Promenade position can be one of the most challenging positions for both the leader and follower. A better understanding of what the body needs to do for ease as either leader or follower can make all the difference in creating a comfortable and successful promenade.
A promenade position is a dance position where both partners are traveling and looking the same direction. In promenade, we need to maintain our dance position while rotating to accommodate our partner. The difficulty is in creating the rotation that gives your partner freedom of movement while not distorting your own body and posture thus sacrificing your balance.
One of the most important things to remember is that your are still in a dance position. While in promenade you are still in front of your partner’s right side and your are still carrying your head weight over your own left side. Because of the rotation involved, it will feel that the leader is in front of the follower. The leader wants to feel the follower’s hip tucked behind their right side. The follower should feel that they are behind their partner, they will feel their left leg hooked behind the leader’s.
Another principle that will help create a better promenade is to understand what part of your body must rotate to accommodate your partner. A basic approach is that both the leader and follower rotate right through their entire body to create the position. While this is useful as a first approximation, it is only part of the picture.
There are two basic types of promenade actions, those that as a couple, rotate left or those that rotate right and there is a simple formula that will help you with each of these types. In right turning promenades, the most common, the leader rotates his upper body to the right and keeps his feet stationary or free of turn. The follower will rotate to the right through the feet and keep the upper body free of rotation in a right turning promenade. In a left turning promenade the reverse is true, the leader will rotate through the feet only while the follower will rotate through the upper body only. This isolation will assist in maintaining a comfortable position with respect to the partner and stabilize the balance of the partnership.
Next time you dance try applying some of these promenade tips and find a more successful and comfortable movement.
April Evans is a teacher at Dance Station. If you would like to take lessons with April or any of our teachers call 505-989-9788 to schedule.
