An exercise I use takes me back to when I use to dive off the spring board into the pool . The divers stance. Pretend you are on the end of the board, high above the water,now rise up onto the balls of the feet, the arms extended forward ,you are balanced virtically,you can feel your spine being pushed up through your body ,gravity is pulling all the muscles and flab down into the board. Remember if you tilt forward you will fall into the pool ,if you are doing a back dive and you tilt back you will also fall into the pool. Now maintaining that poise lower all the way down by bending the knees ,don't let the heels touch the board,bring the arms down and back,then rise up bringing the arms back to horizontal, do this several times maintaining your poise and balance. Each time you rise you will feel the (body rise) and poise of a good dance. This is what I try to feel whenever I dance. Dave

Cool... You explained that quite well
Thanks

Sit upright in a chair. Put your hands on your bottom ribs. Take a deep breath. Feel the ribs rise?(and move outwards of course). Breath out but leave the ribs where they are. You will feel the tension in your deep abdominal muscles. When you get the idea, do it without having to breath in. Don't tense the neck or shoulders. Practice makes perfect, as usual.
Now, where's that diving board......

Since I am getting good advise so far.... We have recently changed instructors/coaches after 7 years. Of course the first thing the new coach goes after is our dance frame and now I am totally confused.... It is like I just dont know what to do with my body to acheive the desired result.

So...how can I explain this. As lady there are 2 things I can do. I can pull up my rear end underneath me, or I can do the opposite and almost go into a sit position.. any clues?

Then ratherr than using a backwards poise or stretch which I incorrectly tend to do it has been explained to me that I should be very forward from my say adams apple down.. It seems like a contradiction to me and I just cant make it happy... Any ideas?

Thanks for the posture help so far....

Jan. I hope we are talking Modern Ballroom here and not Latin. Believe me everything comes from this simple explanation. As you extend your moving foot right to the tip of the toe. You must bend your supporting knee in the opposite direction , which is foreward towards your partner. This is also the same for the man when the roles are reversed. You should be balanced over your standing foot. Then the whole of the body moves back over the new standing foot. In other words don't nod.
Whether you do one step back or a dozon the action remains the same. Good practice is in an extended hold, or if you are more ambitious , right palm to right palm with another person.It doesn't even have to be a male. Just move straight down the floor as lady backwards and then without changing foreward. You will quickly learn what is meant by nodding and stepping together. What has this got to do with poise. If you push your hips up as you suggested you won't be in a position to do any of the above. Replace the sit you suggested with the knee foreward towards the front and the extension behind and dance over your own two feet.It should be impossible to stick the bottom out doing this correctly. This part can easily be misunderstoodd. That is the person going backwards must release the moving foot early and don't try from a feet together position otherwise you will be pushed onto the step. Practice. Practice.

Hi Jan
Can i just add some things to what Don has already said.
NEVER stick your rear end out while dancing.
Here's a little exercise to show what's meant by having this nice backward poise which you see so often in the good dancers, and yet having the weight forward.
Stand in a good upright position, and then take your weight onto your toes by standing on your toes. By being on your toes, your weight must be forward over the standing foot.
Now, staying on your toes, stretch your upper body up and slightly back in the 'classic' lady's dancing position (don't overdo it). Now you're poised back, but your weight is still forward, since you're balanced on your toes. You will notice that your hips move forward (into your partner, if he's there) this is inevitable because of the laws of physics, which you will never be able to defy!! But it's a good thing, because it keeps good contact with your partner. As Don says, you must keep this poise and balance as you move, but practise it statically first.
If you're concerned about the flexibility of your upper body, you may find the 'cobra' exercise of great benefit for making your upper back very flexible. Do it 3 times a week, and after a couple of months, you will notice a great improvement.
Good luck

Since the Lady's head weight is carried over her left heal, I would think she would lean slightly back and to her left side. Dave

Thanks so much everybody... I have used all of these exercises and after twisting my body in a million different postions I am beginning to feel what everybody has written!

To answer a previous question.. Yes my questions on frame and posture are for international standard.

It is easiest for me to understand my knee going forward while dancing backwards in the foxtrot especially in the feather and three step. I still have not quite figured this out in the waltz and quickstep just yet.

Again, thanks for all the help

Absolutely right! Lady should maintain such backward poise throughout the dance.( Classic lady position . With rotating the left side region from hip to left armpit , put spine and head over the left heel...) Detailed explanation seen in the page 11 of A Technique of Advanced Standard Ballroom Figures writen by Geoffrey Hearn.
But I do not understand 1.why we can get vertical line through central line while we sudden stop following a quick run in the place. Yes, there is some central muscles tension when we run quick, is the musles strenght enough for extend body line ?.How do the central muscles work in ballroom dance exactly? ( Please give me more teaching tip about the working muscles .How to gather the energy inside our body ? )2. why level belt means vertical to floor ??
A board vertical to floor may have lines level or not level.
Thanks.

Yichen-1. The lady's poise does not stay the same throughout the dance for example, in chasses and telemark and certain other places her poise is more upright and in certain lines her poise is extended further back. Dave.