Energy

If you've ever been told:

  • “You just need to give more energy!”
  • “The energy was too soft.”
  • “That was high-energy, but disconnected...”
  • “Feel the energy between you.”
  • "your energy is going over there and it should be going over here"
  • "use your core energy"

and wondered what it meant you're not alone. The word “energy” in dance has become a grab bag of vague metaphors, tossed around to describe everything from timing to tension to "you just didn't feel right."

What Is Energy in Dance?

Before this gets into the math and physics we can simplify things by saying:

Energy has two components:

  • Direction: as in what direction the energy is going (e.g. FLOD)
  • Magnitude: The amount of energy

And that's it! Everything else is understanding and controlling those values.

In physics, energy is the capacity to do "work" and in dance we can define if as the "capacity to move and travel in dancing"

There are two forms of energy that show up most often:

1. Kinetic Energy (KE)

Kinetic Energy is the energy of motion. In partner dancing, this is everything. It's what keeps you moving from step to step, turn to turn. It can be thought of as the energy used when you throw a ball.

Kinetic Energy (KE) equation > `KE = ½ × m × v²` > *(mass × velocity squared)* - KE is **directional** — it’s a 3 dimensional *vector* quantity in practice.

The amount (or magnitude) of the KE is directly related to:

  • Speed, more speed = more KE

  • Weight The heavier something is, the more KE it will have. (Fun fact, the terms "weight" and "mass" can be considered the same on Planet Earth).

In dance, this translates to:

  • Traveling across the floor
  • Swinging an arm or leg
  • Initiating a turn or rotation
  • Anything that changes the shape and, or location of your body

2. Potential Energy (PE)

Potential Energy is stored energy — usually due to height or compression.

PE = m Ă— g Ă— h
(mass Ă— gravity Ă— height)

In reality the human body cannot effectively store PE so it only has an effect when lowering (the 'fall' in 'rise and fall').

"Least Action" in Dancing

In dancing we can say that "we will always take the path the requires the least action (or effort)" It's a fascinating subject as it crops up time and again as we progress. Read about how Least Action affects your dancing

🚦KE Rules the Floor

While PE matters when lowering, Kinetic Energy is king in most figures. Dancing is dynamic — we’re constantly converting muscle effort into motion. So if someone says “give it more energy,” and you respond by lifting your shoulders or emoting harder... physics will be politely unimpressed. It would also have helped if that person had said "how much" energy and "in what direction".

As we previously stated, energy (such as KE) has two components:

  • Magnitude, the amount
  • Direction, where it's going

But it's not just one dancer, there are two!

Which results in these possibilities:

  • Leader has more energy than Follower - Leader is pushing Follower (Ew)
  • Follower has more energy than Leader - Follower is pulling Leader (Ugh)
  • Leader and Follower have the same energy (probability of which is close to 0) but in different directions
  • Leader and Follower have the same energy in the same direction the probability of which is extremely unlikely

And here's the proof of the Improbability of Synchronization.

Therefore one of the dancers has to synchronize with the other in terms of energy magnitude and direction. But who? How?

This in turn validates that there is no such thing as Leader and Follower in the traditional sense. Instead the Leader instigates an action and synchronizes with whatever the Follower does.

This is not action-reaction which is something the math doesn't support.

No push-pull either!

We'll explain the best way to use Energy and why "The Leader Leads and the Follower Follows" has never (and will never) work.

TL;DR: We’ve done the overthinking so you don’t have to.

**Easy Non-Scary Proof Please look at this** ## Probability of Matching Kinetic Energy (KE) Kinetic Energy (KE) is defined as: $$ KE = \frac{1}{2} m v^2 $$ Let’s assume: - Two dancers: - **Leader** = 85 kg - **Follower** = 65 kg - Dancing speed range: 0.5 m/s to 2.0 m/s - Each dancer picks a velocity at random from that range We ask: > What’s the chance that both dancers have the *same* KE? Let’s define **“same”** as being **within ±5%** of each other. --- ### 📉 Why It’s Unlikely Even if the **velocities match**, the different masses cause a difference in KE. Example: $$ v = 1.25 \, \text{m/s} $$ - Leader: $$ KE_L = \frac{1}{2} \times 85 \times (1.25)^2 = 66.4 \, \text{J} $$ - Follower: $$ KE_F = \frac{1}{2} \times 70 \times (1.25)^2 = 54.7 \, \text{J} $$ → Difference: **~17%** --- ### 🔍 Estimating the Odds If both dancers pick their speeds **randomly** from [0.5, 2.0] m/s: - The chance of their KE values being **within 5% of each other** is **very low** - Simulations suggest: - With **equal mass** → ~10% chance - With **unequal mass** → often **< 5%** --- ### ✅ Summary > Matching KE between two dancers is **statistically unlikely**, especially if their body types differ. This supports the principle: > **Connection isn’t about both people having energy - it’s about one person initiating a vector and the other syncing to it.**

Often in dance, when we say “energy,” we really mean Force - something with:

  • Magnitude (how strong)
  • Direction (where it’s going)

Force = mass Ă— acceleration

Force is a Physics term and we are not shoving people around. Ew. No. Ugh

đź“š Summary for Dance Teachers and Tech Geeks

  • “Energy” ≠ vibes
  • It’s either KE (in motion) or PE (stored)
  • Most problems come from bad KE — moving late, too fast, or in the wrong direction
  • Fixing it means improving:
    • Direction
    • Synchronization
    • Frame transmission
    • Reaction time