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I grip his right thigh between mine (for security and balance
) and lift my heels (very important) as I curl back. I try and keep my weight above my own feet as far as possible but I do need some frame from the guy to get myself back up. The position of the man's arms is crucial but on my own I can't work out where it is I like them to be. I have no idea how heavy I am to haul back up, but I am intending to be as light as possible.
Reply With QuoteIf I am thinking about a completely different move then the rest of this post is going to be rubbish.
If I am understanding the descriptions of this move correctly then is certainly a move that I regard as so dangerous that I will only do it with someone that I have trained with away from the social dance floor so that we both know each other and we have worked things out slowly and carefully before. Currently I will only use this move with 3 people. In that context it can look a dramatic move when it is fitted to some accent points in music. It is just so fraught with danger when done by people with more enthusiasm than control.
The things that we worked on for using this move are.
POSITION OF FEET - basically interleaved with my thigh that is going to support the womans pelvis between her thighs. If the woman is much shorter than me she moves onto her toes to get her pelvis as high up my thigh as possible and I sink down a little since it will be more stable when we go into the layback. Start with the womans crutch as near to the top of the guys thigh as possible with firm contact pressure. Nothing less will do.
GRIP - I really prefer having either both hands connected by a butterfly hand grip or with both my hands on the ladies shoulder blades. I just find that I can control things better that way. The best reason to have one hand on the top of the womans pelvis/lower back is to stop her from sliding down your thigh because she hasn't tilted her pelvis forward and up (see below).
GOING DOWN - The lady tips her pelvis forward and up. This is my best signal that the lady is ready to start the move and it means that as she goes into the lay back position her pelvis rotates with her so that she finshes with the tailbone part of her pelvis resting on my (by then horizontal thigh). This part is very important if you are doing this move in a performance with a 13 stone guy as your partner. If he doesn’t tilt and rotate his pelvis then he has crushed nuts and a sudden inability to remember choreography. All too often I have seen this move done badly where the woman tries to keep her pelvis vertical as her spine moves to the horizontal position and the lower part of the spine does all the bending. Once the woman has tilted her pelvis she moves her shoulders back SLIGHTLY to engage her connection with me and only then do I let my arms out smoothly to control the layback. It is at this point it is very helpful to have all the cushions from your sofa on the floor behind the woman when you are practicing. As the lady is doing the layback I am sinking down in a sumo wrestler like squat (to ensure my thigh is in constant contact with her pelvis - if it isn't she has every right to feel scared because she cannot feel her support under the base of the spine) until my thigh ends up nearly horizontal. As this is all happening my torso is angling backwards enough to counterbalance the lady. If you are going to make an error in the counterbalance it should be that the man is providing too much rather than too little. If you fall towards the woman then her head will hit the floor first and you will then land on top of her. It is best that the lady does not throw her head backwards or she risks a whiplash injury to her neck especially if the leader chooses exactly that moment to pull the lady up too fast. Ladies need to keep their pelvis, spine and neck all in a straight line.
GET ON UP – Pretty much the same as going down. PLEASE ladies don't try to get yourself up. Let us do it or it really upsets our counterbalancing. Think PLANK. The lift needs to be smooth, progressive and matched to each other. Violent applications of power may make you feel macho but it will hurt some part of your partner and the unsteady result will make you both look like dicks. Only once you are both up to the vertical can the leader think about letting go of the woman. The leader also provides the role of a “safety cage” for the woman at this point and only when the woman is up and obviously stable does the man step backwards to open out some space for you to start dancing again.
Key messages.
ONLY do it with someone that you have practiced it slowly and carefully with.
Even then don’t spring it on her. Let her see it coming. (or have a quiet word of warning).
Position of feet. Get pelvis to top of thigh. It is a move for good friends.
Get a grip. Nothing wishy washy will do.
The woman leads the start of the layback not you. She has right to abort at any time.
Power with control. No pushing down, no yanking up. Smooth.
Tilt the pelvis. Keep pelvis, spine and neck in a straight line all the way through.
Ensure your woman is upright, balanced and stable before ending your safety role.
Originally Posted by Chef
Got a few weekends to do some work on the teaching model before I make a decision as to whether to include in the workshop or not.
))
Drops aren't too bad ... been teaching them for years and been taught how to teach them well. The laybacks are very different. A sweeping layback pulls on about every major muscle group in the lower back, abs and puts a lot of pressure on teh spine ..... not something to enter into lightly. I would love to see how Howard is going to teach them. 
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