pops in to my head.

BC

"I am a dancer.  I believe that we learn by practice.  Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living.... In each it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit.  One becomes in some area an athlete of God. " ~Martha Graham, c.1953