Fourth Position Drive
Fourth Position Drive
This exersize is designed to help teach the technique of driving forwards while keeping the hips underneath the body. All too often you will see dancers taking a drive forward but leaving the hips behind them. There are pictures at the bottom of this post to help explain what is bad and what we are looking for. But first, the exersize:
Stand on one foot (let's say your right) and point your other foot (let's say your left) in front of you in fourth position. Bend your right leg, allowing the left foot to slide out in front of you so that the left knee remains straight. Move onto the left foot until the spine is over the left foot, but do not take your weight off the ball of your right foot. Check your posture in the mirror before continuing, paying special attention to the 3 elements of posture (description found here: http://blog2.emotionsdancesport.com/2011/01/05/3-elements-of-posture.aspx).
Now, bend forward from the hips, making sure the spine remains straight, until you are looking straight down at your left foot. Move your hips forward while simultaneously straightening back up, this time with the hips underneath you and your right hip flexor stretched to a maximum. You should have moved to the tip of the toes on your right foot. Meanwhile, your weight is over the ball of your left foot, which is flat on the floor. Check your 3 elements of posture, paying special attention to the compression of your buttcheeks and the position of your hips underneath your spine.
Repeat 3 more times on the same leg and 4 times on the opposite leg.
This exersize should be done slowly and meticulously. The point, as aforementioned, is to train the body into keeping the hips underneath the body so that the spine may remain straight throughout the dance. In the picture below, notice how both of the partner's hips are behind their spines. Their hips are so far away from each other that, even though the man is obviously backweighted, you can actually see the audience in the gap between their hips. Their bad posture has created a very small topline:
(please excuse the funny blur, but I wished to preserve the identity of the dancers, though I do not know who they are)
Meanwhile, the picture of Current World Standard Vice-champions, Mirko Gozzoli and Edita Daniute, below, shows how high level dancers maintain a beautiful and straight line in the body, even when driving, by keeping the hips perfectly beneath their spine, neither arched back nor hunched forward:
This exersize is designed to help teach the technique of driving forwards while keeping the hips underneath the body. All too often you will see dancers taking a drive forward but leaving the hips behind them. There are pictures at the bottom of this post to help explain what is bad and what we are looking for. But first, the exersize:
Stand on one foot (let's say your right) and point your other foot (let's say your left) in front of you in fourth position. Bend your right leg, allowing the left foot to slide out in front of you so that the left knee remains straight. Move onto the left foot until the spine is over the left foot, but do not take your weight off the ball of your right foot. Check your posture in the mirror before continuing, paying special attention to the 3 elements of posture (description found here: http://blog2.emotionsdancesport.com/2011/01/05/3-elements-of-posture.aspx).
Now, bend forward from the hips, making sure the spine remains straight, until you are looking straight down at your left foot. Move your hips forward while simultaneously straightening back up, this time with the hips underneath you and your right hip flexor stretched to a maximum. You should have moved to the tip of the toes on your right foot. Meanwhile, your weight is over the ball of your left foot, which is flat on the floor. Check your 3 elements of posture, paying special attention to the compression of your buttcheeks and the position of your hips underneath your spine.
Repeat 3 more times on the same leg and 4 times on the opposite leg.
This exersize should be done slowly and meticulously. The point, as aforementioned, is to train the body into keeping the hips underneath the body so that the spine may remain straight throughout the dance. In the picture below, notice how both of the partner's hips are behind their spines. Their hips are so far away from each other that, even though the man is obviously backweighted, you can actually see the audience in the gap between their hips. Their bad posture has created a very small topline:
(please excuse the funny blur, but I wished to preserve the identity of the dancers, though I do not know who they are)Meanwhile, the picture of Current World Standard Vice-champions, Mirko Gozzoli and Edita Daniute, below, shows how high level dancers maintain a beautiful and straight line in the body, even when driving, by keeping the hips perfectly beneath their spine, neither arched back nor hunched forward:
Posted by Emotions DanceSport at 6 Jan 2011 
Categories: Impulse Ballroom Adult Advanced Technique Class, Questions Answered, Basic Exersizes
Tags: Adult Advanced Technique Class Ballroom Ballroom Classes Ballroom Dancing Ballroom Seminar Choreography Closed Hold Closed Position Dancing Head extension Impulse Ballroom International Standard Kora Stoynova Mirko Gozzoli Position Posture Promenade Simeon Stoynov Standard Dancing technique drive Edita Daniute fourth position 3 elements
Categories: Impulse Ballroom Adult Advanced Technique Class, Questions Answered, Basic Exersizes
Tags: Adult Advanced Technique Class Ballroom Ballroom Classes Ballroom Dancing Ballroom Seminar Choreography Closed Hold Closed Position Dancing Head extension Impulse Ballroom International Standard Kora Stoynova Mirko Gozzoli Position Posture Promenade Simeon Stoynov Standard Dancing technique drive Edita Daniute fourth position 3 elements
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