Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 09:23:35 -0500 From: George Mercer <geopmercer(a)gmail.com> To: "Caller's discussion list" <callers(a)sharedweight.net> Subject: [Callers] Height diffferential Message-ID: <CACRi76uc=H2hPBCN0DKrX_e9UDBkZjEDYbPYJq=qFq9dbFMmGw(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 A number of years ago I danced a number of times with a woman who was much shorter than me. I am about 5'6" or so on a good day. She was probably 4'8" give or take an inch. When we'd go into a swing, as my arm went around her to her back, she'd lock her left arm down so that I could hardly get my right hand past her side. At first I thought it was bad form on her part, but let it be. Then as I watched her dance with others, I realized that when her co-swinger managed to get his arm around her to the "normal" place it had the result of lifting her left side up to what appeared to me to be a discomfort level. The taller the man, the further her left side was forced to go. I had to learn a new approach to entering a swing, even to lean toward bad form when the height of the other dancer led me to an adjusted approach. I'm not suggesting we should teach this, but thinking about how your technique (good or bad) can cause another discomfort is worth thinking about. Over the year I've danced enough with men that I've also experienced discomfort with this height differential. Just thinking out loud. Thanks.