Practice tips
As we are all spending a lot of time at home lately and rediscovering ourselves and our wonderful abodes, I have a few exercises for you to practice in the comfort of your shelter.
Stand a few inches away from your fridge and put your hand on the door handle. Now pull the door open and shut a few times without moving your feet (Make sure no one is watching or else they’ll think you’ve gone mad!) Notice what muscles you are using to open and close the door. Try alternating to the other arm and do the same thing. You should feel your biceps working here. Notice where your elbow is going, maybe out to the side or behind your back. That is you using your ARMS to open and shut the door. Now close the fridge door and keep your hand on the handle. Maintaining the arm at a 90 degree angle and without budging begin to take some small steps back as you open the door. Now take steps forward to close the door. Keep the arm still and in front of your body as you do this. You may notice that you are definitely using the lats to keep the arm in place without the use of your biceps as much. By doing this you are using your BODY to open and shut the door. Try this again with a kitchen drawer or other cabinets alternating arms to get a good hang of it.
As a social dancer, we want to get out of the habit of using our arms to lead or follow, instead maintaining a connection from our lats to our hands that connect us effortlessly to our partner. In both roles we need to keep the arms in front of the body at all times allowing our energy to transfer forwards towards our partners. As a Leader, when we use our biceps and arms to lead we are practicing “lazy” leading and this in turn can make it uncomfortable for the follower or even lead to minor injuries. When we aren’t utilizing our lats, connecting the arms to the body, as a Follower we may be disengaging our arms which causes us to potentially carry the ever-dreaded “soggy-noodle-arm-syndrome!” which means it may be challenging to read cues from the leader. Besides, everyone knows that Al dente noodles are the Cats-meow so activate those lats Followers!
After you get a hang of this exercise let us move on. With the understanding of using your feet to move you forward and backward in order to open and close the fridge or the drawers in your kitchen versus just standing and using your arms, let's try applying our west coast swing basic. As a leader your steps, beginning with your left foot, will be: back back (1,2) tri-ple-move(forwards)(3&4), triple step(in place) (5&6), back back (1,2), tri-ple-move(forward) (3&4), triple step(in place) (5&6). Stand near a drawer placing only your left hand on the handle and try to dance your basic while being aware of keeping your arm still and in front of you at all times, allow the drawer to open and close as a result of your body moving closer and further away. As a follower your steps, beginning with the right foot, will be: forward forward (1,2) tri-ple-move(back)(3&4) triple step(in place)(5&6), forward forward(1,2) tri-ple-move(back)(3&4) triple step(in place)(5&6). Stand with the drawer already opened about a foot or so out, placing your right hand on the handle and begin. What do you notice as you dance the basic with the drawer, other than “wow, this drawer moves effortlessly”?As a leader, do you automatically want to pull your arm back as you head backwards? As a follower, did you find your elbow behind your body as you moved forward causing you to belly bump the drawer? Was this easy to do after practicing the exercise with the fridge?
As you practice keeping the arms in front of the body and engaging the lat muscles you are becoming more aware of what needs to happen when your teachers and coaches say “try using your body to dance” or “avoid using your arms so much.” By practicing these simple exercises not only will you get better at your dancing but you will also have a new found appreciation for your Kitchen. Your kitchen has transformed into your very own private dance studio!