We're on the same side: communicating weight transfers in west coast swing
Be sure to watch--this blog is meant to accompany it and give a bit more detail in different places.
Maybe we call it leading sides of the body, steering the follower, or getting your partner on your timing. Maybe we call it 'Producing' a prep/anchor, letting your leader know what foot you're on, or defining your follower's footwork. Communicating lateral weight transfers is something that's talked about by the best instructors... but in my mind, this hasn't filtered down into the community enough. There's still an awful lot of disconnected solo dancing with a very nice feeling, but sadly uninformative connection in between partners.
I want to give some credit here real quick before moving on with the ideas. I have learned so much from Fae Ashley, Wee Tze Yi, Benji, Jordan, and Ben Morris. I've spent almost all my dance efforts over the last three years working on the quality of my own weight transfers, communicating them to my follows, and leading theirs. We can introduce these ideas to students fairly early on. They aren't all that difficult to explain, in the right setting. This is a very important part of our dance that lets us communicate on a deeper, more clear, trustworthy level.
Here's what I've come up with.
Front to back vs side to side
To communicate which side of the body we're on, we can't just push sideways on each other. The basis for this more lateral communication is still found in tension or compression. We must have connection--linear tension or compression--to start telling our partner where we're at. Think too much about what you're trying to feel at the connection point (your hands, or elsewhere) and you'll start doing things that don't work to try and make the sensation happen. Don't get stuck just pushing or pulling sideways on your partner's hand. The feeling has to happen for the right reasons!
All of this stuff below is entirely dependent on having that feeling of stretch, tension, that away-feeling, the rope not being slack, or some degree of directional intent/line tension down slot, between the partnership.
Where are we in our own bodies?
If I'm standing with all my weight on one foot, i.e. a completed, full weight transfer, I can be:
1. Disengaged/relaxed
I'm fully on a foot, but have low to no body tone. That is, the muscles in my legs, torso, etc. are not firing. I can be very balanced with a full weight transfer, but I won't be able to move off of this foot quickly or easily. My partner will also have a hard time feeling where I'm at.
2. Engaged/toned
Here, I'm on a foot and my muscles are active throughout my body. I've chosen a side with this full weight transfer, but instead of just relaxing onto that foot, that side of my body is engaged. If while I'm standing on my right foot, my right leg, glute, my core, my obliques, and so on are all turned on, I'm better prepared to push off of this foot. It's also going to be easier for my partner to feel me.
What is connecting us to our partner?
Here are the basic concepts of what could be happening with our connecting arm and hand.
1. Relaxed/loose
If my bicep, forearm and wrist are all loose, with no muscle tension, my partner can't feel me. This can be a useful tool. It's not *necessarily* a bad thing. For example, your partner can't pull on you! And it can immediately signal to them that they should listen to you because of that--but it shouldn't be our baseline because it's not communicative at all.
2. Dynamic/pulling
If I'm pulling my partner toward me, my hand will rise above my elbow. My wrist might flex, too. Think t-rex arms. If my muscles are pulling my hand toward me, my partner won't be able to feel my body--we'll have some kind of stretch or tension, maybe, but any awareness will be cut off.
Quick side note: this is why 'avoiding arm leads', 'initiating with the body and following through with the arm', and 'pulsing' turns rather than aggressively stirring all the way through, are all important for leaders to learn. Not just out of politeness and to have a nicer feeling connection, but also so that communication isn't cut off and the follow doesn't just feel a hand floating in space pulling them around.
3. Static/tone without pull
This is what we want in basic connection. My bicep and forearm have some degree of tension/tone, but it's not pulling back toward me. It's just holding my arm in place. My arm can be nearly straight, or even bent at something like 90 degrees (not pulling is going to be harder there, though). Honestly, the more you can use your chest and back muscles, the more easily you can connect your arm to your side without overly flexing your arm muscles. If your bicep and forearm have more muscle tension than your body, it'll be difficult for your partner to feel you even if you aren't pulling on them.
Okay, so how does this actually work?
Here's the starting point. I'm standing fully committed on (let's say) my left foot. My left side and left leg are active, and you can feel all of this through my arm and hand. Whether or not you're on the same side of your body, or the slot, as I am; you can feel that I'm on the left side of mine. Now, if I shift my weight to my right foot -- my hand moving sideways with my body, my whole bodyweight getting to my right foot and the muscles on my right side activating -- you will be able to feel this change in my orientation.
Volume control
This is what I've begun calling the level of communication between partners. The amount of tension or muscle tone in your body, and where it is, is how you signal. You have three options.
You don't tell them where you are at or moving to, etc.(not informing).
You tell them where you are at or moving to (informing). We can also call this an invitation.
You tell them you want them to come with you (instructing).
If you don't want to inform them, all you have to do is let your hand separate from your body. Relax your hand; the extreme example of this would be letting it go limp and floppy. You don't have to let go of their hand, they just won't be able to feel where you're at through your arm: your hand is no longer connected to your center. You can and should still maintain good engagement through the rest of your own body! But you can turn the dial letting your partner feel this allllll the way down.
If you want to inform them: have that good muscle tone, fully transfer your weight to one side or the other, and let your hand move with you. If they're listening, they might join you! That's why this is basically how you invite them to come with you, or simply let them know where you're at very clearly. This is an important skill to have and a good baseline of communication. It's why when demoing the drills in the video, Josh and I are following these invitations.
Finally, you can tell them where to go. Essentially, move them using your own weight transfer. This will make a bit more sense watching the video. The intent really matters here. It's also very important that you don't just start trying to push them sideways with your hand or arm if you encounter some sort of lateral pressure or tonal energy in their frame. This is similar to the concept of not grabbing and pulling or pushing their hand straight up and down the slot when using basic tension and compression. Here, you're using your body to move your hand sideways. The lateral tension, or "tonal energy" on the connection point itself is a side effect of your body moving in space.
The first examples
For a leader: do a basic sugar tuck. Stop on five or six, after the resolution of the tuck itself. Walk to your right, bringing your partner sideways with you. It's that shift from your left to right that we want to be able to communicate, not communicate, or command, at will.
For a follow: you're going to follow a basic underarm turn. Start moving to your right for four. Can you do this without your leader being able to pull you out of it? Can you let them feel where you're at, giving them the invitation to join you, or at least interact with this choice you've made? Can you move them sideways onto their four? How soon do you need to initiate this idea?
I do hope that after reading this and watching the video, you see the purpose and potential fun in adding this to your own dance. When you can start communicating this to your partner it's like seeing through the matrix. It's a whole other dimension of being able to interact! Bringing this into your concept of connection is something that you can incorporate, eventually, to every single count of every pattern of this dance. But this is my current best effort at providing a good jumping-off point to start!
As always, love your dance and be good to each other.
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