| tippy toes!
"… Also, stylistically, it can be a detriment to look like a ballerina and tippy-toe around the dance floor on straight legs. (When we want to insult another swing dancer, one of the most scathing words we can evoke is "ballerina"! Ballet dancers switching to ballroom find that one of the most difficult habits to correct is coming down in their knees instead of standing tall and straight like a ballerina …"
I feel ashamed, humiliated, embarrassed … The above quote is taken from a webpage of dance tips (albeit swing-biased) that David, I think, once posted a link to. Now I know that swing and modern jive are very different but, after reading this, I feel that, stylistically, I'm probably considered the lowest of the low, because I do tend to dance with very straight legs. Christ, after all the ballet lessons I've had in my life, it takes a lot for me just to try and stop pointing my toes and turning out my feet at Ceroc - oops!
I have a lot of trouble bending my knees much when dancing - not least because hurts! But, anyone who leads Ceroc, do you find that it's really awkward to dance with a straight-legged tippy-toed partner? Does it vastly limit the moves you can do? Does it feel wooden? Any thoughts/ideas?
Rachel |