Posture excersizes

[bastet]

The recent posture discussions have led me to a question about posture excersizes.

Does anyone have any good posture excersizes for leads and follows (that includes proper weight placement forward) that they remember from their beginning (or not so beginning) time that you could dredge up from the deeps of your memories?

 

[Ampster]

From an old thread:

Muma's Posture exercise

For both leads and follows:

• Stand up straight. Shoulders back and level
• Hold your arms above your head. Like you were surrendering
• Observe where, and how high your rib cage goes. This is how high and how far out your chest should be held
• Lower your arms to your side, while keep your chest where it's at
• Bend your knees slightly. Enough to unlock them
• Move your upper whole upper body forward until your weight shifts from your heels to the balls of your feet
• When you move forward, the lead caresses the floor with his toes, then lands the heel (toe lead)
• The follow rolls on the balls of her foot to extend, roll, land, extend roll, land

The old thread-> Clich here

 

[opendoor]

Me and the chair

I find tangomaniac´s recent post interesting:

... My teacher used to say it's the HOW, not the WHAT that's important. Here's an example. On a tile or hard wood floor, stand in front of a chair that has coasters. Practice moving the chair shifting your weight, not moving your foot. Stand on one foot, and lead the chair to move backwards with your weight. After the chair moves, step. If you step into the chair, it means you moved your foot before you moved the chair....

 

[bastet]

I find tangomaniac´s recent post interesting:

I kind of like that idea too...it leaves out some stuff...but excersizes always do....

I've been through all the ones I know of (including the ones like Ampster linked to)....but the problem is not so much I don't have a repertoire of excersizes to pull out, but I'm trying to locate something that will help in a case where someone just can't remember to maintain posture and weight placement.

They remember if you are practicing with them and remind them about it and do a good job for a bit, but then they just drift back to bad posture after a few minutes...cattle prods are starting to come to mind...:twisted:

 

[Ampster]

I kind of like that idea too...it leaves out some stuff...but excersizes always do....

I've been through all the ones I know of (including the ones like Ampster linked to)....but the problem is not so much I don't have a repertoire of excersizes to pull out, but I'm trying to locate something that will help in a case where someone just can't remember to maintain posture and weight placement.

They remember if you are practicing with them and remind them about it and do a good job for a bit, but then they just drift back to bad posture after a few minutes...cattle prods are starting to come to mind...:twisted:

Oooh! How about a piece of paper in between rib cages during close embrace? Dancing in milonguero, you have to engage the proper posture as you move together, other wise, the paper will fall. Or, you'll knock knees, or step on each other. Vary by having no hands at all. Or, shifting from a full on boobs-to-boobs, or a one-boob-to-one boob, depending on style of AT.

 

[bastet]

Oooh! How about a piece of paper in between rib cages during close embrace? Dancing in milonguero, you have to engage the proper posture as you move together, other wise, the paper will fall. Or, you'll knock knees, or step on each other. Vary by having no hands at all. Or, shifting from a full on boobs-to-boobs, or a one-boob-to-one boob, depending on style of AT.

hmm - good idea-- I haven't used that on in some time....I'll put that on the list.

Last time I used that one it was a pack of 5-10 pieces of paper... :bouncy:
AHh- the sound of all that paper hitting the floor at once! What a way to drive home the point!

 

[Heather2007]

The recent posture discussions have led me to a question about posture excersizes.

Does anyone have any good posture excersizes for leads and follows

The best posture exercises are those taught in either yoga, ballet or even better time wise as it doesn't involve years of study and requires just a few sessions with plenty of hands-on advice from the teacher is the Alexander Technique. That way, you'll find good posture is always with you in and out of the milonga and so there is no mental reminders to do this or not to do that when you're in it. The tango techniques that are taught to you in class will not only feel better but look better. Worth the investment.

 

[opendoor]

Exercise for Volcadas

Look, Saška Domić shows a volcada training exercise.

 

[Steve Pastor]

Looks like "the plank", an exercise to increase core strength.

 

[KatNip]

Stand up straight. Shoulders back and level
Hold your arms above your head. Like you were surrendering
Observe where, and how high your rib cage goes. This is how high and how far out your chest should be held
Lower your arms to your side, while keep your chest where it's at
Bend your knees slightly. Enough to unlock them

Big thanks! Did this in the middle of my smooth lesson yesterday to the surprise of my teacher. It really makes a difference!

 

[Ampster]

Big thanks! Did this in the middle of my smooth lesson yesterday to the surprise of my teacher. It really makes a difference!

You're welcome. Glad to be of service.

 

[Peaches]

A couple for getting started, but nothing for mid-dance correction or reminding:

Very similar to Amps's...stand with feet together, and image that you're reaching up to get something off a high shelf. Not so high that you have to stand on tip-toes, though. Feel how your weight comes forward a bit over the arch-to-ball area of your feet. Feel how your ribcage is lifted, and your abs are slightly pulled in. Lower your arms, but feel that position remaining.

For weight over feet...stand with feet together, or slightly apart, and slowly rock from back to front and back. Feel the weight at the back edge of the heel--but not so far that you feel like falling or taking a step; feel it straight down; feel it through the arch; feel it in the ball of the feet; feel it go further forward than that--but not so far that you feel like falling or taking a step. Learn to feel those differences and control the shift.

For posture...stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees and ankles and lower as far as you can go. Then, thinking about pushing evenly with your entire foot, think about pushing your body up and your feet down into the floor. Slowly push yourself so you're standing straight...and keep pushing. Keep your feet flat, keep your shoulders relaxed, but feel the push up through the top of your head. Think about making yourself as tall as possible. Feel the separation of your ribcage from your hips, and the looseness that comes from it.

Also, imagine a string connected to the top/back of your head, pulling you up.

For angle of hips...stand with feet shoulder width apart. Take one hand and place it so that your palm is facing your body, with your thumb at your navel and your pinky at your belt buckle or thereabouts. Rock your hips to the back, so that you go sway-backed and the hand on your belly stretches open wide. Image pushing your belt bucle away from your belly button with your fingers. Then, imagine pulling your belt buckle (and hips) up towards your navel, bringing your pelvis forward--through a "neutral" position, and tucked under. Feel the difference between tucked under, neutral, and sway-backed. You're aiming for neutral when you dance.