A dancer's weight

[dancerfreak5678]

Hey u guys! I am proud of my body and have no problems with it, but I was wondering what is a good weight for a dancer. I would like to be able for a partner to lift me, but I don't know at which weight that is. I do not want to get into an eating disorder by any means I just wanna hear what u guys think! Can wait to hear what u say!

[brujo]

Get your partner to start lifting weights. Problem solved.

The secret in lifts, at least in salsa, is in the technique. Although your weight is a factor just as his strength is, technique is much more important. Things like keeping his back straight and lifting from the knees, getting as close to your center as he can, and the way you position your body so that it can be easily shifted.

Think Pro-wrestling. Everything is an illusion. That 200 pound man being slammed is doing all the work. Same with lifts.

my $.02

[Sagitta]

All very true, but in that case the leader can only do it with follows who he knows can do their part as well. If the leader has good technique, but the follow is lacking, then strength comes into play. N'est pas?

[Swing Kitten]

since lifts are generally executed bewteen people who already know and have danced and practiced with each other this is something to discuss with your lead(s) to discover the best solution.


it's fantabulous that you're happy with your physical self! :D go you!

[Dave]

All very true, but in that case the leader can only do it with follows who he knows can do their part as well. If the leader has good technique, but the follow is lacking, then strength comes into play. N'est pas?
Firstly, if the follow doesn't know the move, then the leader shouldn't be doing it with her (outside of a teaching/practice situation).

When teaching or learning it, you can make a judgement between "let her know what the move feels like, even though we haven't got the technique down", and "make sure we have the technique before we start". Often it's a bit of both - learn how to get to point A, find out what the problem is in getting from A to B, then work on that bit of technique etc... It's rarely as simple as you think, so you may end up breaking one move into many pieces!

When it comes to strength, what I've found is that lifts take much more strength when you're learning the technique than when you've got it right. I often need to "brute force" a move when learning it - the general issue being that many moves need strength to do slowly.

As far as weight goes, if you are only talking about lifts at or below the man's shoulder, weight shouldn't be an issue. Even 200lbs isn't impossible for many such lifts - what becomes a limiting factor more quickly is size - you want the woman's center to be close to the man, and if she's very large, that's going to be a problem.

IMHO, overhead lifts are a different matter. It might not be politically correct, but size does matter here. If you look at the top pair skaters, Jamie Sale is one of the largest at around 105 lbs. You do find adagio pairs with the woman weighing > 140 lbs, but they are very much the exception.

Oh, and particularly for overhead weights, be aware that being able to lift a barbell and being able to lift a woman are very different things. Don't assume you'll be able to do the latter with anything like the weight of the former without a lot of practice!

Dave

[Sagitta]

Some good points there.

Welcome to the forums Dave!! Glad to see that you have decided to start participating!! :banana: :banana: Hope to see a lot more of you in the forums. :D

[SDsalsaguy]

That's some good information Dave -- thanks for jumping in with it! :D

[ballroomboilergirl]

I think a sound lift technique beats out a low body weight anyday...

...Case in point: At the beginning of the semester, I weighed 102 lbs (I have since gained about 8 lbs of muscle weight from working out very frequently). One of the advanced guys on my team does Theater Arts and has been without a partner for several months, so he was thrilled to hear that one of the new team members was a lightweight female. He begged me to try out some lifts with him and see if I might want to compete with him. I was a bit apprehensive, seeing as I had never even heard of Theater Arts and the only pseudo-lifting experience I had was a few stunting techniques I learned from my roommate (who happens to be one of the Purdue cheerleaders), but I agree to try out a few lifts with him. BIG MISTAKE. Because I didn't know how to properly hold my body weight and "help" him lift me, instead of feeling like 102 lbs, I felt more like 150 lbs to BOTH of us. Needless to say, we were both very sore the next day and agreed that I should seek further instruction in Theater Arts technique before trying out with him again :oops:

On the flipside, this guy's old partner weighed 125 lbs and he said that lifting her was "effortless" because she knew how to manipulate her body weight and carry her center correctly...

...however, I do agree with Dave that body weight does become an issue should you decide to do any "hard-core" over-the-head lifting. I don't want to say that there is a certain magic number that you need to be at because there isn't...it depends on what you and your partner feel comfortable with, so it is best to sit down and talk about it: How much weight can your partner SAFELY lift over his head? How much of your OWN weight can you safely hold WHILE over his head? Does he feel comfortable working out more to build greater strength? Do YOU feel comfortable working out more to lose more weight? Does the problem even lie in how much you weigh, or does it lie more in technique? Bear in mind that your safety and his are the most important factors...when in doubt, DON'T LIFT :shock:

The best advice I can give you is to talk with your dance instructor or someone who competes in either Theater Arts or Cabaret, as they will be the best sources of knowledge on lifting and can help answer your questions and give you technique advice.

Another tip: Roberto Pagan and Loriann Greenhouse, two professional Theater Arts competitors, have a great instructional video series on Theater Arts and lifting available at dancevision.com. The videos come in different skill levels, so if you are just looking to get your feet wet with lifting, you can start off with their beginning tape, which begins with moves that don't require lifting, but will help you develop good technique...they're basically dips and slides across the floor. The intermediate tape involves lifts from the man's hip, and the final tape involves lifts from the shoulder. It's up to you where you start, but I tend to recommend the beginning tape to those who have never lifted before... :?

[SDsalsaguy]

Yeah, what she said! :lol:

(Excellent advice Cortney! :D)

[Vince A]

Ditto!

(We have such good looking females on this site!) 8)

[SDsalsaguy]

(We have such good looking females on this site!) 8)
Figures too, doesn't it? Especially with them all being long distance and all . . . :?

[Vince A]

(We have such good looking females on this site!) 8)
Figures too, doesn't it? Especially with them all being long distance and all . . . :?
And me being married! Of course it figures!!!! :cry:

[SDsalsaguy]

(We have such good looking females on this site!) 8)
Figures too, doesn't it? Especially with them all being long distance and all . . . :?
And me being married! Of course it figures!!!! :cry:
Dude, you should be happy that their all long distance in your case! :lol:

[Vince A]

(We have such good looking females on this site!) 8)
Figures too, doesn't it? Especially with them all being long distance and all . . . :?
And me being married! Of course it figures!!!! :cry:
Dude, you should be happy that their all long distance in your case! :lol:
Yes, yes I am . . . lots of bark . . . and Care loves the "flirt" in me. She is secure in knowing that I do not bite!

[ballroomboilergirl]

I get a kick outta you guys :lol: But thank you, both for the props on the advice and my appearance :oops: :D Its funny, I hate the picture on my avatar, it was taken at 3 in the morning at my faculty advisor's house after a long night of dancing with the team...someone had the bright idea of watching tapes from the competition we hosted and the OSB tapes as well...yikes :oops: And, to add insult to injury, it was during finals week...I was exhausted, plus I had an econ final that morning at 10 am :shock: I'm planning on putting up a new one once I get back up to school on Friday night and away from this crappy computer here at home!

[SDsalsaguy]

. . . and Care loves the "flirt" in me. She is secure in knowing that I do not bite!
Even if she asks nicely? :shock: :wink:

[Vince A]

The "compliments" are wll deserved.

I wish the rest of the DF ladies would post pictures, so that we can harrass, er, um, . . . compliment them too!