One good way to practice closed dance position
(ab to ab) is to dance with hands behind the body
where you are leading with just your abs. Tango
is a perfect dance to try this in.

Hugh

Often I get nervous about contact in Standard
especially in the turns in International Style.
(I am talking about touching my right front to
the right front of my partner).
For instance:

1. When I do the Natural Spin Turn in the
International Waltz and Quicktep, I often go
slightly OP and use the flexing of my knees
and my CBMP without touching too much the
right side front of my partner.

2. In the Natural Turn and Reverse Turn, I often
make a slot by CBMP, usually without contact,
on step 4 of these patterns so that I don't
have to worry about being stepped upon by
my partner.

3. Bruce Leasure, a professional ballroom dancer
in Champaign-Urbana, says however, that contact
is necessary in International Tango because
it is for the character of the dance. That makes
any of the Two Walks in Tango curve to the L.
Another reason, he says, is that it will help
to maintain the frame even in some of the
turns (e.g., Open Reverse Turn) of this tango
style.

Charles Smith
'The Little Lily Of Ballroom Dancing"
(cjsmith2@uiuc.edu)

One way to look at this subject is the from the viewpoint of how helpful contact can be. Try doing some fast pivots without it!
Contact also helps keep you and your partner together. When your lady *feels* you begin to move forward, that is her cue to start her step. Otherwise, there is the possibility that she might go before you, you look even more disconnected, etc.
Body contact can be very helpful with leading, and is quite essential to having good technique.
Watch the pros- I've seen some demonstrate this by holding a piece of paper between them while dancing a waltz- and they held onto it the whole time!

For the first two years of my training my coach used a practice hold. When I could finally stand on my own two feet without affecting my partner, we moved into a loose dance position with some light contact. I imagine if I were to improve more, he may eventually use a closed dance hold with light body contact from the thighs to the ribs.

David>The interface between partners is the most important part of partner
dancing. It is the way you communicate. It is not a waste of time to
work with a coach on this contact for without it, dancing is impossible
or at the least difficult. I can tell from your request that you are a
beginner or one who has been taught incorrectly<

Not so, but let's jovially relax a bit & open it up, for I think there is another view to the issue that hasn't yet been brought forward - which is the whole thrust of my initial post. As example, we have a trainer who placed 5th as a World Finalist at Blackpool (hardly an "incorect teacher"), who eschews contact, and we hear similarly from high-level students of other English trainers as well. Wishing to avoid name-dropping, I also feel that another famous trainer who authors ISDT syllabus books, would be rather ludicrously & disparagingly characterized as an "incorrect teacher." I do perceive two opposite and highly-accomplished views, and hope to elicit input from both sides, if available. We've certainly drawn one excellent post from the contact side, none of which is new to me, but IMHO very well & thoughtfully lain out, particularly as far as that view's instructional aspects apply.

Most of your trainers even if explaining different things are trying to reach the same goal.

To be able to dance requires firstly that both man and lady are able to stand independantly in balance.

If you stand in a well balance position, you are able to move correctly.

You then will achieve balance as a couple whereby the aim is that you are able to move in harmony with a partner.

Without disturbing the balance of your partner.

If you press against your partner you restrict each others movement therefore the dancing becomes hard.

You will need to feel each others body weight without having to carry each others body weight.

You need to learn to fit each other. This is individual. Each of the couples I train fit to each other differently, their body tone to each other will be different. Much is based on their physical build, body structure, stance etc.

By trial and error you will find the correct position with your partner. Try to understand what is happening, for example if you rise then come into contact, then lower you will have lost your contact. This shows you that there must be room for the rise and fall.

Start to think about things from your partners side. Ballroom dancing is based on movement in harmony between a male and a female body.

The lady will through nature have a slightly different weight distribution, her bone structure is smaller, she will be lighter. Therefore understand what you need to do to guide, invite or lead her.

If you start to think you will very soon FEEL how close (or not) you stand with each other to achieve trhe highest quality and control of movement.

Ian de Souza (F.ISTD)
iandesouza@dancingteacher.com

Hi

Frank, I find it hard to believe that your trainer, would be against CONTACT. Perhaps there is some misunderstanding about exactly what you mean by CONTACT and then again maybe not. Perhaps you will expand on what you/ your trainer means after reading this.

Here is my understanding of CONTACT. CONTACT is necessary between the couple for two main reasons:
1. The appearance of perpetual togetherness and the beautiful continuity and blending
of body lines between man and woman. This captures one of the fundamentals of this
artform.
2. The achievement of optimal lead & follow: the amount of swing, turn, sway, direction,
rise & fall, length of stride, expression, etc.

The disadvantages of CONTACT are as you state:
1. Restricted movement.
2. Being unbalanced by your partner.

So the issue is optimal CONTACT, neither too much nor too little, so that you maximize the advantages and minimize the disadvantages. This is precisely what makes standard dancing an artform that makes us gasp in awe when we see it being done to perfection or when we experience it ourselves. How can two people be so together and yet be so fluid and unrestricted?

So what is OPTIMAL CONTACT?

I believe that there are two elements to CONTACT for the purposes of lead & follow:

1. The size of the area of contact. You want to make these areas as large as possible
(long and wide) without adversely affecting your posture or poise. The smaller the area of contact the less information you communicate. You have smaller bandwidth.
2. The amount of tension that exists at the area of contact. One does not want to be forcefully grasping, forcing one's partner backwards, forwards or adversely affecting their balance (the feeling of heaviness or hanging on to each other). But you do want to be able to clearly indicate your actions/ reactions to your partner.

There are 5 areas of contact:
1. Man's left hand to lady's right hand.
2. Man's right hand to ladies back.
3. Lady's left hand to man's upper arm.
4. Lady's left arm (bottom) in contact with top of man's right arm.
5. Lower front of the bodies.
Area 5 (I assume) is the area in question.

Removing area 5 has more disadvantages than advantages:
1. A gap appears (even a slight one) between the couple destroying their appearance of togetherness
and their body lines as a couple.
2. A unnecessary reduction in bandwidth for communications, since it is quite possible to achieve unrestricted movement while maintaining this contact area.
3. You will automatically compensate for the loss of information flow through area 5 by increasing the tension at areas 1-4. This has the effect of you adversely affecting your partner in the ways that I described earlier. Your tops will also take on a stiffer and harder appearance.
4. The correct technique for most figures requires you to treat your body as distinct but integrated blocks of weight on a central axis running from head to toe through the centre of your body. These blocks of weight are the head, chest, hips and legs. What this means in practice is that the blocks of weight align in various ways, turn to varying degrees and move at slightly different speeds relative to each other
as the central axis moves through space. This enables you to achieve a very high quality of movement (flight & balance) and musical expression. The concepts of CBM, CBMP, right/left
side leads, sway, swing, etc, so necessary in the correct execution of all figures, is built on this fundamental idea. The only way to properly
communicate what figure you are dancing, how you want it danced and to provide feedback is by communicating how all the blocks of weight are moving with respect to each other and the central
axis. Having contact at area 5 enables you to do this. Otherwise one is restricted to contact
through the arms, which mainly communicates what one's top is doing.

I agree with Melissa that a practice hold (without area 5) is necessary as a teaching or practice aid in the introduction of a figure. However I hold the opinion that a figure can only be danced optimally (technically correct) once there is full contact (areas 1-5) between the couple.

Len.

The interface between partners is the most important part of partner dancing. It is the way you communicate. It is not a waste of time to work with a coach on this contact for without it, dancing is impossible or at the least difficult. I can tell from your request that you are a beginner or one who has been taught incorrectly. Get some coaching in position. If the ladies you dance with are blocking you or running away from you when you dance, or both, then they need extensive work also.