The guy who is seven inches taller than the parner. find a partner who is seven inches taller than you and you can have the backache. Seriously the poise between you should be looked at. If the lady is being force to arch the back that could cause a problem. I suppose you are aware that the body contact is higher in the Quickstep than the Waltz or Foxtrot. With the diffence in height that does not mean the lady has to lift her body higher. The contact could be a bit higher on her own body. I made this another thread because your original question has got lost. There must be lots of very proficient dancers out there who do have a shorter partner and who manage very succesfully and might have some advice.

Remeber that body contact is always optional, and at least 50% of world champ couples have not taken any concern to exhibit it as a consistent element of their dancing.

A couple witha 7" height difference is probably going to be happier in the non-contact camp - which of course still stresses close and perfect coordination, simply without the distorted postures necessary to maintain contact.

"Remeber that body contact is always optional, and at least 50% of world champ couples have not taken any concern to exhibit it as a consistent element of their dancing."

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Watch some videos and see if you don't see some daylight between recent world champs...

I'm dancing and competing with someone who is 10 inches taller than me. It works just fine, no pain for either of us, very light body contact (just a brushing of the shirts, really). However, it takes a lot of work for him to be lower in his legs, and it takes a lot of work for me to always be maximizing stretch and line.

Now, this isn't world or national championship-level dancing, but it is good and enjoyable advanced-level dancing that is fun and satisfying for both of us and actually doesn't look that horribly mismatched on the competition floor.

Anonymous. You will not see complete daylight between a couple , even if it is only their thighs touching. There will always be contact.

Look again, you can and do see daylight between many recent world champ couples.

It is close coordination, and not actual contact which is mandatory. Some dancers do not know how to teach close coordination without contact, and so insist on it out of their own limiation. Other dancers know how to create coordination as a distinct goal, and so dance closely together but sometimes touching and sometimes not.

Didn't the Pilpenchuk's have a height difference of almost a foot? With the height difference, you just have to set up your priorities differently, and yeah body contact won't be as high on the list.

Laura,

How does a guy get lower in the legs?
I have some idea, but your explanation may be helpful. I have heard other guys or pros say this term or expression. I'm sure that I need to master lowering in the legs with my shorter partner.

The problem is that you can't just drop in place. Except in tango like positions, you have to move the body forward as the knee bends, so that the body stays over the knee - if you just advance the knee forward towards an inline step, you'll knee a shorter partner. Advancing the body over the knee is great... but there's one problem - you can't advance the body past the ball of foot without going off balance. So this means that you can no longer lower and take your time or practice actions slowly, instead you have to time the lowering to the desired timing of the movement, in technique practice as well as when dancing with proper tempo music. Of course all dancers should be doing this anyway, but working with a shorter partner calls attention to an aspect of coordinated movement that may be easier to overlook with a same height partner.