First of all, we are talking about all of your joints- legs, arms, hands. We must, to make our dancing more comfortable and efficient, release all the joints in the body and make them available to us.
Why this can be challenging is because when we are dancing we are often trying really, really, really hard. We are trying to maintain our frame and our posture, oh so many moving parts! Unfortunately while we are trying to control all the parts we often lock out the joints and therefore make it very difficult to achieve the lightness and flexibility needed in our dancing.
If we think of great athletes, one thing they all have in common is the ease with which it appears they are moving. We know a great swing or pitch require a great deal of strength, and we watch them clock the speed of a return in tennis and marvel at the number, yet the athletes appear at ease. What all good athletes (dancers included) need to create in their movement is the freedom of their joints while still holding the tone through their bodies.
As dancers we spend a great deal of time working on our posture. Next time you do, try making sure your hips, knees, ankles and metatarsals are not locked out. When working on your dance frame, make sure the shoulders are released not forced into their sockets and make sure your wrists aren’t at an awkward angle. The engagement of our muscles should not require the locking of our joints.
When working on armstyling you have a great opportunity to make sure you are releasing your joints, we need to be careful not to confuse stretch and extension with immobilization.
If you feel you are trying to hard in your dancing, you probably are. You can benefit from stopping, taking a breath and shaking the tension out of your body; you and your partner will reap the comfortable benefits.
Jason Miller is a teacher at Dance Station. If you would like to take a lesson with Jason or any of our teachers, call 505-989-9788.
