Shapes and poses

[elisedance]

Quite a revelation today - when we look at most shapes - oversways, lunges, you name it -  the woman seems to be pulling away from the man.  However, as I learned it today, its an illusion: the core moves towards the man as the shoulders move out.  Which is selfevident in retrospect since else the woman would fall over

[emeralddancer]

Funny you mention this, I was doing the last waltz saturday with Nikolai ... just completely fooling around and having a blast and he kept doing all these pose type moves (of which I have NO clue about, LOL) but I just kept in my head ok core forward everything else will be ok) it was

BTW ... even though it was a fun waltz, silly and whatnot (and the dress I wore did NOT lend itself to dancing full out) It was a simply wonderful ending to an evening of dancing. Nikolai is a dream to dance with!

[Rugby]

I know so many people that think they can learn only from videos and don't need lessons.  They follow everything they see and can't understand why they still can't dance the steps or do the shapes.  I tell them its because dancing is made of illusions.  When you watch a skilled magician you can't tell how he did the trick, just that it was very fun to watch.  You can try and repeat the trick all you want but if you don't understand how its really done it will never look the same.

[elisedance]

I suppose all performance dance is illusion - the ballet dancer does not really jump that high (else he would win the olympics) and the moon walk really does not go forward so it is also for ballroom

[TangoDancer]

Quite a revelation today - when we look at most shapes - oversways, lunges, you name it -  the woman seems to be pulling away from the man.  However, as I learned it today, its an illusion: the core moves towards the man as the shoulders move out.  Which is selfevident in retrospect since else the woman would fall over

Bravo! Was teaching this just last thursday. Returning to that same class tonight to see how they've progressed.

[SwingWaltz]

What about the lady could be over shaping. Pro said that the lady should only shape as far as the man gives. If the man gives 80% and she tries to shape 100%, it's going to look bad. Having said that, the man's job is to give 100% so that the lady can do her shape.

[elisedance]

The man sets the position limit but the woman can make of it what she wants.  thus, if he only gives 40% her body can only move to that limit but her expression within that limit can be as much as she cares to muster

[emeralddancer]

I have also learned to that one must KEEP moving ....so when "posing" you are fluid. right?

[Dora-Satya Veda]

I have also learned to that one must KEEP moving ....so when "posing" you are fluid. right?

I got a couple of question for you.

You are supposed to show the music, right? The waves/frequency that we call music doesn't stop so neither should the body. Dancing is an illustration of life.....does your heart stop beating or the brain activity stop when "posing"? I sure hope not ....even if you do feel it is breath taking and you might stop breathing for a minute, the heart keeps beating and the brain keeps processing information. So, you are right KEEP moving or as my father used to say it "Move your "asset" from one account to the other. In short keep the "asset" flowing".