P is for Posture
Ummmm….as I watch dancers move
around the floor, I almost always find my eyes settling on one or two that just
seem to stand out from the crowd. Not
because they are doing the hardest moves or wearing the cutest dress or even
dancing the most musically (although this is really high on the list of things
that catch my attention, especially when I am dancing with someone)…no, what
draws my attention is the dancer’s posture.
Standing straight, not leaning in toward their partner or bending at the
waist or slouching. Head pulled back and
held high, not looking down to make sure that gravity is still causing their
feet to hit the floor! Shoulders
comfortably stacked over their backbone, chest drawn up and broadened, dancing
like they are proud of their abilities and comfortable in their dance
shoes. Those are the dancers that catch
my attention no matter how experienced they are, no matter how many patterns
they know or how well they execute those patterns. No matter at all as they are the dancers I
hope will ask me to dance…and if they don’t…guess I just going to have to ask
them…’cause I know it is going to be an awesome dance experience!
Dance of the Day: Polka
A fun, fast paced progressive dance that is characterized by
a skipping, triple step action. Although
it originated in Poland in the early 1800’s, it is danced all over the
world: from Mexico to Iceland to Ireland
to Germany and probably everywhere in between.
In the United States it is danced by both the ballroom and country
western dance communities.
