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These helpful tips are provided by Blanche & Emelio Librero
who have a ballroom studio in Tampa and host the biggest
monthly milonga for the Tampa Bay area.
============================================
Blanche & Emilio Librero have been operating
their own
successful School in Tampa, Florida, and producing high
quality instructional videos since 1979. They are
the creators
of the best selling series "How to Become a Good Dancer".
www.libreros-dance.com/cmd.asp?ad=190141============================================
Librero's Dance Tip of the Month
Copyright
2005 Librero's, Inc.
Worldwide right reserved
Libreros Dance Instruction Videos
150 East Davis Blvd.
Tampa,
FL
33606
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BALANCE
- THE ELUSIVE QUALITY (Part 1 of 3)
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THE FIRST
ELEMENT - "THE SUPPORTING LEG"
(Print this Tip so you can try this little walking
exercise as you read it).
WALKING
EXERCISE 1
Stand in a hallway or any other area where you can
take several walking steps.
Stand with your
weight on your right foot with your
left foot free. Take your first step, concentrating
on your left foot as it moves
forward. As you transfer
weight, your right foot becomes your free foot. This
time concentrate on your right foot
as it moves forward.
Keep moving forward repeating this process of
walking and concentrating on the free leg.
What
did you notice - It felt normal didn't it?
Well that is generally the way people walk;
concentrating on the free foot
as they move from
one leg to the other.
WALKING EXERCISE 2
Now we want you to try the same walking exercise
with a little spring.
Stand again with your weight on the right foot with
your left foot free. To start the
walk, compress your
right leg a little by pressing downwards with your
body, (allow the knee to flex some), then spring
forward off of your right foot. Concentrate on your
right leg until the weight is transferred to the other leg.
Repeat
the same process on the left leg. Compress the
left leg and spring forward from the left foot,
concentrating on the
left leg until the weight is transferred.
Keep moving forward repeating this process of walking
and concentrating
on the supporting leg.
What did you notice - it felt more powerful didn't it?
With a little practice you will discover
two major things.
Your walk becomes stronger and you are able to arrive
on the other leg in complete balance and control
ready
for the next move.
For better dancing, pay more attention to your source
of power and balance - your
supporting leg.
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BALANCE
- THE ELUSIVE QUALITY (Part 2 of 3)
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THE
FIRST ELEMENT - "THE SUPPORTING LEG"
(You were introduced to it in our previous issue)
Refers to the constant awareness
of the supporting leg
which is essential for good body balance. It is the
supporting leg that sustains the body upright.
THE
SECOND ELEMENT - "VERTICAL ALIGNMENT"
(which we will concentrating on in this issue)
Refers to the vertical alignment
of the three main
body blocks:
1) Knees
2) Hips
3) Shoulders
PRINT THIS PAGE AND TRY THE FOLLOWING EXERCISE
Stand
in front of a full body mirror and turn sideways
so that you are looking at the mirror over either your
left or right
shoulder.
Bring your feet together, ankles touching and toes a
little apart at a 45 degrees angle.
Now, keeping
your knees together bring them forward
so they are aligned vertically on top of your big toes.
Bring your hips
forward to vertically align with
your knees and the toes or balls of feet.
Bring your shoulders forward so they
are aligned with
your hips, knees and balls of feet.
If you point your arms straight down you should see
in
the mirror, that your shoulders, hips, knees and
balls of feet follow a straight vertical line.
Maintaining this
alignment slowly put pressure on the
balls of your feet and lift the heels off the floor
(keep ankles touching). You
should be able
to go up and down on your toes without falling
backward or forward.
With a little practice you
will be able to stay on
your toes in perfect balance. You will be on your
way to mastering the rise and fall of the
smooth
dances like Waltz, Foxtrot and Quickstep.
You will also achieve better balance and
coordination during
many everyday activities.
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BALANCE
THE ELUSIVE QUALITY (Part 3 of 3)
This Issue:
THE THIRD ELEMENT - "HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT"
The key ingredient for
turning and spinning in balance.
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As mentioned
in the two previous issues, there are
three main elements necessary to develop
excellent balance.
The First
Element (Part 1 of 3) - "THE SUPPORTING LEG"
Refers to the constant awareness of the supporting leg
which is necessary
for good body balance. It is the
supporting leg that sustains the body upright.
The Second Element (Part 2 of 3)
-"VERTICAL ALIGNMENT'
Refers to the vertical alignment of the three main
body blocks:
1) Knees
2) Hips
3)
Shoulders
The vertical alignment will allow you to stay on your
toes in perfect balance, and master the rise and fall
in
dances like the Waltz and Foxtrot.
The third Element - "HORIZONTAL ALIGNEMENT"
(which we will concentrate on in
this issue)
Refers to the horizontal alignment of the hip line
as well as the shoulder line. The key ingredient for
turning and spinning in balance.
PRINT THIS PAGE AND TRY THE FOLLOWING EXERCISE
Stand with your feet
together, balance on your left
foot (let the arms hang straight down on both sides
of the body).
Keeping elbows
in place, bring your arms forward
as if carrying a tray (you can use an actual tray as a
prop for this exercise).
Slowly
lift your Right Knee up in front of you as high
as you can and point the toes downward. Sustain
that position for
a moment concentrating on the
supporting column or left side of the body.
Slowly lower your leg down and transfer
your weight.
Slowly lift your Left Knee in front of you as high
as you can and point toes downward. Sustain
that position for a moment concentrating on the
supporting column or right side of the body.
Slowly lower your
leg down and transfer
your weight.
Repeat several times alternating legs.
Advanced Tips
As you practice
this exercise, relax the knees and
lift the pelvis up by shortening the stomach muscles
and stretching the lower back.
Picture the hips as
if they were on a pedestal- perfectly horizontal.
When you find the correct body position,
you will
notice that your body is perfectly aligned vertically
as well as horizontally. You will also become very
aware of the axis or column that supports your body.
Practice the three main elements of balance, and you
will
enjoy a tremendous control of your body.
All of your movements will be more dynamic,
rhythmic, and graceful - on and
off the dance floor.
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TURNS
AND SPINS - Part 4
This Issue - Pivot Turns
A traveling type of turn used in most dances.
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As
discussed in Part 1 of this series on turns and spins:
There are only two directions in which you can rotate on a
standing
foot; towards the outside of the foot or towards
the inside of the foot.
From these two directions, you can execute
five types of turns or rotations:
1) Inside Swivels
2) Outside Swivels
3) Spiral Turns
4) Pivot turns
5) Spin
Turns
By learning these 5 types of rotating actions you will be on
your way to mastering any type of turn
or rotation in any pattern.
In this issue we'll continue concentrating on your ability to
swivel on the supporting
foot.
As indicated in our previous issue of this series - outside swivels,
many problems with turns occur when
the supporting foot does not
turn enough. The free leg tries to complete the turn by going around
the supporting leg.
This causes a twisting of the hips and a
subsequent lose of alignment and balance on the supporting column.
TURN
EXERCISE 4 - PIVOT TURNS
(Print this page so you can try this exercise as you read it).
This exercise will allow
you to practice pivoting on the supporting
foot, and traveling with your turns.
Stand with your right side next
to a table or kitchen counter.
Put your right hand on the counter. Stand with your feet together
and your weight on
your left foot.
Take a step forward with your right foot - stretching your left leg
and keeping your left
toe touching the floor. As your right foot
becomes the supporting foot pivot 1/2 turn to the right - keep your
left
leg behind your right leg as you turn.Put your left hand on the
counter.
Now you are standing with the counter on
your left side. Weight on
the right foot and the left leg pointing backwards. Step back on the
left foot and without
dropping the left heel pivot 1/2 turn to the
right - keep your right leg in front of the left leg as you turn.
Lower
left foot heel at the end of the turn. Put your right hand on
the counter.
Now you are on your left foot with the
right leg pointing forward
and the counter on your right side. You are ready to step forward
onto your right foot
and repeat the exercise.
Practice this exercise several times starting with counter on your
right side and pivoting
to the right. Later try the same exercise
starting with the counter on your left side and pivoting to your
left.
As
you get more proficient you can practice away from the counter.
Concentrate on keeping the spine straight and both elbows
at the
same horizontal level. Allow your eyes to only look straight ahead
at the end of each 1/2 turn, and eventually
only look in the
direction your pivots are traveling. This will stop the dizziness
produced by looking around when
your turning (like a Merry-Go-Around
effect).
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