Anyone know why we use the terms natural and reverse?
- Thread starter caw
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Mr 4 styles
Forum Master
or god forbid right and left
We typically dance counter clockwise around "the room." Right turning figures, or natural figures, are called that because they tend to "hug" the outside wall when executed. Left turning figures are called reverse figures because they turn against "hugging" the outside wall.
Dancing Irishman
Forum Master
Best guess: in ballroom hold you can get a twist to the right, depending on which school of thought you ascribe to for frame. "Natural" turns rotate in the direction of the twist while "reverse" turns reverse it.
caw
Active Member
Do you know that to be the reason, or is that just a way that you make sense of the name?
Just last week I heard Dan Calloway talk about where the F word comes from. Being a linguist, I am well aware that his story was bogus (yet widely believed). I have a lot of respect for the knowledge he has about dance, but I wouldn't believe that story about the sword on the hip without some sort of evidence.
opendoor
Forum Master
Standard ballroom was born rather cerebral, the englisch dance teachers simply invented new terms to systematize all moves. The VW is a prototype of improvised partner dances and as far as I know the counter clock wise turn found it´s way rather late into the ballroom variant of VW. Perhaps the english nomenclature reflects this development. Counter clock wise turns existed long before, of course, but only in ländler (which is the folklore variant of VW).
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caw
Active Member
I don't see any citations for their two reasons why natural turns are called natural turns.
caw
Active Member
Perhaps
letsdance101
Active Member
Yes, I remember Loraine Barry saying this exact same thing about the sword on the knight which is the reason why women are connected to the man by their right hip (since the sword was placed on his left hip)
Partner Dancer
Well-Known Member
This all sounds like lots of urban legend, as common sense would say that men were not
lugging swords (or wearing armor) to parties, especially when looking to meet/court
women. This video confirms this viewpoint...
Who in their right mind would be wearing a broadsword or chain mail to dance? That's probably
at least 30 lbs to bear. Not pleasant.
The notion of natural and reverse is probably also related to the notion of right and left,
with "right" also inferring "correct" (as 90% of population is righties) and "left" inferring
the "remainder." The off-shift of dance position to the left probably has some
physical relationship to the right side being "stronger" or the right hand/arm being more
"agile." Leaders who dance in close frame may identify with the "weight" they often
carry on the right side.
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Ya beat me to it !.. there was ony a right turn danced initially. ergo , it was " natural " to dance that direction .
The sword analogy, is WHY we ( the english ) drive on the left side of the road. Riding a horse and drawing you sword ,was impractical from the right side of a pathway ( unless you were left handed ! ,like me )