Posture improvement by Steve Pavlina [Jump to article]

[Expert village video on posture for Salsa dancer]

Check out this post [jump to article "Feet, don’t fail me now: why social dance isn’t just a social exercise"]

Kirstyjane writes, suffering with metatarsal pain

It is potentially very hard on the dancer without the proper training and physical maintenance; and it’s no surprise that many people who dance for fun still end up with plantar fasciitis, metatarsal problems, worn out knees or ankles and rusty hip joints. And yet so few dedicated amateur salsa dancers seem to take the time to warm up before dancing or cool down afterwards – indeed, relatively few instructors seem to provide the opportunity – and you can frequently see people dancing in clubs for hours on end on impossibly high teetery shoes or worn out trainers, both of which are potentially very harmful things in their own ways. Surely one thing that we salseros and salseras can take from our friends in ballroom is the emphasis on posture, supportive shoes and care of the body.

Even if you do have the right shoes, the right attitude to warmups and cooldowns and the right respect for your own physical fitness, dance injuries still happen; as demonstrated by my unfortunate metatarsal. However, being physically fit and equipped with good footwear – not to mention being wise enough to rest when your body needs you to – can make dance injuries a passing inconvenience rather than a potentially permanent problem. Ballet and jazz technique are also instrumental in ensuring that your posture and movements are healthy.

Fellow dancers, I advise you to eat well, sleep well, stretch well and ensure that you’ll be in good form to enjoy dancing for years to come; even if your passion is “only” social dance.

from tosalsa.com

And even while standing, sitting or moving around, we also contribute to bad postural form by slouching our shoulders, pushing our head forward, or letting our buttocks or abdomen stick out which may contribute to more serious problems such as kyphosis, lordosis, or scoliosis.

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