Swing dance moves aerials9/17/2023 ![]() ![]() There are so many McDonald’s here! There’s great Bulgarian food, but that’s another post, another blog. Turn around some more and you’ll find the fifth place of worship, McDonald’s. Everywhere you turn, you’ll see a church, mosque or other religious center. Several people were surprised I was teaching in Bulgaria, not knowing there was a swing scene. While this picture shows Roman ruins, Sofia swing scene has not been happening since the days of yore, but it is slightly underground. It exists, it’s been going on for a while, but until you dig, you may not know it exists. What do you call the moment you jump in english, the last step where you push away from the ground? The word escapes me.This photo nicely illustrates this post about the Sofia Swing Dance scene. She sort of did the whole thing herself, just jumping around me before I had time to put my body into it. I tried the same move with an international teacher in an aerials class. ![]() On the other hand, having a partner with really good technique it's not necessary to use a lot of strength at all. I even surprised myself over how much of my body weight I actually put into this move. Since I was using my body and leaning forward, I was almost running across the floor when suddenly I didn't have her body weight there anymore. I remember once practicing, when the girl suddenly 'dissapeared' from me in the middle of the throw. Having a partner with decent technique I can do a mean Around the back. But I always activily use my body when lifting and throwing. I do not work out with weights, I can't lift very much, and I can't do a lot of pushups. ![]() I have been told many times by girls I've lifted, that "Wow, you're so strong." Ok, I am a big guy. I think the keyword is technique and stability, more than any excessive strength. She is not a small girl, I would estimate 60-70 kg, but when she was stable it was no problem holding her up there. I lifted her (and she jumped of course) straight up from in front of me, and she was more like crouching. But I have lifted a girl (woman) above my head, and held her there. I have never tried the lift in Dirty Dancing. Don't just do aerials with followers who don't know it, ask your partner if it's okay - best would be if you would get a regular aerial partner. Some rules - just because it seems that you are knew: A rule of thumb, never do aerials on the social dance floor (there are exceptions - but this a is a good rule of thumb) - you could hurt someone, or someone could bump into you, while you are being base and get unstableised. There is a lot of technique involved, but someone has to teach you that technique, you can't watch that out of vids (that's my biggest problem!) If you are a beginner you should also maybe as well try first to learn how to dance and than start with aerials - would look funny to me, if there is someone on the floor doing aerials, but can't dance a single good swingout. Muscles are good to have - of course - but doing them only with muscles are wrong. There are some security things mentioned in a thread not far under this one, and there are more on wikipedia - search for aerials. ![]() _always_ bend your knees to lift someone up, never bend your back for it - that is hell of dangerous! Use a lighter weight, but try to imagine the weight is your partner and deserving of the same respect - if it's wobbling all over the place, it's too heavy! I personally recommend lifting a weight you can give some acceleration to - you don't want to take 10 seconds slowly pressing your partner overhead, so don't train that way. (Most lifts involve your hands being fairly close together and pushing straight up. Barbells are much easier to control, and it's easy to get used to lifting them by pushing "outwards" rather than up. One key bit of advice I was given about strength training for lifts. But while learning, you need the strength to get things to work, and to save the lift if something goes wrong. Done properly, you shouldn't feel like you're doing much with the arms - they just "follow" the flyer. Click to expand.The ironic thing about learning lifts is you need a lot more strength to learn them than you do to do them once you've got the technique down. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |