Seven "Deadly" Sins in Jive
OK, they're not "Deadly", but they will kill your fun and increase injuries!
Modern Jive should be a smooth dance - but only if the tried and trusted rules of partner dancing are followed.
1. Leading with one finger. This
is the domain of the misguided or the haunt arrogant fools. Some men
think that it's cool or even superior to lead with one finger and that
it provides a more gentle connection. This is not the case. The
connection is reduced by this silly affectation and it's difficult to
follow because the lady does not have a decent area of connection. Also,
this stupid lead risks serious injury if the lady stumbles and grabs
that finger to provide support! The man needs to offer 3 or 4 fingers to
the lady to maintain a proper dance connection and give the lady
support if she stumbles. The man can leave his forefinger out of the
connection if the lady has much smaller hands as this is more
comfortable for her and provides all the connection required - also the
preferred 3 finger connection allows a straighter wrist for the man.
N.B.
This is number one and a bit of rant because my wife, Sue, was badly
injured by one of these one finger fools. If I was a fighter rather than
a dancer aged 57 I would have punched this guy on the nose! Sue was
black and blue with bruising and in pain for over a week - I did speak
with him as calmly as I could, it seems that he thinks it's clever to
lead with one or two fingers. My first thought was to name and shame
this arrogant fool in this article - my second thought is to advise my
readers to simply avoid such people.
2. Too much tension and compression in the lead and follow.
This can come from either the lead or follow but the problems really
start where this excess force is matched by the partner. The solution is
to give your hand away and make your partner feel like they're pushing
or pulling an already open door - one with well oiled hinges and very
little inertia or momentum.
3. Too much tension in the body. This means the arms and body are stiff and difficult to move. Just relax and flow with the music.
4. Standing too far apart. This
pulls the arms straight and drags the shoulders up towards the ears and
over the toes. This puts a strain on the lower back and makes the
dancing hard work. Stand closer together and bend the elbows towards the
floor.
5. Doing different dances or different variations.
Agree what dance you're doing with your partner. It becomes a
push-me-pull-you dance of confusion if the lady's weight is not on the
foot the man expects because she's decided to do a different dance or a
variation with different footwork. This "different footwork" means turns
can be on the wrong foot, increasing the risk falls. If this happens
you need to stop dancing and chat about what dance you're doing - to
continue is too risky! Men, make sure the lady has her weight on the
correct foot, stopping and re-starting on the one of the next eight
count if necessary.
6. Turns and returns on the spot in one beat
- Nothing wrong with these. However, they are the domain of Rock 'n'
Roll dancing and Traditional LeRoc. They have no place in smooth jive dancing
which is more like Latin dances such as Rumba than a traditional jive.
Turns in smooth jive are travelling pivot turns with the lady stepping
on every beat with the turn. To keep it smooth and neat the lady should
pivot a half-turn per step/beat on the balls of her feet and keep her
heels off the floor and ankles near to each other. The man should keep
up with the lady as she travels and provide support as required to keep
her on balance and keep her turning.
7. Hand Bouncing THE ultimate SIN to smooth jiving!!! -
bouncing or flicking the hands makes it much harder to feel the lead and
follow and will result in more tension and less fun. Solution - don't
do it and ask your partner to "please stop bouncing my hand".
