How do I use my head? What do I do with it?

S

Soplo

Banned
lol. ;) Seriously though, this is never taught (at least the classes I have taken) other than 'don't look down' or 'head up'. Should there be instruction concerning head movement in social dancing? Static head syndrome seems to prevail. Spotting seems to be a head related topic. Any other thoughts on this topic? What is the standard practice regarding your head? Do you teach what to do with your head when teaching moves, shines?
 
An instructor of mine used to made us do neck isolations while doing some simple shines. it makes the shines much much harder
 
It's easy to do head rolls or shoulder rolls etc on its own but when we start dancing we dont move those joints that much because our body hasnt learned it yet. soplo is in a similar stage i guess.

please note that frankie martinez does a similar thing in his body movement class. you dont stand still while doing body isolations
 
lolita said:
You can always get your cues from Adolfo!
Click to expand...

Haha I once tried to ask him how to do his his "Adolfo hands" and "Adolfo head" and I showed him my impression of him, and he looked at me doing it and was like: "I don't know what you're talking about". Back to the woodshed I guess...
 
Luke said:
Haha I once tried to ask him how to do his his "Adolfo hands" and "Adolfo head" and I showed him my impression of him, and he looked at me doing it and was like: "I don't know what you're talking about". Back to the woodshed I guess...
Click to expand...

the adolfo head is his mark..I really dont like when I see guys trying to do the same..I am sure he has never given any thoughts to think "I am gonna do this crazy head on this or that move"..thats why he said he didnt know what you were talking


what I do like is when guys do the "swing" thing he does with his body while dancing or doing a simple xb ..soooooooooooooooooo hot
 
I've was in one of his classes in which he actually taught how to do his head flick at a certain point in the routine. In Italy that are lots of male nodding dancers - it's quite amusing seeing everyone with the same affectation
 
You could look up while doing a super-fast spin, like this guy does at 1:11 in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aCxU3KkpoE.

It sort of looks like that's Cristian Oviedo, but it's kind of blurry so I'm not really sure.
 
ColdSalsero said:
You could look up while doing a super-fast spin, like this guy does at 1:11 in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aCxU3KkpoE.

It sort of looks like that's Cristian Oviedo, but it's kind of blurry so I'm not really sure.
Click to expand...

Cool move. I'll probably never be that fast of spinner to pull it off. I've seen girls do that head up when being spun. It looks cool.
 
olamalam said:
It's easy to do head rolls or shoulder rolls etc on its own but when we start dancing we dont move those joints that much because our body hasnt learned it yet. soplo is in a similar stage i guess.

please note that frankie martinez does a similar thing in his body movement class. you dont stand still while doing body isolations
Click to expand...

I started working on my shine and loosening my neck to see what the head wants to do. It really changes things. Started thinking about it after watching this clip and seeing how small head movements and even gestures can make a big difference. Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdyiwssa9pY&feature=related

You can see how just looking around, down at your foot, even scanning the room, makes the shine much more lively. Plus the facial expressions and the genuine joy.

The little bit at the end with him frantically waving his hands is nice to see. Just letting the percussion move you even if it's kinda goofy to outsiders.

You can't do a CBL with turn through a percussion solo like that.
 
Soplo said:
I started working on my shine and loosening my neck to see what the head wants to do. It really changes things. Started thinking about it after watching this clip and seeing how small head movements and even gestures can make a big difference. Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdyiwssa9pY&feature=related

You can see how just looking around, down at your foot, even scanning the room, makes the shine much more lively. Plus the facial expressions and the genuine joy.

The little bit at the end with him frantically waving his hands is nice to see. Just letting the percussion move you even if it's kinda goofy to outsiders.

You can't do a CBL with turn through a percussion solo like that.
Click to expand...
I've seen that clip many times before, and it's one of my favorites -- partly because I really like the jazzy sound of the music and partly because of the totally fun spirit of that instructor. :notworthy:

I have a friend whom I really enjoy watching dance, including some cool and unique movements he does with his head. He inspired me to think of how to do what he was doing. I agree that the main issue is to let the neck remain loose, so that the head flows with the rest of the body, especially when you do sharp movements with the torso.

Because the head is actually relatively "heavy," most of us think we need to keep our necks stiffer than is truly necessary. When people realize that their head won't fall off or they won't get whiplash from a lot of movement, then it frees up a lot of possibilities. Many people bop our heads to the music when we're sitting down and hear music we like -- but not so much when we're standing upright and dancing. For practicing, I would recommend just doing a basic step in different directions (forward/back, side-to-side, cumbia angle), relaxing the neck, and bopping one's head on the downbeats. After that becomes comfortable, then do some looking from side-to-side, and continue experimenting from there with various head movements.
 
Soplo said:
Started thinking about it after watching this clip and seeing how small head movements and even gestures can make a big difference. Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdyiwssa9pY&feature=related
Click to expand...

This is the first time I've seen this video and I loved it. I know Miguel and this video absolutely captures his love for the music and the dance. He's also great to dance with. :-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top