An Exercise in Balance in Movement

by Michael Schedler

We have talked about the importance of dance frame, and moving the entire body as a unit, but if we have tried to do this, we may have found it to be more challenging than expected. There are exercises that we can practice to make this movement easier and more natural.

To move the body as a unit, the movement must start from the center of the body, the hips. Starting your movement from the chest, the head, or even the feet, will cause the body to be mis-aligned and will make it difficult for you to execute the movement in time with the music. When all the parts move individually rather than as a unit, you have too much work to do to keep up with the music!

The smoothest dance movement starts from the center of the body, your hips, but you want to keep the rest of your body aligned, so that your hips do not come out from under your shoulders. Your legs and feet will need to extend so that you can land on them, but that extension starts after the hips have initiated the movement. You actually walk this way all the time, but you just don’t think about it, so it works.

Here is an exercise that you can use to practice moving from your center while keeping your body aligned. It will help you improve your balance and control your movement. You can practice by yourself, and then with a partner. If you are practicing with a partner in dance position, the man should start by standing on his right foot and the lady on her left foot – just like you normally start to dance.

Start by standing on your right foot with your weight on the balls of your feet, with your knees slightly flexed, and your body aligned upright. Initiating the movement from your hips, shift to your left foot, catching your weight on the ball of your foot, and keeping your knees flexed. Practice shifting sideways from one foot to the other. Starting with the sideways movement will help you get the feel of keeping your body in alignment, since it is easier to keep your hips and legs under your shoulders with this type of movement.

When you feel comfortable moving from side to side while keeping your body in alignment, do some steps forward and back. Use the same technique of starting the movement from the hips and moving the body as a unit, keeping the shoulders in alignment, over the hips. You can also start turning the steps a little, by adding a curve to the forward and back rocking action, since most dances include various turning actions, not just straight forward or backward.

You will also want to start mixing up the movements, by starting with the other foot, so that the right foot goes forward, and the left backward, or mix some sideways steps with the forward and back steps, and the curving steps. Then progress to some of the basic Foxtrot, Rumba, or Waltz patterns, while maintaining your body alignment.

The more you practice moving the body as a unit, the easier and more automatic it will become. You will find that more complex patterns and faster dances are easier to do when you initiate the movements from your hips, and you move your body as a unit.