hmm. so, i used to take west coast swing lessons and i think a particular thing our instructor told us to do did something weird to my hip posture
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he told us to stick out out butts more than we expected and i think the way i did that put my hips at a weird angle. now when i walk too much i reliably get pain in my lower back
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i *think* what he intended for us to do is stick out the *base of our spines* back? i'm experimenting with doing that + tucking my tailbone while walking and it feels less painful and more comfortable but idk how to maintain it
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curious to hear from and/or , or anyone else who knows more about this stuff
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'sticking out butts' is a terrible social dance instruction, maybe he meant 'sink back and down'? west coast is very 'back and down' heavy, kind of like lindy. you should absolutely have your core muscles engaged and your pelvis itself tilted forward tho
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imo good dance posture (i always start with just standing when teaching this) is: stand feet shoulder width apart, bend the knees a little for bounce, tighten all abdominals, tuck 'in' the pelvis a bit, roll shoulders back, pop chest out (but keep abs engaged!)
and imagine there's a string coming out of the top of your head and you're dangling from it, like you're 'hanging onto the ground' instead of standing on it, except dont let this distend your core strength, keep all the muscles tight, coiled, like power, ready to spring
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the goal is to keep your core "as one" - to keep your pelvis in constant communication with your ribcage, like the way you might lock hands together tightly, and keep this whole 'one core' dropped down, low, bounced between your legs like hands might juggle a ball
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