Man's head position in Viennese Waltz

I was watching the pros compete at the Hotlanta Dance Challenge last night. During the Viennese Waltz, it seemed apparent that all of the men looked against the line of dance around step 5 of the Natural Turn. Am I right? Does anyone know the answer?

It's been eight years and I am still waiting for a reply!!!

But also, what about changes in the lady's head during the Viennese Waltz?

DanceMentor said:

It's been eight years and I am still waiting for a reply!!!

But also, what about changes in the lady's head during the Viennese Waltz?

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Shouldn't the answer be obvious? Each partner's head is were it needs to
be to achieve the desired movement, in terms of travel, turn, smoothness,
stability, effort, inter-partner force, athleticism, dizziness, etc.. The head
position is reflected in and compensated by the rest of the body, as well as
the body of the partner. Nobody ever asks a driver where his/her hand or
foot is when making a left turn, because there are too many factors to
consider, including the capabilities and characteristics of the car, the
road condition, etc.; the hands or feet are where they need to be to
negotiate the turn.

Within the above context, since step 4 is the backing step in a Natural
turn, that's when a dancer would be roughly looking back LOD. By
step 5, the head would be looking roughly back diagonal center. I
believe that's the case here...

youtube watch?v=YcaYFLeKwJA

I don't mean to be testy, but it really bothers me when replies begin with statements like, "shouldn't it be obvious" (third time tonight by different posters in various threads). 1- it really belittles the asker, and 2- it adds nothing to the reply.

Now, asking forgiveness for my mini-rant, :notworth: moving the heads, especially for the lady is a common exaggeration in the VW. Partner Dancer is correct in that the heads are where they are to facillitate the movement, and there are but 2 in VW. The left rotation is a greater orbit than the right rotation and thus requires a slightly --very slightly-- more leftward posture of the man's headline. The right rotation, being a smaller one is where we see most of the error, and probably is the reason for the post in the first place. Often, men will effect the same extended leftward headline (probably trying to make the topline appear more grand, IDK), when dancing into step 4 of the right turn. It really just puts undue tension on the turn and does nothing for the aesthetics at all.

I would love to hear a discussion of ladies' head on VW

most the time on her left side

DanceMentor said:

But also, what about changes in the lady's head during the Viennese Waltz?

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For Left Foot Forward or Backward Closed Changes, lady could turn her head to right.

However, I check the limited resources I have, from Ms Caterina Arzenton onward, all the World Professional Standard Champions keep their heads on their left sides.

Of course, some heads have the metronome swing actions at the end of the 3rd step of turn.

Probably every dancer has slightly different style here

Watching Mirko's video posted above, it is evident that position of his head in relation to his body is slightly changing during natural turns. At the beginning of the turn, head is pointing leftward, almost in direction of his left hand. Somewhere between steps 2 and 3 he start turning the head somewhat to the right, so at step 4 he is looking almost in direction of Monica's head. Then, his head gradually drifts leftwards again. It is hard to observe and describe this, even watching in slow motion, because these things are 3D. Also, it is evident that movement of his head slightly differs from turn to turn, affected also by geometry of the room in the Himawari studio I suppose ...

I like change the direction of my head in VW. No real rhyme or reason for it, I just get bored holding the same position and move my head to mix it up. I usually do it after I've gone at least once around the floor so that the judges can see that I know (or don't know...) how to hold my head in the traditional position.

Partner Dancer said:

Shouldn't the answer be obvious? . . .

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In ballroom dance, what seems obvious is often not the real answer...





m

fascination said:

I would love to hear a discussion of ladies' head on VW

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In this regard, there are guidelines in the rotation of the torso and the rotation of the head (and its management) ...

IMO, it's just not taught as widely.

[just like guidelines for releasing toes, heels, etc... my rusty brain seems to think I posted that a loooooong time ago, but is unsure ]







m

I gues I know what to do with my idle time

Angel HI said:

I don't mean to be testy, but it really bothers me when replies begin with statements like, "shouldn't it be obvious" (third time tonight by different posters in various threads). 1- it really belittles the asker, and 2- it adds nothing to the reply.

Now, asking forgiveness for my mini-rant, :notworth: moving the heads, especially

Click to expand...

It really bothers me when replies begin with "I don't mean to be
testy" and "immediately asking forgiveness" since expressions of
emotions contribute little to technical insight.

Given that the OP has over 6600 posts and has at least 8 years of
dance experience, it's not unreasonable to point out that certain
subject matters should have become "obvious" simply from
exposure. I've come to believe that the way ballroom dancing, or
perhaps partner dancing in general, is passed down/on often
stunts the ability to figure things out for oneself.

madmaximus said:

In ballroom dance, what seems obvious is often not the real answer...
m

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Partially because of the way ballroom dance is "taught." The real answer
ultimately lies within, but many dancers are taught/told to forever
depend on higher powers.

Piggles said:

I like change the direction of my head in VW. No real rhyme or reason for it, I just get bored holding the same position and move my head to mix it up. I usually do it after I've gone at least once around the floor so that the judges can see that I know (or don't know...) how to hold my head in the traditional position.

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How do you think your partner feels with the aimless head shifting?
How do you think a (truly good) judge would rate it, in particular
assessing why it's happening?

Partner Dancer said:

Partially because of the way ballroom dance is "taught." The real answer
ultimately lies within, but many dancers are taught/told to forever
depend on higher powers.

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Speaking for myself:

I'm fairly interested in a discussion of the man's head position in VW. I'm really not interested at all in a discussion of 'the way ballroom dance is "taught"'.