The Promenade Frame Problem

Why the Syllabus Rotation into Promenade Breaks the Frame

📖 The Syllabus Says:

Foxtrot Promenade — Step 1:

LF side, CP to PP, F DW moving LOD, 1/8 turn L between previous step and step 1.

What this means in practical terms:

• The Leader is instructed to rotate 1/8 turn to the Left
• The Follower is simultaneously rotating 1/8 turn to the Right
• Both partners must remain in contact — i.e., connected through a stable frame

⚠️ The Contradiction

This rotation creates a situation in which:

• The Leader’s right shoulder must move leftward and slightly backward
• The Follower’s left shoulder must move rightward and slightly forward

This results in a geometrically divergent frame, where the connection point between shoulders have been compresses to the point where the frame on the Leaders right and Followers left has been collapsed.

Conclusion: If both dancers perform the syllabus-stated rotations at the same time, the connection at the shoulders will break. This violates frame integrity.

🔬 Visual Evidence

We plotted the resulting shoulder lines using accurate geometry:

• Blue line: Leader's shoulders after a 22.5° CW (Left) rotation
• Green line: Follower's shoulders after a 22.5° CCW (Right) rotation
• Red dashed line: Connection between Leader’s right and Follower’s left shoulders

🔧 Tension Vector Analysis

• Closed Position (Rectangle Frame):

  • All contact points support horizontal tension.
  • Force from the leader’s left hand → transferred across frame → stabilized by follower’s right arm.
  • Torso torque is symmetrically resisted.

• V-Shape Attempt:

  • Leader’s right arm and Follower’s left arm attempt to rotate outward from the connection.
  • This creates a torque gap at the right shoulder (Leader) and/or left shoulder (Follower).
  • The frame no longer distributes torque — it absorbs it.

   [F]         [F]
    |           |
   (•)───────(•)     ← original rectangular connection
    |           |

    V-shape attempt:
   (•)──→   ←──(•)
    ↑         ↑
 shoulder   shoulder
  breaks     breaks


Result? The red dashed line is not perpendicular to either shoulder line, nor is it short enough to maintain contact. That’s your broken frame.

🧠 The Truth:

• Promenade is not created by opposing rotations.
• Promenade is created by a rotation of the follower with respect to the Leader who does

✅ TL;DR:

The syllabus instruction for Promenade violates geometry. Unless you break frame, you can’t rotate oppositely and maintain shoulder contact.

🟦 How to Get Into Promenade Without Breaking Frame

This is the Carbon-approved way to achieve promenade without collapsing your frame or inventing new shoulder joints:

🪜 Step-by-Step: Simple, Clean, Effective

1. Example Starting Position:

   • Feet together
   • Closed Position
   • Facing Wall (FW)

2. Transition to Promenade Position:

   • Keep feet in place — still facing wall FW
   • Rotate the torso and frame 45° to the right
     • Result: Frame is now aligned F DW ALOD
     • Feet haven’t moved — no wobble, no lurch
     • Connection stays intact

3. First Step in Promenade:

   • Leader’s RF (or Follower’s LF) steps forward and across in CBMP
   • Direction: Moving DW
   • This creates true outside partner without forcing the frame open

4. Fine-Tuning with Partner Gap Pg:

   • A tiny shoulder rotation (~3–5°) adjusts based on partner gap
   • Larger gaps = slightly more shoulder rotation to maintain hip alignment. At some point the gap gets so big that the frame will collapse.

🧠 Why This Works

• The feet stay stable until movement begins.
• The torso rotation aligns the frame with the new intended travel direction.
• CBMP becomes a natural result of this alignment.
• The shoulders and hips remain in structure, not stress.

🚫 The V Shape: A Beautiful Disaster

"Just make it a V!" — said every Bronze teacher who was handed a new student and a sales quota.

The V shape Promenade Position is the industry's favorite trick:

1. Teach beginners a fake Promenade that collapses the frame.
2. Sell it as “easier” and “introductory.”
3. Once students move to Silver or Open, inform them that everything they learned was wrong.
4. Profit.

🧨 What’s the Problem?

• The V shape is created by collapsing the frame at the Leader's right shoulder and Follower's left shoulder.
• It introduces tension distortions, breaks Poise Geometry, and destroys connection integrity.
• Worse still, students become dependent on it — it becomes baked into their muscle memory.

⚠️ This is the dance equivalent of training wheels that are welded to the bike.

✅ The Truth: Open Promenade Done Right

An Open Promenade is just a natural extension of proper Promenade Position:

• Start in Closed Position.
• Rotate the frame 45° to align F DW ALOD.
• Maintain Pg (Partner gap), torso connection, and alignment.
• Step 1 crosses in CBMP.
• Step 2 opens out (the "Open" bit) — no sudden pivots or hacks.

No collapsed V, no broken shoulders, no revenue-generating unlearning curve. Just clean, biomechanically sound movement.