Photo taken at Montville Fred Astaire Studio

Picture your whole torso from your hip joints to the top of your spine moving up and away from your grounded legs.

“What goes up must come down”  We’ve all heard it and believe it.  But what about “What goes down must come up”.  Not so much.

If you think about a rubber ball, you throw it down but it bounces back up.

We can use it as a metaphor for how to think about the oppositions in our body.  Imagine that your feet and legs are grounded like the ball going down and your torso is going up when the ball bounces up?  What happens if you picture this?

Try this:

1.  Sit on a stool or on the edge of a chair and check that the angle of hip to knee is parallel to the ground.  If your knee is lower than your hip, that is ok but knee should not be higher than your hip..  

2.  Physically push your feet into the floor while allowing your torso to elevate. 

3.  Next, simply think feet into the floor (no physical doing), torso going up.

4.  Go back and forth between these two instructions.  Notice the difference.  Are you still sensing an opposition between your legs and your torso by just thinking? 

Question: If you can achieve the same results by thinking, why use physical effort?  Is it freer?  

For sure, ballroom dancing requires muscular effort, but the question is always, how much?

If you know other dancers who may benefit from these tips, please forward.  If you would like to receive  my weekly blog in your Inbox, click here.

Happy Dancing!