Head Problems and Remedies

DanceMentor

DanceMentor

Administrator
There are some steps where I think we can make mistakes with our head position because we are either looking where we are going or trying to see what is happening in the mirror. Here are some common problems.
1. Spending a lot of time looking in the mirror at line figures and often not positioning the head in the best place because we are in the habit of trying to see how it looks in the mirror.
2. Especially on a crowded floor looking around too much.
3. In general looking where you are going instead of letting the head turn with the body
4. And of course I know for almost every beginning student there is that tendency to look right on natural turning figures

I remember a coach a while ago that took their belt off and tied it around my left wrist and neck. It was a novel approach as is helped me realize how often I really wanted to bring my head to the inside.

I also try to practice by myself and just focus on the head position, so I can develop some muscle memory.

What about you?
 
Transitioning back and forth to promenade is a particular problem for me. Just this week, I caught myself letting my head flop over instead of rotating it properly. My range of neck motion is somewhat limited, and if I'm not good and warmed up before I start, I pick up bad habits.

#2 is also something I struggle with. I spend a lot of time social dancing on some very crowded floors. (My comment to my DW after a waltz on Friday: "That was two and a half minutes of nothing but floorcraft!") A lot of that dancing is with inexperienced follows whom I can't trust to tell me if I'm about to back into someone. I try to use my peripheral vision and keep track of the locations of other couples in my head, but a lot of them are newbies too and sometimes they do surprising things.
 
"but a lot of them are newbies too and sometimes they do surprising things."

Sounds a lot like my Saturday night. As far as the surprising things newbies do, I believe that if I have a hard time reading the direction a newbie lead is going, his follow probably has the same problem.

Back on topic, I think that technique has to be practiced off the social floor and then you hope some of it stays with you when in the heat of battle.
 
chomsky said:
ooops...pants off...hahaha!!!
Click to expand...

Off topic, but we used to have a coach who was known to grab your belt and pull if she didn't think your pelvis was forward enough. I made a trick belt that would fall apart when pulled on, and wore it to a coaching. Sure enough, she pulled on it... and the whole belt came off in her hand! She just about died. :p Now I wish I'd had some pants that were loose enough so that they would have fallen down. :D
 
Head problems...ugh...Any great resources to read/watch to supplement the best approaches here? I working on a Samba roll effectively for my Viennese crosses and it just hasn't clicked yet.
 
Ugh, the head. I can't tell you how many times my instructor has had to correct my head position. I'm better than I used to be, but I still get dinged on it regularly.

The biggest problem for me is a tendency for my head to tilt forward/down. It isn't because I'm looking at my feet--that at least isn't a problem I've ever had--but because when I'm thinking, I tend to angle my head forward, and I'm usually thinking hard when practicing, so I get in the habit. I try to think of a string at the top of my head pulling it up. Helps with the shoulders too.

I also had trouble at first keeping my head to the left when dancing smooth. I instinctively want to look at my partner's face. Social dancing has mostly beaten that one out of me though; looking at your partner's face while traveling around a crowded floor tends to result in... mishaps.
 
I believe the head position should be a natural continuation of the spine. In the shadow reverse rolls.
 
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