We measure position in a 3-dimensional space (that's you on a dance floor) with a simple term: xyz
Where:
x is side to side
z is forward and back
y is up and down
So if you are standing in xyz and 'travel' you have moved to a different xyz
Example; you are standing at 0,5,0 and travel to 3,5,3 (that's diagonal travel!)
0,5,0 to 3,5,0 would be travel to the side
Moving backward in Ballroom Dance sounds simple — just step back, right? But doing it well means coordinating posture, balance, energy, and foot placement without crashing into something.
Let’s break it down:
It can simply be described as moving from your standing location to another location that you can't see. That might be in a straight line or a diagonal. I might be part of a curve.
Sounds easy! It's slightly more complicated than you might think.
It's likely that you have played the 'run backwards' game at some point and equally likely that you have fallen backwards as a result. The issue is that as soon as our COG falls behind our Achilies Tendon we have lost balance.
It's the dancer going backwards! They can lower the heel early for all sorts of reasons not the least of which is to “lock in” the travel vector. Also note that the dancer going backwards has a longer extension than the dancer going forwards
There are almost as many ways of moving backwards as there are dancers. However there is one way that is proven to work better than the others.
There are three main components to Backward Travel
and each of these must be in relation to the Poise Zones in this simplified simplified diagram.
For backward travel we start with our COG over the big toe of the standing foot termed "back poise".
As we bend the knees to lower the hip we start to progressively move our COG from the Toe to the Heel of the standing foot. The extending leg has the toe in contact with the floor with no weight. The 'launch' backward occurs when the COG has reached the back of the heel. Yes, we push from the front of the foot as the heel has no muscular control.
In doing this your COG will travel through the three poise zones, Front, Middle and Back. Here's a stick dancers legs extending backwards
We can also see it in this diagram
This is just how we start to travel during the first beat of music.
For everything except Tango you should read about Rise and Fall as it's probably not what you have been taught or encountered.
For that gliding, controlled feeling that your Partner will love you really should consider it irrespective of what dance 'level' you think (or have been told) you are.
Weight Transfer: From the front to the back of the foot
Leg Extension: Standing leg pushes the body; free leg reaches out.
Body Flight: The sensation of the body continuing to move through the COS and ending on the new standing leg. That's the one that was projected backward :) There is no flight in Tango
Posture Maintenance: Spine, hips, and head alignment critical to aesthetic and biomechanical control.
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