By David Hamilton
Notes, comments and interpretations by Paul Hughes
Body in Motion
Using the terms and vocabulary of physics of motion in our dancing
If you let the physics of the motion work for you, you don’t have to physically work as hard to move.
- Lowering the body weight into the ground
- Rotation or Torque
- Swing and Sway
Waltz is dance composed of big swing sweeping and fluid movements.
Lower the body weight into the ground to accent the down beat.
Follow through with levitation (levity) as you rise.
Concept of Rise and Fall
Like the swing of a golf club
Power of Rotation/Torque in Swing
The body in motion can be very powerful.
We are all afraid of our own power. Using muscles to try and control it is tiring. Let motion take over for you. We work so hard trying to move. Use body weight to help move with less effort.
Rotation with wind up.
Be grateful for the use of gravity to help you lower by relaxing muscles being grounded.
Use the compression of muscles into the ground to help you levitate and rise.
Let the weight of your body go as you release through the relaxation of your muscles as you use gravity to lower or drop the body into the ground. Feeling weighted and ground and balanced.
Use the leverage of the weightiness to help you get up and rise.
The more we allow our body weight to drop down to the ground and using more leverage of our body weight to move.
Viennese Waltz using rotation and big swinging sways to create power and control.
Let gravity be your best friend and release those muscles into the ground to create more balance and leverage to create powerful movement.
Use the compressed muscles to create power to levitate and rise.
Gravity – Relax
Levity – Instensify
Rotation and Torque
The torso is the part of the body turns the most.
Two side of body right and left side. Turn at the same time.
Turn around vertical center of the body.
Turn sides of body around common center. Don’t turn spine or head.
Turn body around the spine.
The rotation of the body can be used as an incredible force of power to move as a wind up like swinging a golf club, baseball bat or throwing a ball. Create an arc of a wind up creates more movement on the dance floor and assists in turns. Use natural force of rotation to help you move down the dance floor.
It takes more effort to use the muscles to power movement by just taking steps.
Use gravity to lower body weight into a standing leg, use the compression of weight to use leverage and rotation of body to swing body into a follow through of movement to create quite a bit of momentum to move with less effort and not work so hard. Use Leverage and Throw your own body weight into the turn. Do not hold it back. Use the rotation of body as the golf club on down beat of 1 and the swing or the ball on the rise of 23. Use lowering down of gravity, power and the swing and release. We are afraid of the release and letting go and try to control it with our muscles. Instead you should trust yourself and you should throw your weight literally and use proper posture, position and be able to control your balance. You have to let it go with a sensation of falling out of your feet.
Power yourself out of the standing leg and shift weight using leverage and use rotation of body to create wind up to swing and release the leg and throw body weight. Throw body through outside radius of turn.
The momentum of the rotation helped you swing and use follow through and not hold back and stop rotation half way but release. Use gravity for leverage by lowering, rotation for wind up and release and swing.
Use rotation of upper body (wind up) and follow through (arc of pendulum swing) to move through your partner to help them move back out of the way and (sway for control into the turn.)
Gravity – Leverage – lower into standing leg for compression by relaxing muscles and release weight
Rotation – Wind Up – rotation of upper body around the spine
Swing – Follow Through with pendulum swing of the hips
Sway – Control by banking into the turn like roller coaster
Use the center of your core. Swing and Release.
Static Balance and Counter Balance
Static Balance – connection of hands or bodies
50/50 equal amounts of weight, balance and resistance
Equal ratio of pressure and weight around the common center not push or pull on one side of other.
100 % Fully divided between the partnership.
The goal is to keep the connection around the common center. The common center does not favor one side or the other, but keep it in the middle while moving towards or away from or around the common center.
Moves towards the common center creates a resistance of a push or compression, moving away creates a resistance of a pull
Counterbalance – shift body weight.
Hands connect in the middle of partnership around the common center creates static balance. Pulling away from common center creates counterbalance by shifting weight away from partner.
Viennese Waltz – counterbalance, rotation, pendulum swing and momentum
Use of Counterbalance in develope. Ladies should lean back almost prone to the floor as you recline. If you keep upper body up and kick then you will be heavy and pull over your partner.
