17 Jan
2024
17 Jan
'24
1:52 p.m.
Thus the perils of all language. Because of my personal ways of thinking
(somewhat twisted in physics labs and engineering classes, alas), the words
“weight” and “pressure” have precise mechanical meanings. As they have been
used in some of these examples, they have helped me and others improve
their dancing, as empirically demonstrated on the dance floor. None of my
dance partners would
accuse me of shoving them about, nor would anyone look at the typical
dancer coming out of a George Marshall dance lesson and think they had been
ill taught.
Even so, others of us have had unwelcome results using these same words on
different days with different dancers in different places, because language
is fluid and variable across time and culture.
To me, pressure and weight are things measured in pounds or newtons. If
there is meaningful connection between two objects, such as between the
hands of two dancers, then there *will* be measurable pressure and weight
between them. To understand what I’m getting at, try an allemande with so
little pressure between the hands that a piece of paper would slip out
between them. It would be no different from allemanding a weightless ghost.
To some, “give weight”, is heard as “maintain the sort of connection
through your arms such that your partner can feel that your body is
responding as a whole rather than just your arm.” Successful
communication. To others, “give weight” is heard as “lean or pull on the
other person so they are taking on some of your weight.” Failed
communication; time to clarify your words or try different ones altogether.
When I said push up or push down, I didn’t mean shove or haul with an
intent to move something substantial. I meant, “When you are holding hands
there will be some amount of pressure in the physics sense; if there isn’t
then you aren’t in physical contact at all. Don’t pull towards yourself
like you’re doing curls in the gym, nor push away, nor let them hang
loose. Don’t squeeze either. If you maintain solid but gentle palm to palm
pressure with your elbows bent, it can put the rest of your upper body,
from hand to shoulder to shoulder to hand, in a good amount of gentle
physical tension to keep your whole body involved in the dance.”
It has worked for me. If sometimes I see that’s not what my dancers are
hearing, I’ll try different words.
-jeh
On Wed, Jan 17, 2024 at 2:28 AM John Sweeney via Contra Callers <
contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
I am sorry, but I disagree with anything that says to
put pressure into
connection. Why would you need to push up or down when holding hands in a
circle? Why would you need to pull in an Allemande?
Hold your hand in space in the correct position for the move and support
it there with your own muscles. Then connect with the other people.
That’s all. You don’t need to pull or push in any direction to feel their
hand and work together.
When you start moving all you need to do is use your muscles to keep the
connection the same. For an Allemande what you are fighting is centrifugal
force, not your partner. As you speed up (by using your feet) then you
apply just enough muscle to keep the W shape of your arms. If your hand
moves towards your body you are leaning away or pulling too hard (which,
sadly, at least 80% of contra dancers do!). If your hand moves away from
your body you need to use your muscles to bring it back centrally.
Unfortunately, as I mentioned, it is probably the other dancer pulling too
hard so that you have no chance of keeping the nice W shape unless you pull
even harder and it ends up as arm-wrestling instead of dancing. :-(
All rotations should be a gentle counter-balance.
Exercise: See how fast you can turn in an Allemande while keeping a
perfect W shape with your arms. Always start with no resistance and only
increase it by the minimum amount to keep the hands central against
centrifugal force. Your key objective should be to get around once and a
half in eight steps since Allemande 1.5 is a common move (too common in my
opinion!)
Alan’s example of using a static post instead of a partner works the same
way. See how fast you can go and only use your muscles to keep your arm
shape unchanged. See how fast you can go with as little muscle as possible.
The same principle applies in a circle. Just use your muscles to keep the
circle perfect.
People talk about needing tension. They very rarely tell you how much
tension! The average dancer assumes that they mean a lot of tension. In
fact you should always go for the minimum tension needed to make the move
work. When I run Swing Variations Workshops I always start by getting
people to take a Ballroom-Hold; then I ask each dancer to tell their
partner about any points of pressure that they are feeling and I ask them
to relax. I often get comments on how useful that is; they didn’t realise
that they were pressing/pulling/hanging/etc.
You may find this article useful: Tension Is Your Enemy!
http://modernjive.com/history/tension.html
Although it is about a different dance genre, the basic principles still
apply. It is especially relevant if you want to improve your flourishes,
such as the twirls in a Ladies’ Chain.
Remember, as one great teacher taught me, “it’s not my job to drag your
ass across the floor”. Everyone is responsible for executing the move
themselves – connection just helps.
An early Circle Mixer in an evening is a great way of letting all the new
people experience doing lots of moves with lots of different dancers so
that they can feel what is good and what is not.
Anyway, that’s what I think! I hope some of it helps.
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England john(a)modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802
940 574
http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent
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