To be a competition dancer one must first as a man learn to stand up straight whilst dancing. Whatever you do inbetween times is your business. But once on that floor, stretch your spine upwards as if it came out of the top your head to the ceiling. Your lower spine stretch it to the floor.Those who have Slavik's tape this will sound familiar. Test, go to a door , heels touching as well as the shoulders. Stand up straight. I think most of us will have to make an adjustment to the head to get it to touch the door. That's standing straight, and that's how we should dance. I can only speak of where I live. In the main the posture is not very good. In the older group it is pathetic. But then some of the teachers aren't that good either. Nothing beats a good role model. Any suggestions here.

Hi Anon3.
You make some valid points.
From my own experiences (and i've had big problems with posture - i think i'm lots better now )it is a help to think of good posture in everyday life, to 'break' bad habits.
The 'stand against the door thing is helpful. Another is to sit in the driving position in the car and put your head back against the head rest. 3 or 5 years ago, this would have felt very unnatural, but now, it's almost commonplace (depends on your head-rest of course - and i haven't changed my car).
One thing - on stretching the lower spine - Where would you say the lower spine starts? I would explain this to a beginner more in terms of rotating the pelvis to 'tuck your bum' under your hips. This will straighten the spine. However, it's not a natural position from which to drive forward. Watch top athletes - they stick out their bums big-time.