Our model demonstrates the knee bearing weight in the danger zone, too far forward of the foot and no commitment to the backward movement.
Here our “dancer” is collapsing into the weight-receiving leg and hyper extending the front leg. The compromised knee is forced to pull the remaining weight to the new standing leg. A balanced weight transfer is never achieved and the joints suffer with every walk taken.
Here the dancer is moving easily from foot to foot with the knees and feet appropriately supported, illustrated in mid stride where the weight is split as it moves out of the back of the front foot and the front of the back foot.
“Protecting the Knee Through Proper Technique….Part 1″
(published in the Nov/Dec. 2010 issue of “Dance Notes” )
The knee is the most injured part of the body in athletes and dancers. The reasons are many, and in dancing, the opportunities for misalignment and misuse are as varied as the movements we perform. For the sake of brevity in this article I have addressed just one possibility. Because it is so fundamental to ballroom dancing and so frequently cheated in it’s development, I will look at the common weaknesses in the backward walk.
The Backward Walk
There are two danger spots in the back walk where knee and ankle injury can result. Usually these are repetitive stress/strain injuries rather than singular incidents, like an impact or strong twist, resulting in immediate disability to the dancer.
The supporting leg is vulnerable as the weight is loading to send the body backward, or as it receives the weight into the foot as the backward walk is accomplished.
If the dancer allows the knee of the standing leg to move forward past the toes and does not commence the backward movement of the body properly through the heel bone, the knee joint is compromised as it takes too much load in a vulnerable orientation. Because this fault creates heaviness in the dancer, the person moving forward will add his or her weight to the partner’s body putting even more demand on the knee.
Ladies often set up this chain of events by “waiting” to be “led” or by putting body contact too high on their priority list. If students learn the appropriate mechanics of the walk and how to shape the body atop a competent action. the body contact will develop in time without the threat of injury.
The man can also force the lady into this situation by holding her too tightly so she cannot stand on her own feet, or by presenting in a back weighted stance which forces the lady’s weight to remain forward in the foot. Many men stand flat footed and stick their leg out in front of them without releasing the weight to move, preventing the lady from moving her own body backward safely and creating stress in her neck, back, knees, and ankles.
Stress on the leg receiving weight occurs when the heel of the extending leg drops to the floor too quickly, the knee hyper flexes, and the forward leg is locked, forcing all the weight to the backward leg while the knee is well forward of the safety zone. It is difficult to learn the back walk without making this mistake at least some of the time, but it needs to be addressed with consistency in the training. Care should be taken that the effort to “drag the heel” is not overzealous as this encourages the locking of the forward leg and the resulting strain to the weight receiving knee. The drawing of the heel on the floor should be a light action with a timely reflexive knee release rather than a heavy assault to the floor.
I have to say that I have seen more of the first error described in this discussion, where the dancer’s weight never releases back through the heel. In that case the back heel is dropped to soon and the toe of the forward foot is still in contact with the floor. putting the poor knee through even more punishment. This is particularly injurious to the lady dancers who often dance years with this poor quality of weight transfer and attempt to top it off with advanced body shapes and top line.
In closing, remember that the walk is the first element in dancing and that walking backward is not natural to us. It requires correct practice with awareness and commitment. the proper technique not only supports pleasurable and balanced dancing, but prevents injury as well. Moving backward can become easy and natural if you give it the attention needed in your training. happy, pain free dancing!
