I have a problem with my dancing and i'm hoping for some good advice or ideas to solve it.
I have an awful tendency to raise or 'hunch' my shoulders when i dance - particularly in tango. I've been fighting this probem since i started competitive dancing 5 years ago. I came to dancing late (in my 50's believe it or not)after years of competitive racket sports. I notice that tennis players have a similar tendency when they play ground strokes and no doubt that's where it came from.
The real problem is that i don't really know i'm doing it, and it's worse in tango where i have this feeling that the dance should be more 'aggressive'.
So - if possible - advice on:
1)How can i make myself aware of it?
2)Do i have the right feeling about tango. What should my mental approach to tango be?
Any help would be very welcome. This problem is undermining my motivation. i have no problem learning new things (i work in a learning environment)but this is something else.

I have the same problem (raising specifically) with shoulders. Have heard it a gazillion times from my instructor. Someone gave me the advice to try and tie a scarf around my shoulders to keep them in place while practicing. Seems like a silly idea but if it would help i am all for it.
Looking forward to more replies on this subject.

I had this problem for several years and it frustrated me a great deal until I was able to work it out. One thing that I would suggest trying is the new dance frame tool that is being sold. My studio bought two and they are a huge help in solving problems with frame and upper body posture. The one thing that I did do that helped is develop a mental checklist for when I get into dance position. Eventually this checklist became a habit and I don't even have to think about it anymore. But one of the first things that I did was put rolling my shoulders back and relaxing them onto that checklist. Then whenever I was practicing and felt my shoulders coming forward I would stop and go through the checklist again. Hope this helps. I know how frustrating this can be but keep practicing and it will come!

If your shoulders are hunching then you're putting stress into your upper body and frame. I recently had a lesson with a semi-finalist from Blackpool this year, and she talked to us about how people tend to overdo it and get tense and stiff and unnatural. She started by telling us not to be so jammed up against each other through our centers, that we should just be together enough to feel each other's shirts vibrating. Then she told my partner to hold me like he's cuddling me, softly. Then she told us to relax and be natural, that overdoing what we think we should do puts tension into the frame that we just don't need. And lastly she reminded us to breathe, and explain to us that if you aren't breathing you get tight through the top and your center of balance actually gets higher.

It was all extremely interesting and incredibly helpful to us.

Dear Laura, would you please detail your feeling about the proper tension ? Is the tension not changing with figures ? I have problem in treating the strength of tension and compliance. I require a good concept about it.

Dear Phil, I thought the powerful appearance is created from the ankles, kness , hip action. unexpected actions following the music rhythm, the mood and attempt of the dancers , closer partnership, acute angle of man's left upper limb... but the shoulders and hands should be low tension as well as other swing ballroom dances.
I am being taught to maintain a strong center ( the region of my pelvis and that area below my ribcage ) and do not control the limbs, especially the hip and knees.

If I was wrong, please correct me.

Yes! learning new things is much more easier than correcting the faults we used to do. Remind yourself to relax your shoulder throughout the dance.

Phil.If you when standing normaly, your shoulders are rounded, and your spine is not straight from just above your shoulder blades. Then you are a member of a very large and ever growing club. Just look around you in your shopping mall. I would try standing against a door. At first you will feel as if you are leaning backwards, but your not. Get the feel of how you are, and how you should be. I believe that a Pilatis instructor might straighten a person with problems out. It is hard to be laying flat on your back. Spine in contact with the the floor and to be round shouldered your head would be clear off the floor. That would be hard.
It is a fact that people who have this problem , if you told them you wouldn't be believed, because they no longer know what standing upright is. It's wonderful to watch a young child walking
with their straight spine, balance and poise. That is before the bad habits start to take shape. I always apreciate my time in the army with several years of being reminded daily, head up, chin up, chest out, arms pulled down to the sides and feet at angle of 45 degrees. The 45 degrees is fine for Latin.

Many thanks to all of you who have replied to my plea.
I can stand with my back straight, shoulders down and head up - it doesn't feel unnatural. I have spent many hours lying on the floor with my arms in the hold position so that i get the feel of the position. It doesn't feel unnatural or uncomfortable. When i set myself up to start dancing, i can get into what our coach tells me is a lovely position, and it must be very frustrating for her to find that i lose it almost immediately.
I can't stop and reset myself when i feel myself hunching shoulders as i DON'T feel myself hunching shoulders. I will try the shoulder brace thingy - our coach has one and i've tried it on, but not tried much dancing in it.
I work in the electronics area, and a colleague(they put up with all my problems and anecdotes on dancing, but they do get free demos as compensation!!)suggested i build a little bio-feedback system to give me a signal when my shoulders are raising - replacing my brain which seems incapable of the task(and possibly many others which i've forgotten i was capable of). this would be easy to do, and i'll let you guys know how i get on.
My mis-directed aggression in tango - i know i'm trying to use my whole body instead of just my legs and hips. I'll do more of Andrew sinkinson's suggestion - dancing without the arms.
In the meantime, if you have more suggestions, please don't hold back on them

Do you raise both shoulders in tango, or only one?

If it's the right shoulder (especially in promenade) it may really be that your hips are not level. Level hips in tango actually feels really really odd... you have to calibrate your feelings with a mirror (w/o partner so you can see) and check it every week to make sure you haven't gotten used to a hip tilt again.

And for shoulders in general, don't think about this just while dancing. Think about it while sitting at your desk. Feel your elbows low and the weight of your arms dropping your shoulders and stretching your neck. Most restrooms have a mirror... before washing your hands, take just a second to check that your shoulders are down. No one will notice...

Anon, thanks for this. I'll check what i'm doing in promenade and follow your suggestion on checking my hips. My legs are exactly the same length (that was checked a few years ago in another context!) but i could be doing something strange while i dance.
you're right about hunching shoulders in everyday life. When i first had this problem in dancing, i soon realised i was hunching up seriously to tuck my shirt in when dressing. I've cured that problem at least.
For others with a similar affliction, what i'm currently doing is working hard at the gym with my legs on an elliptic cross-trainer while concentrating hard on keeping everything else ESPECIALLY the shoulders, completely relaxed, and maintaining good posture. This does seem to help me to separate out my upper body from all the work going on with my legs. Unfortunately, although i'm getting pretty red hot on the elliptic cross-trainer, it's not yet helping my dancing much.