Futhermore, small steps ensure that one's movement comes from the ground (and is not an isolation). All these factors seem to indicate that I, as a partner dancer, should decrease my step size. When one watches people in the modern blues scene dance, you will notice two distinctions from a bar crowd - 1) the spacing of the feet is wider and 2) most people dance using all isolations. I am fairly certain this is a causal relationship.
I have been aware of the size of my steps in the past few days. I am trying to make my feet fall under my hip sockets. My tendency is for my feet to lie just wider than the outermost width of my hips. The hip socket is actually further towards the center of the pelvis than the extremity, meaning that my feet are actually falling quite far away from under my hips. Furthermore, the length of my steps is unnecessarily long. This means that the quality of my step is more of a propulsion (or falling) forward. This makes it difficult to stop on a dime or change directions easily. It also means that when walking, I have a sense of never quite being present in my body. My awareness diminishes, and along with it, my posture seems to crane forward. I jut my chest out, trying to arrive... this is the problem that causes my lower back issues.
In an earlier blog, I was wondering whether a mental state could be paired with good posture. I think it may have something to do with the size of one's steps. When I take smaller steps, I am conscious of my position more than my destination. The desire to "go" is diminished. I can feel my body more. It seems that the size of my step is the next thing to change in my quest. But of course this raises the question - why am I taking such big steps in the first place? It puts my mind in a frantic state; I lose my control and precision; and it encourages bad posture.
Taking small steps is difficult.
