Helo. Please give your view about the following questions .Thanks.
Which parts of muscles involved generate lady's straight line with top slightly upward, outward and leftward shape ?
Down shoulders with closere shoulder blades ?
ylchen

Yichin. Closer shoulder blades will result in the chest being forward and the back becoming small. This is exactly what you don't want. Besides that your elbows will become level with the back part of your body. You don't want that either. All of the above applies to the man as well. An easy way to find the correct poise for both the man and the lady. Is to place your hands on your chest at shoulder level fingers touching. If you check you will find that both elbows are level with the front of your ribcage. Simply open both arms to a right angle. As a lady you wont assume this position whilst standing apart from the man. The man can, inviting the lady to place her left armpit onto the man's extended arm at the wrist. He will draw the arm back to its right angled position Make a right side to right side contact depending on the length of both sets of limbs. Look left and shape, shaping from above the ribs. Don't squash your left side. Keep both sides stretched. Must go , the the F. A. Soccer Cup Final is just starting. Best wishes

Don, I am overjoyed at all while learning I should not try such wild shoulder blades position. Wonderful.
ylchen.

Yichen. I should have put last time. In the Standard Style across the back should be more like a moulded coat hanger and not a straight coat-hanger. This doesn't mean the head is forward of the body. And the spine is still straight. To me it always feels that I am standing in a frame keeping thoes elbows level with the front of my ribcage. Partner exactly the same with a right side to right side connection of the body without being too tight.

Yes. Thanks . Don.
ylchen

I don't know which muscles they are technically and I don't even know how to describe them, but this is what I did to find them.
Get one of those big excersize balls and sit on it (not right in the middle, but slightly forward so your legs must keep you balanced). Now straightend up your back and take dance position with your arms, and then finally extend your head to the left. When done correctly you should engage the muscles in the middle of the back and right next to your spine. These are the muscles that must be used to maintain correct posture for the lady. Coincidentally they are also the muscles needed to support your neck muscles from getting weak and giving out in the middle of a competition. (That happened to me and was one of the scariest things I've felt. You literally can't hold your head up. I went to a dance trainer to find out how I could strengthen my neck muscles and he told me it was the back and gave me this excersize to do.)
Hope that helps.

I read an advice on the right posture for the one who dances. I believe such advice helps me a lot in my future social dancing activities. Thank you so much. I hope to hear some more couple of advice.

Dancer, Thanks for your very instructive explanation .
ylchen

Yichin. For the lady there is more shaping than the man who just stands up straight with the head to the left. This I have been told. Imagine you are on a railway train which is coming into the station. You are at the door with the window 1/4 open from the top. There is somebody who you do not want to see you on the platform. So facing the way the train is moving. Stretch your body so that your left eyes only is looking out of the window at the platform. Both sides equally stretched. That's about how you should be in the man's arm. It will put the right amount of weight on the man's right wrist. In the film "Shall We Dance ", look at the poise of Jenfifer Lopez. Happy Dancing

Ylchen,
Please do not refer to Jennifer Lopez for any ballroom dance help. Yes she trained with some of the best dancers in the country for about 2 months, but as we all know it takes much more time than that to develop any sense of ballroom technique... and I'm sorry to say she needed more help than she obviously had time for. I have a lot of issues with that movie, it was great entertainment but terrible dancing on JLo's part. It's pretty laughable to anyone who has ever competed at Blackpool that the producers tried to pass her off as a semi finalist at Blackpool!