Frame

[Alias]

What is "frame" in partner dancing?
What does the english dance term "frame" refer to?

It's so easy for those who have taken dance lessons in english, because the instructor shows and explains things while using the english dance terms, and if you need further explanations you can go and ask the instructor about it, but it's not so easy for the others.

So I will ask about the term "frame" in the context of partner dancing, it seems to be very important and I read it again and again, but the precise meaning is not so clear even after refering to general english and translation dictionaries (because it is a general term) and read it in context.
You can target your answer to a dance newbie, or to a dancer who certainly knows the thing but not the english name.

It would be nice if some of you try to explain and talk about the "frame" (in partner dancing), as usual in dance I guess it would be more easy to show than to explain with words but we are in a textual mean of communication.

Perhaps you may also mention a particular partner dancing (one of (swing dance, salsa dance, argentine tango, ballroom dance ...) or one in) to precise the meaning of the frame in that one.

Thanks.

[Chris Stratton]

Dance terms ultimately mean what your chosen teacher-authority says they mean. If the language of instruction is a language you know well, you might get some hints from the dictionary meaning of a word, but dance meanings are usually somewhat more specific - so much so that at times the dictionary meaning could actually be misleading. At times, it might be better if we all treated the technical language of dance as a foreign one.

For example, in the ballroom technique manual "body" tends to mean only your hips, and not anything higher or lower.