the centre - mechanical and mythical...

[MusicChica]

Going to continue down the path that C started for the moment, as it's something that came up in my lesson today.  We were working on projecting one side forward, especially during rumba and cha-cha walks, and it just felt like I couldn't move my ribcage very far forward, as if I didn't have the muscles to do it properly.  So that got me to thinking, is this a case where I need to work on developing the muscles around my center in my torso, or do I just need to figure out how to stretch the muscles I already have more effectively?

[elisedance]

Not sure if its the same in latin as in standard, but the one side forward in the latter is accompanied by a rotation so that the head actually stays straight on the spine - you don't want to break that line...

[TangoDancer]

So that got me to thinking, is this a case where I need to work on developing the muscles around my center in my torso, or do I just need to figure out how to stretch the muscles I already have more effectively?

This is mainly conrtaction of the abs and all mid/lower back muscles. Focus there.   

[MusicChica]

Projecting a side forward is a contraction of the muscles?  I'm confused...

[TangoDancer]

Projecting a side forward is a contraction of the muscles?  I'm confused...

Yes. Somewhere on the PDO, I have talked about dancers always thinking in opposites. In this case, you are wanting to get a well forward rib cage during rumba/samba walks. The way to achieve this is what we typically refer to as contract and roll (as described above). A up/forward rib cage is the result of this body action.