|
In
closed position, the man and the woman are facing each other, but they
are not belly button to belly button. She is offset just a little to
the man's right side. Her right side is about lined up with his shirt
buttons. Her right hip bone is against his right hip bone, so your
right foot will slide neatly between the other's feet. In
maintaining this position, the woman has two important
responsibilities. One is to maintain that hip contact as best as she
can, and the other is to maintain pressure into the man's right arm. I
wonder if one should think of this role as one of conflict: she wants
to be close, but she is pushing away, as well.
Notice
that the man's upper arms are almost horizontal, sloping just a little
down from the shoulders. Her left elbow is raised, and her left hand
rests ever so lightly on his upper arm. You'll see some variation in
the woman's left hand position below, but her contact should be light.
One common flaw is for the woman to hang on her man. Yes, he is big and
strong, but to move lightly, we must each bear our own weight. If he
were to step back, she should be able to maintain her position with no
additional effort.
Above the waist, both are well apart
from each other and shifted a bit to the left, "looking out their own
windows." Each body makes a gentle curve, like two bananas. The couple
in the top photo demonstrates these curves especially well and in two
different planes. On the plane that runs front to back, through the two
dancers, each is in contact at the hips but separated at head and feet:
two bananas "facing" each other. The extension of the man's lead foot
and the woman's trail foot behind emphasizes this curvature. On the
plane that runs side to side, between the two, each arches away to his
or her left. The man's right-side stretch and the woman's strongly
closed head emphasize this curvature. One common flaw here is for the
man to lean over his woman. That pushes her off balance and hurts her
back. Keep the top lines apart.
|
|
| The man's right hand should reach close to the center of the woman's back, and his fingers should be held tightly together.
Let's count five important points of contact:
- man's right hand on her left shoulder blade
- woman's left hand on his upper arm
- woman's left and man's right elbow
- man's left and woman's right hand held at about her eye level
- right hips or right rib cages
|
(click on any thumbnail for a larger view)
|
