![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Q. Is it necessary that the dance lift was performed by a male partner? My girlfriend offers me to dance too, but I never played sports, unlike her.
A. First of all, partner dancing has nothing to do with lifts. People go their entire lives as partner dancers without ever doing a single lift, especially if they are social dancers. If your girlfriend wants to dance with you, you don’t have to know lifts to do it.
In fact, you **won’t** learn lifts for a very long time, because they’re dangerous and require skill. Lifts are not for beginners. The first thing you’re going to learn is just where to put your feet on which beat and where to put your hands. And you’re going to do a LOT of that, for a very long time, even if you want to eventually learn lifts.
Partner dancing does have a history of very strict gender roles. But fortunately, we live in an era where we can challenge those roles, and the dance world has been challenging them for ages now.
Anyone can lift anyone in dancing, just like anyone can take either the lead or follow role. Do the roles that you want to do.
Although I will point out that having once played sports is not relevant to who does the lifts. Proper lifts are all about leverage, momentum, and balance, not necessarily brute strength and definitely not about the kinds of movements that other sports use. There are a few moves that require brute strength, but most lifts use leverage more than anything else.
A lift is not about a strong person throwing a small person around. Both people are using core strength to do a lift. The lifted person is engaging all of their own strength and flexibility too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3AH7W1YFTY
Dance is a partnership between two equal and complimentary partners, even when staying within traditional gender roles. The follow still has to come to this partnership as an equal and perform their role. In lifts, that’s as much athleticism as the person being their base, sometimes more.
If you want to be the person being lifted because you think your girlfriend is more athletic than you, you’re in for a big surprise. As the person being lifted, you have to have musicality, timing, flexibility, and strength in the legs, arms, and core.
Being lifted isn’t just about being small, and it’s definitely not about being weak. Check out YouTube videos on core exercises for dance lifts - you’ll see nothing but workouts for 6-pack abs because being lifted requires an enormous amount of core strength. Honestly, the leads (or bases) have the easier part of the job in lifts.
So, by all means, go out there and learn lifts! Be the person who is lifted if you want! Just know that A) once you start taking lessons, you will not get to the lifts for a very long time and B) if you still choose to be the person being lifted, that will require a great deal of athleticism that C) has nothing at all to do with other sports so skills in other sports will not help you here.
A. First of all, partner dancing has nothing to do with lifts. People go their entire lives as partner dancers without ever doing a single lift, especially if they are social dancers. If your girlfriend wants to dance with you, you don’t have to know lifts to do it.
In fact, you **won’t** learn lifts for a very long time, because they’re dangerous and require skill. Lifts are not for beginners. The first thing you’re going to learn is just where to put your feet on which beat and where to put your hands. And you’re going to do a LOT of that, for a very long time, even if you want to eventually learn lifts.
Partner dancing does have a history of very strict gender roles. But fortunately, we live in an era where we can challenge those roles, and the dance world has been challenging them for ages now.
Anyone can lift anyone in dancing, just like anyone can take either the lead or follow role. Do the roles that you want to do.
Although I will point out that having once played sports is not relevant to who does the lifts. Proper lifts are all about leverage, momentum, and balance, not necessarily brute strength and definitely not about the kinds of movements that other sports use. There are a few moves that require brute strength, but most lifts use leverage more than anything else.
A lift is not about a strong person throwing a small person around. Both people are using core strength to do a lift. The lifted person is engaging all of their own strength and flexibility too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3AH7W1YFTY
Dance is a partnership between two equal and complimentary partners, even when staying within traditional gender roles. The follow still has to come to this partnership as an equal and perform their role. In lifts, that’s as much athleticism as the person being their base, sometimes more.
If you want to be the person being lifted because you think your girlfriend is more athletic than you, you’re in for a big surprise. As the person being lifted, you have to have musicality, timing, flexibility, and strength in the legs, arms, and core.
Being lifted isn’t just about being small, and it’s definitely not about being weak. Check out YouTube videos on core exercises for dance lifts - you’ll see nothing but workouts for 6-pack abs because being lifted requires an enormous amount of core strength. Honestly, the leads (or bases) have the easier part of the job in lifts.
So, by all means, go out there and learn lifts! Be the person who is lifted if you want! Just know that A) once you start taking lessons, you will not get to the lifts for a very long time and B) if you still choose to be the person being lifted, that will require a great deal of athleticism that C) has nothing at all to do with other sports so skills in other sports will not help you here.
