Alignments and Angles
There is a universally accepted 'chart' of a ballroom dance floor and it's absolutely vital that it's understood. This 'historical' chart has been used for many, many decades to provide the basic alignments used for Ballroom Dancing and, well things have changed since then.
The More Accurate Chart
Here's a more accurate chart reflecting the actual amount of danceable space available for each alignment.
If you are already familiar with terms like LOD, DW, DC ALOD you might be surprised that they are not lines with an arrow at the end. They are slices. Pizza or pie slices. They are Danceable Floor Slices! This chart shows the actual amount of danceable space when facing DC.
Here are all the angles :)
### 🧭 Dance Alignment Compass (8-Slice, 45° Each) | Slice Label | Center Angle | Range (Degrees) | Description | |-------------|--------------|-------------------|--------------------------------------| | FLOD | 0° | -22.5° to +22.5° | Forward Line of Dance | | DW | 45° | +22.5° to +67.5° | Diagonal Wall | | W | 67.5° | +67.5° to 90° | Wall | | DW ALOD | 135° | +90° to +157.5°| Diagonal Center (Facing Wall) | | A LOD | 180° | +157.5° to -157.5°| Opposite LOD (facing backward) | | DC ALOD | -135° | -157.5° to -90°| Diagonal Center (Backing) | | C | -90° | -112.5° to -90° | Backing Wall | | DC | -45° | -67.5° to -22.5° | Diagonal Backing LOD (aka DC) | > 📌 Note: All angles are relative to a local T⃗ (Travel Vector). These alignments describe *foot orientation* (where the foot is pointing) in most legacy manuals.Example, if we are FLOD (Facing Line of Dance) our feet would be pointing in that direction. That doesn't necessarily mean we'll be travelling in that direction though.
Traditionally these alignments are defined by the direction our feet are pointing. But what if we are in Promenade Position? The Leaders feet might be pointing DW, the frame W and the travel would be LOD. How do we define all that?
Introducing 'SBAS'
Don't get scared by the acronym, it's just shorthand for "Segment Based Alignment System" and it's a simple way to define where your head, frame, hips and head are facing relative to something else. Not sure where your feet are? Just look down!!
SBAS = Segment Based Alignment System.
Everything (hips, frame, torso) is measured as an angle relative to another body segment.
- The Head is measured as an angle relative to the sternum
- The Frame is measured as an angle relative to the Standing Foot.
- Just look down. Your feet are 0°. Your sternum is in the middle of your chest.
- Positive angles are clockwise and negative angles are counter clockwise.
If your frame is turned slightly 45o left? That -45o relative to the standing foot If your head is turned to the right by 45o, that would be +45o relative to the sternum.
But... the head!? Well since that is connected to the spine which twists relative to the hip and standing foot we measure the rotation relative to the sternum.
An Example:
As Leader you are in Closed position facing DC (from the new alignment chart) standing on your left foot. You move forward on your right foot and your Tvec is forward with an angle of -45o with respect to LOD. By step 2 CBM will have rotated your Frame to be approximately 45o with respect to Tvec and not with the alignment chart. Step two continues with a forward Tvec and your sternum at +45o
You now have two vectors:
- Tvec, your travel vector
- Tframe, the angle your Frame (sternum) is pointing with respect to Tvec.
Your head is at -45o with respect to Tframe.
A Promenade Position Example
Lets say your feet are facing DW (consistent with the Alignment Chart). Since there really is no V-shape in Promenade (the Follower will thank you for not doing that) we can look at the Vectors:
Tvec: LOD (because it's going to be a side step) Tframe: 45o with respect to Tvec (which happens to be facing Wall) Ttoes: 45o with respect to Tvec
Head: -45o from Tframe
Wait, what? Where did Ttoes come from? It's the vector your toes are pointing. This means that... each of the major body segments can be represented by a Vector which allows for a very, very precise definition of body segment placements.
Can this work in 3 dimensions? Of course! All directions in Dance are considered 3-dimentional. We've adopted these definitions which you really should look at.
Why SBAS Matter?
Because you need to be able to define where you are going so you don't cause physical damage to your partner and others.
All our dancing depends on understanding the relationship of our travel and our bodies movements with respect to others.
And now we have an Alignment System that covers all our Ballroom Dancing. That's right, all our Ballroom Dancing. SBAS is the first system providing a unified standard for: Standard, Smooth, Rhythm, Latin, Swing and Club Dances.
When you think about it, it's amazing that the industry hasn't killed or maimed more people