SBAS – Segment Based Alignment System

Let’s be honest — trying to describe what part of the body is pointing where in dance can get confusing fast. Especially when your feet are pointing one way, your frame another, and your travel vector a third. 😵‍💫

This problem has been addressed by the sylabus manuals 'Alignments' which didn't address the issue of the direction of your body segments (torso, head, feet etc). Over the decades it's become more and more obvious that a system was needed to help dancers understand where their Frame, Head, Hips etc should be facing. Such issues are very apparant in CBM, CBMP, Promenade Position, Corte, Outside Partner and more.

Take this scenario:

You’re in Closed Position, facing Line of Dance (FLOD) — that means your feet are pointing down the room.
Easy, right?

But now imagine you’re in Promenade Position (PP). Things change:

  • Lets say your feet point Diagonal Wall (DW),
  • Your frame (torso) could be turned to the Wall,
  • And your travel might be heading straight down LOD again (and yes, it feels like sideways because it is)!

So how do we describe all of that without turning into spaghetti?

🍞 Enter: SBAS

Don’t let the acronym scare you — SBAS is just shorthand for:

Segment Based Alignment System

It’s a simple way to describe what direction your hips, torso, or head are facing relative to another body segment. Not sure where your feet are?
Just look down! 👣

SBAS is composed of the following vectors:

  • Tvec (or Tvec) is the alignment the hips are about to travel or are already traveling in.
  • Bvec (or Bvec) is the Body's (or Torso) angular offset from your standing foot
  • Fvec (or Fvec) is the angular offset of your standing foot with respect to Tvec
  • Hvec (or Hvec) is the angular offset of your head with respect to your torso Bvec

Angles are measured in degrees to the left or right. Negative angles are to the left and positive angles are to the right. Here's an example using head positions relative to the body:

Head looking Description
Left As in Closed Position Hvec would be about -45o degrees with respect to the body.
Nose over Sternum As in 'looking ahead' Hvec would be 0o degrees.
Right Hvec would be about +45o degrees with respect to the body.

🧭 Example: Promenade Position (Leader)

Let’s say the Leader’s feet are pointing DW (which means the alignment is DW)

Vector Angle Relative to
Tvec LOD alignment in room
Bvec +45° Standing foot. In this case the alignment would be W
Hvec -45° Sternum
Fvec +45° Tvec

👠 Example: Promenade Position (Follower)

Follower’s feet are pointing DC.

Then:

Body Part Angle Relative to
Head +30° Sternum
Frame 0° Standing foot

Try it!!

Suddenly you have an angle relative to something else that you can use. No more wondering WTH because the Manual didn't give the information.

Note that positive angles are to the left and positive numbers are to the right'

SBAS makes it super easy to define what's going on — no need to know where you're traveling or even what step you’re on. Just look at another body segment and measure the angle from there.

This is especially important given the more realistic 'Alignment Chart'