Dancing Tips

By Stanley McCalla
When I was asked if I would be interested in writing a few ballroom tips for students of the Fred Astaire Family via the online newsletter, I jumped at the occasion.
Some of you may know me as I have visited your studios and had the opportunity to coach you. Some of you don’t know me yet and I’m pleased to be importing some of my knowledge to you through this medium.
Today I want to speak about the importance of body posture; whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, advance, learning rhythm Smooth Latin, Standard or Theater Arts. Good body carriage will enhance your balance and or body rhythm. You will experience faster improvement and will be pleasantly viewed by your peers and any audience.
To me posture translates to vertical alignment of the spine from the pelvis to the head. There should be a feeling of straight line from the pelvis to the top of the skull. To achieve that, one must tone the muscles of the stomach in order to hold the pelvis under the body. The shoulders should be lined up with the rib cage and the hips. The tail bone should be pointed directly to the floor between the feet. Please note the hip joints should remain relaxed. If they are tensed, there’s stiffness and if there’s rigidity, one cannot dance.
Before getting a lesson or practice, you should take a few minutes by yourself and put into practice the body alignment mentioned above. It’s probably a good idea to also talk to your teacher about it should you have any questions.
I’m going to leave you with this ballroom question.
What is the foot - work in the waltz for the man and the woman in a basic ¼ turn over the first 2 bars of music?
I will give you my answer in the next on line newsletter.
Happy dancing.

Stanley Mc Calla is a Fred Astaire National Dance Board member, National Adjudicator, Fred Astaire undefeated National Smooth champion, Former USA National Amateur Latin, Standard and 10 Dance Champion, 4 Times USA representative to World Championships, 7 years principal dancer of American Ballrom Theater co (directed by Pierre Dulaine)
P: 845-304-9028