| Article | : | “Dancing Tid-bits” Issue #139, Thursday, April 17, 2003
Today's Topic: Stride and Walk
"I am a loyal reader of your weekly dancing newsletter. Your newsletters are
not only informative, they are all very interesting. May I ask why you have
stopped publishing the letters? I sincerely hope that you'd decide to
continue writing dancing articles again.
Sincerely,
kylent"
Well, at least I have one dedicated reader so I will get back to my desk and yak-yak a little. Kylent! 2 reasons. First, I am having problem with bulk mailing thru AOL and second; it is difficult to talk or write about dancing with those gory images of war on TV non stop 24 hours. Now that We, the Victors are Victorious, let's try to be normal again.
When I saw David Williams, the former American POW walking off the Airplane in Germany, I could not help but notice the elegance in his Posture, Stance, the Mid-Stride and the Victory in his Poise.I may not be in agreement with his acts (I was opposed to this war), but certainly I can appreciate that he was just following commands of his Bosses.
He posed as a Warrior but really if his arms took a Dance Position, he was in mid-stride, right foot forward, a long stride (stride is the distance between the two feet as you walk) like the first step of a Feather in Slow Foxtrot.
Where does a Walk start and where does a Walk finish? A Walk starts when you are in neutral position with feet closed. Now you take a step forward and close your feet again, you have completed "a walk".
What is Mid Stride? You think I am being a little crazy but really as I was starting to learn to dance, this was quite confusing to me. You can read Alex Moore book and you will find about 5 pages dedicated to this subject. Start this discussion with your coach and I bet it will be an endless discussion. I will define the Mid-Stride and then shut up.
Mid-stride is of course middle of the step when your feet are apart.
a. The weight is equally divided between the two feet.
b. Weight is distributed on the heel of the front foot and ball of back foot.
c. Both Knees are more or less straight with Tone but not rigid or locked.
d. The Torso (upper body) is beautifully vertical and upright in the middle.
e. The Toe of the stepping foot comes down quickly as the weight is transferred.
f. Body tends to move at a constant speed but good dancers will interpret music differently.
g. Feet are more or less parallel.
So much for the Mid-Stride, Good bye for now and see u later. Thanks for reading this Tidbit. Best Wishes, Max |
