What is Frame?:
Frame is the combination of connection point(s), association, and posture a dancer applies to connect their center with their partner’s center. Most dance styles have a default frame that is one of its defining characteristics both in the visual lines it creates and in the structure it provides to enable specific types of movement.
In Fusion, when forming a mutually invested frame to enable two-way communication with a partner, it is best to connect with skeletal structures you each have direct muscular control over. With both dancers able to muscularly invest into the connection point injuries are less likely to occur and both dancers have agency inside the connection.
The default Fusion “closed” frame is ideally based on a direct connection from the leader’s palm to the follower’s shoulder blade or across their back. Hips, arms, and hands generally work as connections to form solid, mechanically sound frames.
The Purpose of Frame:
A frame is used to communicate movement from one dancer’s center to another’s.
Why Frame Matters:
Frame provides a default pathway of connection from one dancer’s center to another’s. A default frame typically optimizes communication and lead and follow dynamics within each style of partner dance. This default pathway provided by the frame can be created in different ways to enable different styles of partner dance. For example, an international waltz compression based frame with wide arms enables dancers to maintain a shared center while traveling across a large dance floor. Whereas an open frame in West Coast Swing enables the elasticity of compression and extension back and forth through each dancer’s “slot”.
Concepts for further exploration within Frame include:
- Positioning, Offset, & Squaring relative to partner
- Tone based Frame vs. Relaxed Frames (contact improv)
- Leverage Based Frame
- Compression Based Frame
- Fixed & Dynamic Frames
- Shoulder & Back Engagement
- Head & neck Positioning
- Elevation & Rotation Changes
- Arm Angles
- Direct Muscular Control for Mutual Investment as it relates to frame