The Posture, Line and Shape

[Julius Zhou]

The beauty of the Modern Dance is not only reflected in the energetic and dynamic movement discussed above, but also reflected in her beautiful pictorial images mainly composed of posture, line and shape. The picture is static, but the pictorial images of the Modern Dance are composed of countless dynamic and constantly changing pictures. When you take a picture of any moment of dancing of a top couple, you will find that it is almost flawless in terms of posture, line or shape.

The question is: how do top dancers make it? The answer is actually very simple, that is, the perfect posture, line and shape are made only by “dancing”, not just by "posing" or by imitating. Dancers all pursue beautiful posture, line and shape, but many of them may not fully realize that the perfect posture, line and shape can only be made by the perfect movement, and not just by the static “posing” or imitation. The posture, line and shape that come out through static “posing” or imitating will never be as real and energetic as the posture, line and shape that come out through “dancing”. And in actual dancing, not only is it difficult for these dancers to made the posture, line and shape that are mostly from "posing” or imitating even if they do not look so real and energetic, but the pictures presented must be very ugly with lots of flaws, if they do not focus on the movement of the Modern Dance in their daily training and have no idea that the beauty of the Modern Dance can be only created by movement.

Then, how can the “movement” create the perfect posture, line and shape? That is what I emphasized previously, that is, “to dance in the most energetic way with the biggest steps and the strongest rhythm”. I am going to discuss the posture, line and shape briefly in the following sections.

1. The Posture

The posture of the Modern Dance refers to the way that dancers hold their body in accordance with the movement principle of the Modern Dance. It mainly includes two types: one-dimension and three-dimensions. The former refers to the vertical of the center of the body gravity and the latter refers to CBM (the contra body movement) and the less body turn.

The straight, stretched and three-dimensional body shape makes the Modern Dance have an ultimate beauty in appearance. However, this form of beauty was not deliberately designed, but came to the reality abiding by the principle of the movement of the Modern Dance. In other words, the beauty in appearance is not the original purpose of keeping the body straight, stretched and three-dimensional. The purpose is to move perfectly in dancing and the beauty in appearance is just an inevitable by-product of the perfect movement of the Modern Dance. The beauty in appearance of the Modern Dance is purely out of the perfect movement and only by the perfect movement can the beauty in appearance of the Modern Dance be created.

Only when the center of the body gravity is completely vertical to the floor can the dancer maintain the balance of the body, and only when the dancer maintains the balance of the body can he move well. As long as there is no physical defect, a person will naturally make his center of the body gravity vertical to the ground when walking or running, otherwise he will obviously feel difficult to move. However, many dancers may ignore or fail to make the center of the body gravity completely vertical to the floor when working on the Modern Dance that highly demands the center of the body gravity to be vertical to the floor. What is the reason? This is firstly because the Modern Dance has too many actions, and each action has too many technical requirements. When trying very hard to practice these actions, dancers may easily get lost and as a result, they may more or less ignore the most important and fundamental element, that is, the center of the body gravity must be vertical to the floor. And some other dancers only focus on statically or mechanically imitating the actions of the Modern Dance and completely ignore the principle of the movement and as a result, it is very hard for them to keep their center of the body gravity vertical to the floor in actual dancing and they may stagger like a duck which completely out of balance and of course the actions they have done have absolutely no beauty at all. They do not understand that only by paying the greatest attention to the principle of the movement and by making the greatest effort “to dance in the most energetic way with the biggest steps and the strongest rhythm”, can they keep the center of their body gravity completely to the floor so as to do their actions well. The better the dancer moves, the better he does for the center of the body gravity vertical to the floor. Dancers can achieve their goal of the beautiful posture only by focusing their training on movement, because the true beauty of the Modern Dance posture can only be created by the high-quality movement.

In terms of the standing posture, a common mistaken instruction is that dance learners are instructed to tighten their belly and back muscles. This is a causality upside down instruction that misleads dance learners to develop bad habits. The tightening of the belly and back muscles are just the result of lifting the chest. Lifting the chest will naturally make the belly and back muscles tightened. If you deliberately tighten the belly and back muscles, it will not help lift the chest at all but only cause stiffness of the body, and a stiff body will make movement very difficult. Lifting the chest makes the body look stretched and beautiful, but its original purpose is just to make the soft belly solid, so that the body energy can act effectively throughout the body and the perfect movement will be possible.

CBM and the less body turn also make the Modern Dances have a magical beauty, but they were also not deliberately designed like dance figures, and came to the reality abiding by the principle of the movement of the Modern Dance. CBM helps the dancer make turns while the less body turn helps the dancer produce the body power or is used when the dancer is in the promenade position, and their spiral and constantly changing body shapes make the Modern Dance have the three-dimensional and dynamic beauty. As long as the dancer is always aware of the principle of the movement, he will be more and more good at using CBM and the less body turn as his dance skills become more and more matured, even if he has never practiced these two techniques consciously. Of course, it is better for dancers to know and understand the importance and essentials of these two important techniques as early as possible, so that these two important techniques can be consciously and effectively practiced in their daily training. In this regard, there are two negative phenomena. One is some dance learners have no idea of these two techniques and do not use them at all, or seem to know them very well, but in fact they cannot use or use them very poorly in actual dancing. This phenomenon shows that these dancers have a very poor feeling about the Modern Dance, and there is little room for them to make improvement in dance skills. To deal with this problem, these dancers have no choice but to receive training from experienced coaches and to keep practicing very hard. Another phenomenon is that some dance learners understand the importance of these two techniques, but they only work on them very mechanically and impractically, and their working seems little to do with the real movement of the Modern Dance. As a result, they cannot use these two techniques satisfactorily or even cannot use them at all in actual dancing. They do not understand that these two techniques were created only by the principle of the movement of the Modern Dance and only by trying best on the proper movement of the Modern Dance can these two techniques be mastered.

(2. The Line - to be continued)
(3. The shape - to be continued)​

 

[fiesta0618]

Only when the center of the body gravity is completely vertical to the floor can the dancer maintain the balance of the body, and only when the dancer maintains the balance of the body can he move well.​

This sentence is remarkably timely, given the recent discussion on a different thread about odd uses of physics terms. @Julius Zhou, I think you'll need to clarify a few points here.

Center of gravity is a term with a specific definition. It is a point, not a line or plane, and therefore cannot be described as "vertical." What, then, needs to be vertical, in your view?

Similarly, balance is a state where all forces acting on an object sum to zero. An object that is balanced will not move, by definition. In that case, what do you mean by "balance of the body?"

 

[Julius Zhou]

This sentence is remarkably timely, given the recent discussion on a different thread about odd uses of physics terms. @Julius Zhou, I think you'll need to clarify a few points here.

Many thanks for your clarification!

Center of gravity is a term with a specific definition. It is a point, not a line or plane, and therefore cannot be described as "vertical." What, then, needs to be vertical, in your view?

Maybe I should have used the term of "line of gravity".

Similarly, balance is a state where all forces acting on an object sum to zero. An object that is balanced will not move, by definition. In that case, what do you mean by "balance of the body?"

Should I use the term "poise"? But I just found from the web page the sentence of "Balance is the ability to maintain a stable and controlled body position while we move over our base of support. "

 

[Julius Zhou]

2. The Line

The line outlines the overall appearance of a dancer, just like a two-dimensional picture presented in front of the viewer. A couple can form a picture every moment no matter which direction they are facing and which action they are doing while dancing. The perfect body line is always coordinated from the top to the bottom of an image, and the transition between pictures is always coordinated every moment from time to time. The coordinated body line is the most beautiful and natural.

How do you dance to make a most beautiful and natural body line? This involves all elements related to the movement of the Modern Dance, including the standing posture (i.e., to have the gravity of the body vertical to the floor), CBM, the less body turn, sway, swing, holding, partnership, and so on. The most beautiful and natural body line is the comprehensive and perfect presentation of all these elements related to the movement of the Modern Dance. Acting as a whole, a defect in any one element will destroy the perfection of the entire body line, and it will more or less directly cause defects in the other elements. Only with fully understanding and mastering the principle of the movement of the Modern Dance, to “dance in the most energetic way with the biggest steps and the strongest rhythm”, will the dancer not dance at any moment with a broken body line due to the fact that the energy does not act effectively throughout the body, or with an awkward line due to a defect body balance; or will the dancer not dance with an uncoordinated line when twisting his body spirally. The dancer will dance at all moments with a natural, coordinated, solid, firm and perfect body line if the dancer’s body sway and all the other fancy actions are done by the perfect swings or the perfect movement skills. The perfect body line is not made by "posing" and made only by “dancing”. The dancer has better understanding and mastering of the principle of the movement, his dancing will be more energetic and more rhythmical and his body line will be more beautiful. Static imitation or practice is helpless because the beauty of the Modern Dance will be only created through movement, especially for the beauty of the body line.

Holding and partnership are obviously also two of the elements related to the body line, but I will not discuss them here. As for the relationship between these two and the movement of the Modern Dance, I will discuss in a part below.

3. The Shape

The shape here only refers to the shape of the line figures, the designed fancy dance steps. If the posture and line are dynamic, that are made by the constant movement of the Modern Dance and determined by the principle of the movement of the Modern Dance, the shape of the line figures is static, that has nothing to do with the above principle of the movement of the Modern Dance, but has its own principle of the movement that seems much simpler.

This series of the post discusses the general principle of the movement of the Modern Dance, and how this principle of the movement determines the dance quality of the Modern Dance. The reason why I talk a little here about the principle of the movement of the line figures is to indicate the fundamental difference between these two types of movement, so as to present a clearer picture of the characteristics and importance of the general principle of the movement.

So, what is the principle of the movement (i.e., shaping the line figures) of the line figures? That is, no matter which line figure, no matter how fast or slow the movement, in the whole process from the beginning to the end, the muscle tone of the body including the head, gradually changes from the most relaxed state required to the most tensional state required. Regardless of the type of dance, including tango, the body is often in the most tensional state required at the end of the previous movement, and once the shaping begins, the dancer must immediately change the muscle tone of the body to the most relaxed state required, and then gradually make the muscle tone more and more tensional until the shaping is completed. At the end of shaping, only when the muscle tone is made to the most tensional state required, can the shape of a line figure have a firm and strong line, can the shape be full of power, and can the shape have the ultimate beauty.

Because the shape of the line figures is static, dancers can practice by static imitation or in a mechanical way in their daily training, that is, by “posing” as mentioned above, not necessary by "dancing”. “Dancing” of course is very helpful too, but to do as much as static practice or imitation will not cause any problem at all. However, to practice in whichever way, you must strictly follow the principle of the movement of the line figures, otherwise, the more you practice, the more problems you will have and the harder the problems to be fixed.

(The end)​

 

[lucia_l]

Maybe I should have used the term of "line of gravity".

Should I use the term "poise"? But I just found from the web page the sentence of "Balance is the ability to maintain a stable and controlled body position while we move over our base of support. "

The "line of action of the gravitational force" is terminology from physics and engineering. This line of action is always vertical. There is nothing anyone can do to change that.

As a general rule, to remain in equilibrium, the center of gravity should be on a vertical line that falls between your "base of support". Your base of support is your feet. If you stand by yourself and are motionless, having your center of gravity be positioned between your feet will be stable. You won't tip over.

Engineers do carry out "stability analysis" for moving object to understand if positions are stable or unstable equilibrium. So, for example, log will float horizontally and not vertically. These idea can be extended to understanding what ship designs will float upright (the way you want them to). They also carry out more complicated stability analyses for cars and so on.

Still, as a rule, having your center of gravity between your feet tends to be very important to stay balanced. Having the line of action through your cg closer to your left leg puts more weight on the left leg; closer to the right leg puts more weight on the right leg. In yesterday's lesson my pro kept telling me to really get on my left leg during certain moves. And guess what, keeping big fat heavy head left (as he always prods me to do) helped me get my weight on my left leg!

 

[Mengu]

Still, as a rule, having your center of gravity between your feet tends to be very important to stay balanced.

True for static balance, but not for dynamic balance. For dynamic balance, this depends on the forces acting on the body. For instance imagine you are standing in a bus that's accelerating. In order to remain in balance, you would have to lean forward because gravity is no longer the only force acting on the body. Similar story for a motorcycle that's rounding a corner, you have to lean inwards to remain in balance.

Balance in motion does not necessarily mean your center of gravity is inside your base of support. You have to figure out all the forces acting on you (including gravity), and when you draw their combined force vector (which will not necessarily be vertical when you're accelerating or decelerating), if that vector points to your base of support, then you are in dynamic balance (provided horizontal component of the force does not overcome friction).

But that's not the whole story either, because you don't always have to be in balance at every moment. You just have to be in balance and out of balance, when you mean to be. Consider a jump forward. Moment you leap, and while you're in the air, no part of you is touching the ground, so there is no base of support. However, if you have the same pitch forward, when you jump, and when you land, you will fall forward. If you are able to change your pitch back before you land, you are likely to land without falling. The moment you leap you are intentionally abandoning balance to create movement, but you are angling and absorbing your landing, so you are balanced, when you land.

 

[lucia_l]

Mengu,
Agreed. I avoided "is always" and used "tends" which is a big squishy. And yes, I was limiting discussion to when you are in contact with the ground.

I'm not sure the term "balanced" means much when you are in mid-flight. But it does on take off and landing. It is certainly true that you are not in "equilibrium" (as defined in physics) during most motions. You have to be out of equilibrium at some point to change your momentum, and you must do this to do anything other than move in a straight line at constant speed.

During lessons, I've likened some advice on moving to "falling a little". So I'm out of equilibrium during portions (and then I catch that somehow or another.) Great dancers definitely are not in equilibrium at all times and their center of gravity will stray outside their base of support. But understanding the situation in static or at least slow moving situations is still a good start.

I like the series of pictures. I will note that to do that jump and stay in balance the jumper must keep his angular velocity low so that he doesn't start doing a partial summersault or land too forward or back weighted. (Eyeballing, he does have some clockwise angular momentum, and that probably helps him rotate to between the final two frames.) To achieve that he does need to try to keep his center of gravity over or at least close to his feet the "spring off" part of the jump. He doesn't need to in the air. He gets his center over his feet again during the land.

 

[Julius Zhou]

The "line of action of the gravitational force" is terminology from physics and engineering. This line of action is always vertical. There is nothing anyone can do to change that.

As a general rule, to remain in equilibrium, the center of gravity should be on a vertical line that falls between your "base of support". Your base of support is your feet. If you stand by yourself and are motionless, having your center of gravity be positioned between your feet will be stable. You won't tip over.

Engineers do carry out "stability analysis" for moving object to understand if positions are stable or unstable equilibrium. So, for example, log will float horizontally and not vertically. These idea can be extended to understanding what ship designs will float upright (the way you want them to). They also carry out more complicated stability analyses for cars and so on.

Still, as a rule, having your center of gravity between your feet tends to be very important to stay balanced. Having the line of action through your cg closer to your left leg puts more weight on the left leg; closer to the right leg puts more weight on the right leg. In yesterday's lesson my pro kept telling me to really get on my left leg during certain moves. And guess what, keeping big fat heavy head left (as he always prods me to do) helped me get my weight on my left leg!

"the center of gravity should be on a vertical line that falls between your 'base of support'"——This is a very precise and perfect interpretation! This is what I mean in my post and I just did not know how to interpret properly what I intend to mean.

 

[Julius Zhou]

Mengu,
Agreed. I avoided "is always" and used "tends" which is a big squishy. And yes, I was limiting discussion to when you are in contact with the ground.

I'm not sure the term "balanced" means much when you are in mid-flight. But it does on take off and landing. It is certainly true that you are not in "equilibrium" (as defined in physics) during most motions. You have to be out of equilibrium at some point to change your momentum, and you must do this to do anything other than move in a straight line at constant speed.

During lessons, I've likened some advice on moving to "falling a little". So I'm out of equilibrium during portions (and then I catch that somehow or another.) Great dancers definitely are not in equilibrium at all times and their center of gravity will stray outside their base of support. But understanding the situation in static or at least slow moving situations is still a good start.

I like the series of pictures. I will note that to do that jump and stay in balance the jumper must keep his angular velocity low so that he doesn't start doing a partial summersault or land too forward or back weighted. (Eyeballing, he does have some clockwise angular momentum, and that probably helps him rotate to between the final two frames.) To achieve that he does need to try to keep his center of gravity over or at least close to his feet the "spring off" part of the jump. He doesn't need to in the air. He gets his center over his feet again during the land.

In many cases, especially for sport movement, one has to be off balance for a split of a second, but that only shows the importance of keeping one's center of gravity over one's base of the support before and after the time of off balance, otherwise he/she will not do a good job while he/she is off balance and might fall afterwards.