[Tango-L] The leads left arm--elboe down

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

Hi Burleigh,

Here's something I have worked on with my Alexander
Technique teacher that might help.  I find that the
inability to rotate the radial (lower arm bone)
separately from the upper arm can lead to lifting the
shoulder (jutting it out), pushing the partner, and
other assorted bad things.  The need to rotate the
radial comes in forming the embrace so that the man's
palm faces toward him and the woman's palm can face
away.  Women can have the same problem, as well, with
their right arm.

Try sitting comfortably with your arms resting palm up
on a table.  Elbows are bent, so that your upper arms
just hand down.  Try rotating your thumb (one arm at a
time) completely so that your hand faces flat on the
table.  Check to see if you are engaging you upper arm
muscles or shoulders.  If you are, then practice doing
the rotation while keeping the upper arm muscles
relaxed.  You should feel a strong spiraling all the
way up the elbow and see the muscles spiraling.  This
may help keep your arm quieter.

Hope this helps,
Trini de Pittsburgh


--- burl burl <burlq7 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> I have a constant fight with my left arm.  I just
> want it to stay put and it either creeps up at the
> shoulder or starts thrusting my partner into a back
> ocho.
>    
>   A friend of mine pointed out that if I hold my
> hand so that the palm faces backward I will do two
> things naturally--my elboe will drop and I will be
> far last temped to shove my partner "back-handed"
> since there is far less power when pushing in this
> way.
>    
>   I see some leaders (here in New York) who have
> this left hand curled with the back of the hand
> facing up (I think there is some famous guy who does
> this too) but this seems to raise the elboe to near
> right angles with the shoulder which encourages my
> other bad habit--the slow hunching up of the
> shoulders in a Frankenstein effect.
>    
>   Another respected dancer tells me that I need to
> think of surrounding my partner (the giant beachball
> lecture) and so the hand has to have the inside
> plam-side toward her (ie tangent to the surface of
> the theoretical beach ball).
>    
>   Another respected dancer tells me that I can't
> have my hand turned away from my parnter because my
> left hand, while it excerts very little preasure,
> needs to be available if my partner decides she
> needs it (I guess if she trips or finds my lead
> difficult to detect).  His idea is that while it may
> be good for my posture to have the hand either
> curled up in the air, or facing back it is
> selfish--and in the long run bad for my lead.
>    
>   Yet another unrespected dancer here, tells me that
> it is nearly impossible to dance Tango Nuevo without
> using a swing dance hold (ie palm up with the thumb
> over the womans' back hand).
>    
>   I am working on the quiet tango--very close, no
> noisy moves.  So it is all about style and I would
> appreciate any comments you might have on the left
> hand.  
>    
>   Yours
>   Burleigh
> 
> 		
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