I teach a lot of students every year, each one presenting me with the different challenges that make teaching them so interesting. And yet, whether they fall out of turns or over-shape on a tango corte, it’s amazing how many of their issues come from a since source: lack of balance. In fact, I would argue that if we all worked to gain better balance, over 90% of our challenges in ballroom dance would become non-issues.
That might seem like a crazy-high statistic, but it makes sense when you consider that better balance is a matter of improving your body awareness and coordination. And if there’s anything ballroom dance asks of you, it’s to become ever more familiar with your body. The 3 common challenges below are just indicators of where you’ve accidentally led your body astray - here’s how to get them back on track.
Problem 4: Falling Out of Turns
What is it: It seems you can never stay over your spinning foot, and you always have to step out of the turn early, or risk falling on your butt. And pretty soon, you’re too dizzy to see straight anyway.
What to do: Try an easier turn, or return to your walking exercise, making sure your weight settles over the ball of your foot. If you tend to lose your balance on bigger turns only, you may need to turn more from your hips, which are located near your centre of gravity. For better balance, use your abdominals to rotate your hips, letting them ‘pull’ your body through the turn.
Problem 5: Top-heavy on the Rise and Fall
What is it: You can’t seem to lift without toppling over. A flat-footed step is fine, but once the heels leave the floor it feels like you’re trying to dance on ball bearings.
What to do: Better balance on the dance floor requires enough muscle tension to keep the body from tipping over on the rise. Increase your tension by focusing on pushing the ground downwards, rather than pushing yourself up. Remember that the rise should happen gradually, as through you were on an escalator - be watchful for rising too quickly or early.
Problem 6: Too much tension!
What is it: You feel stiff, and awkward. Your steps and turns are jerky, and this throws you off your centre.
What to do: Relax! Take a deep breath, and let your muscles loosen up. Some muscle tension is good, but too much prevents your body from making smaller adjustments to stay upright and absorb weight changes. This is very common for many dancers, so don’t worry if it takes a while to find the right level of tension.