Learning to Dance with you upper body?

[manteca]

Hi are there any resources out there to help understand how to dance better with your upper body?

When I started dancing, an instructor/judge told me, when she watches dancers, she looks first at how well they control their feet and then second how they move their upper body.

Well, it's finally starting to kick in how I can dance better using my upper body. I'm starting to see it in good dancers. And I've been fumbling around applying basic Alexander Technique to see what I can figure out. There is no training like this in my area, but I'd like to find some good resources to better understand if training like that exists.

 

[latingal]

What style of dance are you doing? And if you don't mind divulging, what general area are you in?

 

[manteca]

Hi! Thank you.

I dance Latin Ballroom. I'm usually bouncing around South East Asia. (Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila)

 

[millitiz]

I took a few years to actually getting it.

I think learning a bit hip hop, or salsa could get some feeling of it - at least that is what my coach taught me at first, except I didn't quite get it back in the day.

Also, a huge part of dancing your upper body, or dancing in general, is about "relaxing" or "breathing." So in that sense, some yoga, pilates, tai chi, or some good old stretching should help.

Also, take lessons from great Latin masters, ask them specifically how to do it, or what you could do to enhance your movement in your upper body - they should know the art, after all.