Body type - does it affect your dancing? Your scores in comp?

[Me]

Okay. For starters, I am not referring to weight.

I am referring to build.

Take me. I am... HOPELESSLY, short waisted. My torso is extremely short. I look at pros with those long and lean, expressive torsos, and I try at times to emulate this (in my bedroom, bien sur) but notice that... wow, gee, my upper body is not nearly as long as it needs to be.

Or, at least, this is how I feel, and this is what I see.

Is this accurate? Or, do I just need to train certain muscle groups for strength and flexibility? I know that when I first learned leg mounts and complained that my arms were too short, my instructor said, "You arms aren't too short. Your legs just aren't flexible enough. Keep stretching!" (They were right!)

[Laura]

You can help the "look" of the short torso through judicious costuming. As for the use of your body -- yes, stretch, gain body awareness and control, learn how to use what you've got to its maximum. You still have all the bones and muscles and tendons and ligaments and joints that anyone else has, it's just a matter of learning how to access and use them.

[mamboqueen]

I had a book out of the library about 8 months ago called Dance Kinesiology, and it is worth checking out if you can get your hands on it.

http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Kinesiology-Sally-Sevey-Fitt/dp/0028645073

I didn't have time to read it all (it's not an easy read for those who have very limited knowledge on anatomy, etc.), but yes, after reading what I read, I do believe that body type does affect dancing. Part of the book described the 3 body types and what it means to have each of those types (or a combination thereof). For instance, my body type is not conducive to long-term aerobic activity; I'm better suited for short spurts of energy. And the book went on to suggest certain things to strenghten your weaknesses.

[VinceraVivere]

Stride is a bit of a problem for me because my legs are so short. I'm only about 5'0 1/2, maybe 5'1 on a good day, and it's all torso. It's to the point where when I try to drive my mom's car, I literally can't press the gas and keep my foot on the floor at the same time.

And a certain amount of that can be helped by really pushing from the supporting leg, but when my teacher (who's fairly tall) really starts to stride, he leaves me in the dust...his legs (hipbones at least, which is where I measure my legs) come up to about the bottom of my ribcage. It's pretty pathetic.

So yes, I think it can be a problem, but you do what you can to work with what you have.

[mamboqueen]

After reading OP again, maybe I'm going in the wrong direction. Not sure if you mean just appearance-wise, or something else?

[Al Gisnered]

<snip>
Take me. I am... HOPELESSLY, short waisted. My torso is extremely short. I look at pros with those long and lean, expressive torsos, and I try at times to emulate this (in my bedroom, bien sur) but notice that... wow, gee, my upper body is not nearly as long as it needs to be.


I have read, somewhere, that the late Mr. Astaire was long waisted. He felt that it the effect he wanted for his dancing was to be long legged. So he had all of his suits and jackets tailored so that the waist was above his natural waistline and his trousers tailored with a higher rise than would have been normal for the time.

I have also read that he thought his hands were too big and spent a great time working with various positions so that they looked better on camera.

In the immortal words of Osgood Fielding: "Well, nobody's perfect".

Maybe that's why She made tailors.

[SlowDancer]

I am tall and fairly slim and have always thought short, compact ladies make better Latin and Rhythm dancers than tall ladies--yet I've always been drawn to Latin/rhythm rather than Standard and Smooth.

And aren't most of the Smooth/Standard ladies long and lean? At least that's how it looks from my vantage point, over in the cheap seats.

:-)

[NielsenE]

My constant take one this subject ... body type only affects your dancing/scoring as much as you think it effects you. The more you worry that your body isn't "right" for dancing, the more you try to "hide" perceived flaws, the worse you will do. I've seen competitors who had nowhere near the "perfect" body, who were comfortable (and thus natural in their movement) who looked unbelievable on the floor, relative to any standard, I've also seen absolutely gorgeous women who obsess over the littlest perceived problem who never look confident on the floor.

[waltzgirl]

I have comp videos of me at varying weights and I do notice that I move more fluidly at my lowest weight compared to my heaviest (even when the latter is at a more advanced dance stage). Stands to reason, since I have less to propel around the floor when I'm at a low weight. But my comp results don't necessarily correlate at all--too many other factors, both with my dancing and with the competition and the specific judges, play a much larger role.

At the level most of us ams are at, I don't think body type makes an across-the-board difference. There are trade-offs. If you're a long-waisted smooth dancer, you may have a nice long line, but you may also have comparatively shorter legs so your stride may be more of a challenge to you compared to a short-waisted, long-legged dancer.

It's really a matter of making the most of your assets and working on your weaknesses and perhaps ultimately developing a style that emphasizes your strengths.

Or as my pro says to me when I complain about my feet, back, shoulders, lousy balance, lack of flexibility, etc., etc., "Sorry, you don't get to use that excuse. Get over it!" (Always said with a :) !)

[fluffy]

This is an ideal body shape and build for ballet dancers, for year when someone said I would have been a ballet dancer but I'm the wrong shape I thought it was a euphemism for just not good enough, having read a bit more, I realise now there may have been some truth in it!

For ballroom however, it doesn't really seem to matter, although all top dancers are slim. Judicous costuming can discuise aspects: a friend was saying she had a really short body so had to be careful about what she wore, I hadn't even noticed!! It's how you use what you've got which determines how good you'll get :)

[fascination]

I have comp videos of me at varying weights and I do notice that I move more fluidly at my lowest weight compared to my heaviest (even when the latter is at a more advanced dance stage). Stands to reason, since I have less to propel around the floor when I'm at a low weight. But my comp results don't necessarily correlate at all--too many other factors, both with my dancing and with the competition and the specific judges, play a much larger role.

At the level most of us ams are at, I don't think body type makes an across-the-board difference. There are trade-offs. If you're a long-waisted smooth dancer, you may have a nice long line, but you may also have comparatively shorter legs so your stride may be more of a challenge to you compared to a short-waisted, long-legged dancer.

It's really a matter of making the most of your assets and working on your weaknesses and perhaps ultimately developing a style that emphasizes your strengths.

Or as my pro says to me when I complain about my feet, back, shoulders, lousy balance, lack of flexibility, etc., etc., "Sorry, you don't get to use that excuse. Get over it!" (Always said with a :) !)
I agree with all of this...also, in my on case I happen to be very long waisted and while my legs are not short they are short enough that I look more size compatible to pro than I really am ...as for weight, I have noticed two differences, I have more flexibility and less pain... haven't been dancing long enough to say whether that translates to results (doubt it) ...however, I don't think that there is much doubt that when all other things are close, it is an aesthetic sport...

[ChaChaMama]

I think body type can help.

I also think particular body features can help. For example, I think having knees that slightly hyperextend would be very helpful in cha-cha and rumba. (I do not have such knees.)

That being said, I think the wise advice above is that you have to work with what you have. I have a long torso, but do not have long arms and legs. Whatchya gonna do? The choices seem to be "Experiment with medieval torture instruments" or "Learn to love the body you've got"...and those pesky neighbors do tend to stare when you receive delivery of medieval torture instruments, so.... ;)

I do think it is pretty cool that the latin and ballroom worlds have relative latitude in body type compared to ballet, which has quite an exacting ideal.

[tanya_the_dancer]

Interesting. I have long legs and short torso (but no extremes here ;) ). I have no problems with the stride, but have to work more on the topline stretch.

[Ithink]

I have long legs and a fairly short torso (but not too short) and I find that it helps me, a 5'8" lady, tremendously dancing standard with my 6'3" dance partner since our leg lengths and strides are virtually the same;)

I do think carrying one's center of gravity higher at times can cause balance issues. I think that's part of why latin dancers tend to be shorter (and why shorter standard dancers excel at tango and q-step) - faster, sharper movements tend to be easier for shorter dancers, or dancers with shorter legs, placing their center of gravity lower to the ground than us long-legged and tall folk:)

[Katarzyna]

I have rather long torso and very strong muscular legs.. Everyone seems to think my body would be perfect for latin (and my legs look very hyper extended...) ... don't know what to do... oh well. Just keep doing the same thing I always have.. although latin would be so much fun :(

[redhead]

I have sway back/bubble butt and even when it's all tucked in, it still looks like it's not. Bad bad thing for latin. But oh well.

[mamboqueen]

I have sway back/bubble butt and even when it's all tucked in, it still looks like it's not. Bad bad thing for latin. But oh well.

ditto. ugh :(

[Pam]

Tritto

But looks nice if you need to wear a kilt ;)

[samina]

But looks nice if you need to wear a kilt ;)

how funny! i would not have thought of that.... :)

[fascination]

ditto. ugh :(
you may have a swayed back, dunno...but your butt ain't a bubble butt woman

[fascination]

I have long legs and a fairly short torso (but not too short) and I find that it helps me, a 5'8" lady, tremendously dancing standard with my 6'3" dance partner since our leg lengths and strides are virtually the same;)

I do think carrying one's center of gravity higher at times can cause balance issues. I think that's part of why latin dancers tend to be shorter (and why shorter standard dancers excel at tango and q-step) - faster, sharper movements tend to be easier for shorter dancers, or dancers with shorter legs, placing their center of gravity lower to the ground than us long-legged and tall folk:)
yep

[samina]

i've got long torso, very long arms, shorter very strong legs... eh, haven't competed, don't know how any of this will serve me in the long haul for either standard or latin, aside from what i've heard other people say...

i'm not tall, probly 5'5" on a good day, have been told that's not ideal for standard but i don't care. i think presentation and self-belief will overcome that -- if that's delusional, i'm okay with that. ;)

i don't think my instructor's partner is any taller and they do just fine. if one's power can lengthen one's waltz stride, that should be good enuf i'm hopin...

[tangotime]

One of the great standard dancers of all time-- wally fryer stood no more than 5/5 and yet won all the major championships at pro level. the q/step you see today, is much his idea ,as scriveners for tango .One more to add-- South of eng. amat.champ. Charlie Ellis-- Big in every sense of the word ( 250 at least ) but did one of the finest f/trots ever danced . So-- quality wins out .

[samina]

One of the great standard dancers of all time-- wally fryer stood no more than 5/5 and yet won all the major championships at pro level. the q/step you see today, is much his idea ,as scriveners for tango .One more to add-- South of eng. amat.champ. Charlie Ellis-- Big in every sense of the word ( 250 at least ) but did one of the finest f/trots ever danced .

yay!!!! :)

So-- quality wins out

and also that "je ne sais qua" quality that each person brings to their dancing... :)

[Me]

Thank you for all of your answers. :) I am reading with much interest, even though I haven't replied to anything.

[skwiggy]

I'm average height for a woman (5'6"), and I've got a long torso, long arms, and short legs. This seems to work ok for me in Standard. It's probably easier to make nice long stretched lines, especially since I have a pretty flexible back. But my short legs probably make the movement more difficult, although I seem to keep up ok. And visually the shorter legs don't matter in Standard, because they're hidden under the dress. ;) And my long arms don't exactly match up well with those of my partner or others of a good height match for me. It works ok, but my arms kinda stick out on the side a bit too much. My previous teacher who was I think about 6'3", commented that my arms were the perfect length for his arms, even though he was definitely too tall for me!

When I competed in Latin, my short, not-too-slim legs were definitely a disadvantage. My legs never made the same beautiful lines as those made by the long slim legs of the other competitors, no matter how hard I tried. But I did find that some certain dresses helped make them look longer and slimmer than others, so I tried to stick with those.

But along with the long torso, comes a long back. Which some people said was an advantage for showing the action in my back. So I always wore (and still try to wear for Standard) and open-backed dress to show off that asset.

I also have pretty big feet for my height, which people say is an advantage for balance. I also have pretty flat feet, which doesn't make for a very attractive looking point. I've found that my big flat feet never look as pretty in my big clunky shoes as some of the pretty little dainty arched feet I see on others.

I think almost everyone has advantages and disadvantages. We just need to highlight the positives and draw attention away from the negatives, both with dance technique and suitable costuming.

[tanya_the_dancer]

One more to add-- South of eng. amat.champ. Charlie Ellis-- Big in every sense of the word ( 250 at least ) but did one of the finest f/trots ever danced . So-- quality wins out .

How big was his partner?

[tangotime]

Tallish but average weight, hard to recall ( was back in the early fifties ), but I do remember how fluid their movement was, and he was an inspiration for many

[skwiggy]

One of the great standard dancers of all time-- wally fryer stood no more than 5/5 and yet won all the major championships at pro level. the q/step you see today, is much his idea ,as scriveners for tango .One more to add-- South of eng. amat.champ. Charlie Ellis-- Big in every sense of the word ( 250 at least ) but did one of the finest f/trots ever danced . So-- quality wins out .

While that is an inspirational and meaningful account, I think it also speaks volumes that you can come up with a total of 2 examples of exceptions. So while these obstacles are not insurmountable, this reaffirms that they are certainly big (no pun intended) obstacles.

[Marko]

I think that the body type/shape does matter and people do notice it. BUT when you use that body in a way not expected from a person with that body - it really shows you have much more talent and ability than a regular type person. Who cares about all those that look perfect? Will you remember them after the show?
So, no matter what body type you have, just use it and its features to your advantage.


PS
I'm not that professional yet to know how my body features influence my dancing :)
I think that the only thing influencing my dancing are my undeveloped technics.

PS
I have a small belly, which can be noticeable under tight shirts. Anyone has a similar problem?

[tangotime]

Could actually give you many more, just didnt want to bore people with a "list " of names. One more high profile one , John Hatton,former champ. now living in the states .

[SlowDancer]

Long torso, shortish legs here...I'm nearly 5'10" but my legs are pretty slim and about the same length as my best friend who is 5'5"...from what I'm seeing here, I'm built more for smooth/standard than latin/rhythm...which I think I sorta knew anyway.

So why do I continue to do mostly rhythm...hmmm...

[waltzgirl]

Long torso, shortish legs here...I'm nearly 5'10" but my legs are pretty slim and about the same length as my best friend who is 5'5"...from what I'm seeing here, I'm built more for smooth/standard than latin/rhythm...which I think I sorta knew anyway.

So why do I continue to do mostly rhythm...hmmm...

I think a long torso can look great in rhythm. You've got all that space to really show off your hip and rib cage isolation. But I think the style that looks best with a long torso is a bit more sensuous and undulating than the sharp hip juts that look better on a more compact lady.

[fireinflight]

Overall short-ish (5'3"), long legs. Small small hands and feet! I'm sure it must negatively impact my balance...

Also, I have very loose joints. This is good in that I am quite flexible, but bad in that all my joints are unstable, so I have more trouble keeping my balance. I've spent so much time at physical therapy, every time I injure something, working on stabilizing my joints... Also, sometimes the loose joints negatively impact my flexibility, as in my shoulders: when I raise my arm, the ball of the joint moves around enough to hit the edge of the socket, which limits my range of motion until I can strengthen the surrounding muscles enough to keep it in place. (Still working on that...)

Everyone tells me I should have been a ballet dancer :shock:

[LenaB]

I'm about 5'6", 5'7" & my heels make me about 5'10". I think that in the future I will look very well balanced with the height. I think I'm pretty well proportioned, except for my butt- it is such a bubble!

I have a friend who is a TERRIFIC dancer & she's about 5'4" w/o heels. Her legs are very hyper-extended & I think it looks lovely.

I think that dancers who are shorter do have it easier than taller ladies. However, it is hard to determine the heights of some professional ladies because I believe they are very wonderful at making themselves appear like goddesses. Look at Katarina Venturini, her legs go on forever!

I agree with that it's how you work it. Lily Kopalova looks tiny & she's a bit of a thicker girl, but she moves wonderfully. Maria is also a tiny lady & she commands the floor like it's no one's business. Natalie Paramonov is a very tall lady (I've met her in person) & I find her wonderful as well.