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Many things define Ballroom Dance Style. Among them, its nature as a partner dance remains the most distinctive.
The connection between two partners creates magic on the dance floor for the audience and for the dancers. Ask any International Standard dancer, and they will tell you about the movement of two bodies as one unit—seamlessly and continuously. An absolute must to conquer the style.
Partnering skills are real, and this is where the connection and ability to lead and to follow really matter. In the constant noise of video lessons, Instagram accounts, and training camps, we hear about connection in many different forms—contact, togetherness, right side, center, movement through the partner. Gosh, that’s a lot of points for a 90-second dance! Maybe we’ve overloaded the idea of connection so much that we’ve lost sight of its true meaning.
Famous Robin Short says, “The music was my first partner, Rita is my second partner,” making a brilliant point about the importance of music and also shifting the focus away from the external to the Self, and the relationship of Self with the music as a medium. Following the vector from external to internal, it is safe to say that before dancers can move (to the music), they should be able to stand—and stand beautifully!
Another brilliant dancer, Mr. Andrew Sinkinson—may his soul rest in peace—would often say to me, “Mate, I saw you and you looked great… before you started to dance! So maybe next time try to go out there and stay still for as long as possible, because when you actually start moving—that’s where the problems start!” When you hear such a commentary, you really are not sure whether to laugh or to cry, but one thing is for certain—you need to improve. So where do we start? Let’s start with connection.
While standing, the first connection will always be the connection between the dancer and the floor. Vertical alignment is the key, where (body) weight falls freely through the legs and soles of the feet toward the center of the Earth. The focus on Self is fundamental, and it has to be established independently from the partner. So simple, yet so difficult. At times, even painful—especially when watching young dancers being indoctrinated with a nonsensical idea of “counterbalance,” created at the full cost of individual equilibrium.
CONNECTION 1—CHECKED!
Once the floor connection is established, the two-body, one-unit idea begins to rise over the horizon. However, according to Andrew, this is where the problems just start. Gives me anxiety just remembering all of it!
In a classical understanding of the hold, five connection points have to be established between partners’ hands, upper arms, and thighs—leaving the bodies as free agents, close to one another yet fully independent. Bodies, or to be more specific, ribcages, can touch as a byproduct of connection; however, they are not considered connection points themselves. Lots of dancers focus obsessively on a magical point on their right ribcage—as if the connection between two bodies begins there. But that’s reverse engineering. We’re trying to understand the book purely by its cover. So what is the function of the ribcage here, really? Making a car analogy, we can rightfully see the ribcage area as the engine, which is strategically positioned/aligned in the car; however, its function is not to maintain the car’s structure, but to produce power. In our case, the (upper) body is active, producing actions leading the whole.
It is unfortunate that a great many dancers problematically see the ribcage as a primary connection point between two partners, disabling its main function as an engine. That is a very interesting case of the “reverse engineering of ballroom dance,” where focus again shifts away from the cause toward the effect. We see two amazing dancers moving together as one unit—but do we understand how they got to that level of togetherness? In my opinion, a key question. The ribcage indeed is a powerhouse, not only in body action production, but also for posture, poise, and hold—a keystone of a ballroom dancer’s structure. You shift it out of alignment, and in the context of movement you are in trouble; you master the art of movement within the alignment, and you are a great contender for the highest places; do it together with your partner, and you are the champion.
As my car was driving away from the article into the Twilight Zone, we forgot that five connection points established a perfect dance hold between two partners.
CONNECTION 2—CHECKED! “HOUSTON, WE ARE READY FOR LIFT-OFF!”
But what is the “lift-off”? According to Andrew, I’d rather not move to avoid the trouble; according to Robin, I should dance to the music—and maybe the second check was completely unnecessary!
The question is in the air, and the answer is right between the lines. Perhaps connection isn’t the goal at all—it’s the byproduct of moving together. The lift-off is togetherness itself—the ability to produce things simultaneously is the best connection. Imagine two cars moving side by side on a freeway at a speed of 30 miles per hour. The drivers are individually responsible for their vehicles—are they connected? Perhaps not, but they are related by the speed, by the road, by the vehicles, and, with mutual agreement and some practice, perhaps ready to deliver a show for the ones watching.
Two dance partners getting into the stance, creating a beautiful stylistic movement of Slow Foxtrot across the dance floor—are they connected? Are they together? Or, to frame it better, perhaps they are connected because they are (moving) together?
Anyway you dance around the problem, the medium is paramount. As we hear the music and produce the movement together, in perfect timing, WE HAVE A LIFT-OFF!
Written by: Iaroslav Bieliei
2021 U.S. National Professional International Ballroom Champion, World Showdance Vice Champion, Bachelor of Physical Education and Sport, and Cofounder of the Prism Method and PRO DANCE Studios
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