Have you ever stopped to consider how much your head weighs? On Average about 12 pounds. That may not sound like much, but when it’s sitting on top of your body it can have an exaggerated impact on your balance and the way your body moves.
Your head can influence your body in two primary ways.
Balance
Good balance comes from understanding your Center Point of Balance. Imagine putting your fist inside body right below the area where your rib cage comes together. This is your center point of Balance.
Although this center never changes, it’s influence on your dance does depending on a number of things. Such as stance and arm positioning. However, the one thing that can affect your balance more than any other is your head.
Consider a sledge hammer. The handle, by itself is not particularly difficult to manage, but put the weight of the hammer head on the end and it radically changes the balance and makes it more difficult to handle.
Your head has the same exaggerated influence on your body. If your head is in the wrong position, it will cause you balance problems.
A simple exercise will illustrate this. Stand on one foot and then tilt your head forward until you are looking down at the ground or back till you are looking straight up. I’m betting your balance was effected or maybe it even forced you off balance.
Directional Tendencies
We know that the position of our head can change our balance but another way it influences our body is by the direction we are looking.
Your body naturally follows the head’s direction. If you are looking a particular direction, your body has a natural tendency to move in that direction.
A great illustration of this is driving. Have you ever been driving down the road and looked to one side at something for a 
little too long and when you looked back at the road, found that your vehicle is drifting somewhat in the direction you were looking? Your visual gaze had an influence on your arms and they reacted by moving towards your gaze. By the way, I am not suggesting you try this. If you have never noticed it, just trust me. It works!!
You visual gaze can have the same impact on dance. When we dance foxtrot and go from basic to promenade, we are instructed to look in the direction of travel. Why, if we dance promenade looking at our partner, it changes how your body reacts. Your partner can actually feel the difference.
Looking where you are going will also keep you from running someone over.
Putting it into Practice
Practice keeping your head centered above your body. Feel the back of your neck and find the vertebrate where your neck ends and your back begins. You can feel the first bone that doesn’t move when you move your head front to back like a chicken. Silly, I know, but it gets the point across.
This is the Centering Knob. Pressing that knob straight back as you go into movements controls your posture and will greatly improve you balance as well as power and control of movement.
Pressing this knob back actually tilts your chest cavity into a more optimal posture and gives the feeling of tightening and shortening the muscles around the center spine area as well as the front part of the chest. This will also allow you greater breath control and, most importantly, centers the head directly over the spine for precise balance control.
Give it a try. Did it work for you? Tell me how it changed your dancing?
Like
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi
My husband and I are bronze level competitors. I find that my neck feels very rigid and painful becasue of the position that my head must be held in. Is this normal or is there a way in which strain can be prevented?
Thank you
That does not sound normal. Let me ask you a few questions.
In what dances do you compete? Of those, which ones cause you this pain and what positions cause it? I ask this because certain dances such as Waltz do have an extended neck line and frame position for the lady that seems more likely to cause problems.
Is the pain only during the dance or does it persist after and, if so, how long after?
Is the pain immediate when you start dancing or does it come on after long practice or competitions?
Is the pain sharp or dull? Consistent or intermittent?
This could be caused by several things, posture, fatigue, neck strength or injury to name a few. Without more detail and possibly seeing your frame and posture I can only give you some general suggestions.
First, it could be posture and frame. Depending on the dance, if your head is even slightly out of position in relation to your center point of balance (CPB) then it can cause neck pain. What I mean by this is if your head is not positioned over the core of your body then your neck has to do more work to keep the head up. As an example lean forward from the waist. At some point you will begin to feel your neck take on more of the strain of holding up your head, whereas when you stand straight, the weight is directed down and supported more by the entire body. A simplistic example to be sure, but in some dances, if your head is out of position by the smallest amount it can put exaggerated pressure on your neck to support it. Your instructor should be able to work with you if you discuss your discomfort with him/her. The above questions will be important to him/her. If this is the cause, it can be corrected very quickly.
The second is medical. If after, discussing it with a qualified instructor and it persists, you might consider seeing a doctor. Possibly somebody trained in sports medicine. It’s possible you may have sustained an injury during training or competition. If this is the case, then it could be resolved with physical therapy or some other approach.
This may or may not help but I’m including a link to an article about centering as it relates to the head and neck. It is written by a world renowned swing dancer but the concept apples to any form of dance. http://www.swingdancecouncil.com/library/CenteringKnob.pdf
In either case, getting the appropriate assistance is critical. I hope I have helped.
Thank you very much for your prompt reply and valuable advice. Apologies, I forgot to mention that I am experiencing this while dancing ballroom.
At our level we are only dancing Slow Waltz and Quickstep.
It is only during dancing and the pain is experienced as kind of a consistent burning sensation in my neck. It comes on immediately when I start the dance when I concentrate on holding my head in the position advised by our instructor. Strange enough, when my instructor places my head in the desired position and I hold it there I do not have pain. But if I have to start in that position on my own, I forget the angle of my head- the result, of course- pain!
Regards
Sounds like you have it. I would definitely continue to work with your instructor, focusing on the head position until you can achieve the correct position on your own and without pain. You will probably find that there is only the slightest change needed to make this comfortable for you.
Also, Would you mind if I posted this as a discussion thread on my website? It is a great question and I think it would be good for my readers. If you like, I can remove your name and email.
{ 1 trackback }