Quickstep and V. Waltz -- Managing Velocity

[pygmalion]

Okay. Confession time. The two smooth/standard dances at which I'm hopeless are quickstep and Viennese waltz. There's something about circling the dance floor at high speeds that leaves me, not only breathless, but out of balance, and sometimes tripping over my own feet (or my partner's LOL )


But, after a week or two of watching the videos, and working intensively on smooth, I'm beginning to get the sense that sway and shaping, not necessarily footwork, play a big role in making these dances work. When you watch the good (world class) folks do these dances, it looks like they're moving slowly, not quickly at all.

So question to all you successful quicksteppers out there. Talk to me abuot the technique(s) you use to get on top of these dances, rather than having them on top of you, so to speak.

[pygmalion]

I was also noticing the same thing at the ballroom dance tonight. I started working a bit on sway and shaping and immediately my dancing felt a bit better. Unfortunately, it is hard to break bad habits.

[pygmalion]

One of the problems people have with quickstep and v. waltz is that the music seems like it is too fast, so that it is necessary to rush to keep up, leaving the dancer feeling out of control. This often comes from trying to move yourself with your feet. When you move yourself with your feet, your body weight becomes a load that must be hauled around the floor, which is difficult to do quickly.

Instead, think of your body weight as the engine which propels you around the floor. Think of your head as being the top of a pendulum in a grandfather clock with your hips and knees being the bottom of the pendulum. As you start to move, drop your body weight through the downard arc of the pendulum. When your weight reaches the bottom, it "swings" up the other side in the upward arc of the pendulum. This is why standard dancers say that foxtrot, waltz, v. waltz, and quickstep are all "swing" dances. Once you start making your body weight your engine instead of your load, the music in v. waltz and quickstep will seem slow, and you'll have plenty of time to dance with no hurry.

By the way, the mistake that everyone makes when they attempt dropping their body weight is that they break one of their sides, bending at the waist instead of bending thru the knees. The correct technique is to bend one knee more than the other, which causes the hips to be at an angle from the floor (not parallel) during the swing while still keeping both sides long.

As an aside, not every standard teacher will explain swing in dance this way, but if you watch a competent standard pro dance the swing dances, they are all doing this (they are all "swinging" with their hips at an angle from the floor). This is the characteristic of swing dances that makes them so beautiful.

[msc]

That's an excellent post by Hank. This section:

By the way, the mistake that everyone makes when they attempt dropping their body weight is that they break one of their sides, bending at the waist instead of bending thru the knees. The correct technique is to bend one knee more than the other, which causes the hips to be at an angle from the floor (not parallel) during the swing while still keeping both sides long.

is oh so true.

Another point is the tendency to collapse the center as you lower. Now, from my perspective, I prefer to think of the center/pelvis forcing the knees to bend, and that helps me stay stretched through the center as I lower. This thought process also assists in keeping the knees bent through the rise ... if the hips are tucked, and the rise occurs due to shaping and a strong connection with the floor, the knees will hav eno choice but to remain bent.