First: Yikes, Jan! I hope your recover is as quick and painless as possible! Lessons: hello, Slow Fox. Hello, heel turns. Hello, working on that rotation through the body. Ack.
Not looking like the little fella' would get much body action. I have to admit though, I've seen a few latin dresses that have the same look and shape. *grin*
Jan, hope you recover soon and best wishes. Lord last night was not a good night for me we were practicing for comp. I had to change my name to Speedy Gonzales no matter what I do to slow-down I could not. If the American Smooth police were out last night I would of got a bunch of reckless dancing tickets last night. :car:Well today is a new day and I hope I can be on time while we practice.
Worked on waltz comp routine and talked about how to make it work on different sizes of dance floors. Also, worked on Valentine's talent show routine.
So last night at a group class we had the initial portion of the class from one instructor, and then the regular instructor took over. The "warm-up" instructor is new to the studio (but not to dancing or the franchise, just switched studios over the holidays) and it was his first time working with me. And he had me working on some posture changes (story of my life ) Focusing on keeping the back long, core strong, and relaxing the upper chest. He was using some different words that seemed to click a little better than before, but I still have a horrible time with "Relaxing the upper chest"... there's absolutely nothing relaxing about it... for me its more just extreme use of the upper abs to pull the ribs down, not about relaxing the upper chest.... the upper chest feels completely relaxed to start with... I had been doing some piliates before that instructor left, again working on the same type of postural change, but again via active core engagement to relocate the ribs... But every ballroom coach, or pilates type instructor really seems to feel that it should be a relaxed, not active position.. And after years of body rework its still not natural... can anyone offer any suggestion/comment?
Taking your description at face value, you could possibly have some postural habit(s) that may require some more aggressive work from without rather than within. If you have the money to spend and can deal with the discomfort you might try to look into a series of Rolfing or Active Release Therapy or similar treatments with a licensed practitioner. I've never had to resort to it myself (at least not yet) but I've met others who have raved about such treatments.
Hmm maybe I'll need to consider that. I think a large part of my posture habits came from my days in ROTC/military with the whole distorted position of attention which is almost completely opposite of how dance wants the body arranged. (Though in chatting with a Drill Instructor a year or two ago, sounds like they'd have no problem with a person with good dance posture even though it is so opposite.... its just too hard to teach that... Stomach In/Chest Out is easier....)
NE, I'd strongly recommend Feldenkrais. It's a lot less painful than Rolfing, and I've seen significant change in my posture from it. It's all about releasing learned habits of unnecessary tension, so I think it would be perfect for what you want to change.
I've done Feldenkrais for a few years and while its helped with some, it hasn't really addressed the apparently unconscious tension I hold in the upper chest. of course all the feldenkrais I've done has been off tapes, not with a trained practitioner so I can't exactly ask for refinements...
more of same for rumba, twist then move... for samba, b.o.u.n.c.i.n.g... will have calves & toes of steel before the year is out, no doubt... also paid up for comp #4. am hoping pro can get me in for both bronze & silver (standard)... the form said it wasn't allowed. but dang -- why would they refuse money for that?
northeastern in stamford, last weekend in jan. was my first comp last year. not feeling ready but... *sigh*... i know, i know, no one every does. i just wanna get to the point where i really feel confident flying around and letting loose. so not there yet. but am planning on wearing something new for this one... and am really looking forward to some new pix!
It might be worth a few sessions with a practitioner, so you can actually experience what relaxing your chest feels like. Then it will be much easier to achieve it again using tapes or just day-to-day.
