I'm surprised and yet I'm not surprised that so many people seem to have lower back problems attributed to Tango. I'm surprised because of my own personal perspective. In my pre-Tango days I had lower back surgery twice for 3 ruptured discs - L3, L4 and L5. Even between and after the surgeries I had constant niggling back pains despite numerous physio exercises. I still remember my first visit to BsAs in 1997 - I wore a back-support every day of the 6-weeks I was there. But, since then, touch-wood, I've never had a back pain. To me, Tango is like the perfect exercise for anyone with lower back problems. As Huck says - posture is the key and, for me, the disassociation between the upper and lower body resulting in the constant spiralling of the spine is like perfect therapy for the back. Add in the Tango walk - squeezing the thighs and buttocks and I can almost feel my lower back being strengthened and stabalized.
So, then, why am I also not surprised that many people do have lower back pains attributed to Tango? It's posture. When I see guys with their head projected forward, shoulders hunched forward or bending forward at the waist, I think, my god - what are they doing to their back. IMHO, when dancing Tango, the body should be straight but tilted forward, stomach in, chest up and out and shoulders down. That's it. Oh yes, chest up and shoulders down comes from a contraction of the big, mid-level back muscles [trapezius?], which must be engaged. Keith, HK On Thu Mar 13 10:51 , "Huck Kennedy" sent: > And while you yourself are no doubt past that stage, don't forget >perhaps the biggest lower-back killer of all: Poor dance posture, >particularly any inappropriate bending forward at the waist. > >Huck _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
