2023年5月29日 星期一

Sharing the same principle but not the same technique

During the turns, we need to make the best use of basic physics, like the vertical axis, the momentum, the centripetal force …

Yes, turning techniques for different dance genres share the same basic principle. However, different dance genres are still different genres, and thus they demand different skills.

The most obvious instance is the turning techniques in Ballet Dancing and in Latin Dancing. 

In Ballet, resembling yourself as a spinning top is the very first thing you learn in turns and spins. Legs need to be turned out from the hips, core needs to be tucked, the whole body needs to be straightened and tighter as a pin. This body alignment aims at containing and lifting in one vertical line, which is very reasonable in terms of basic physics.

In Latin Dancing, the posture also resembles a vertical axis. But ladies are having high heels so the the centre is passively lifted, and lady dancers are very conscious that they have supports (heels) under their feet. Therefore, the proper body alignment takes the knees and the heels into consideration, and also the posture is a combination of the elevated hips and chest, engaged shoulder blades, and the correctly centred head position, as a result it is mostly a zig-zag equilibrated posture.

So you see, there is a fundamental difference in the body alignment, honestly the basic ‘spinning top’ principle can be applied but in Ballet the dancer only needs to keep their own bodies straight, while in Latin Dancing the straightened posture requires the soften knees to compasses the elevation and be led by the lead. 

Umm…

All in all, the primary principle is the ‘spinning top’, but the slight difference still makes a difference. And the conclusion we can reach is that we should not copy exactly the same technique for all dance genres.  

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