During my lessons I talk about it a lot – about your head position… that your head position can improve your posture, balance and dance itself or it can ruin all of the above…. Looking down at your feet (even when you are learning a new pattern) is damaging to your body weight distribution, balance and movement. Finally, there is some scientific proof of my theory – here we go:
Head
Sitting as it does at the top of your body, the head position can have a massive impact on the quality of your dancing. Your head can be 10% of your body weight. A lot of this negative impact derives from too much sitting and staring at electronic devices. From a recent study (see the picture):
“As the head tilts forward, the forces seen by the neck surge to 27 pounds (12 kg) at 15 degrees, 40 pounds (18 kg) at 30 degrees, 49 pounds (22 kg) at 45 degrees and 60 pounds (27 kg) at 60 degrees,” reported in the journal Surgical Technology International. “The weight seen by the spine dramatically increases when flexing the head forward at varying degrees. These stresses may lead to early wear, tear, and degeneration, and possibly surgeries.”
Lessons for the dancers:
- Tilting your head throws you off-axis and off-balance.
- Watching your own, your partner’s, or someone else’s feet while dancing tends to be a bad idea.
- Besides who wants to be or have a pain in the neck.
Getting into Proper Head Position:
Imagine that you want to see the portion of the ceiling, which is directly above your head, lift your chin, rotate your head backward upon your neck and your neck upon your shoulders . If you now hold your neck in position relative to your shoulders and at the same time bring down your chin by rotating your head forward upon your neck until your eyes are looking straight forward, you would achieve the neutral positioning for your head, having your neck in the perfectly vertical alignment position. For most of us, your head is now back from where your head started the exercise.
