https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/ Technique-first, occasionally irreverent writing on how dancing actually works. en-us Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/line-of-dance/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/line-of-dance/ Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Line of dance does two jobs at once — floorcraft on a crowded floor, and the vocabulary for which way a body points. A field guide, rebuilt with seven new diagrams. Ballroom Technique Floorcraft Alignment https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/the-magic-triangle/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/the-magic-triangle/ Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT All models are wrong. Some of them can dance. Two hands and the lower core — the wrong, useful model I hand people most often, and why it degrades so gracefully… Ballroom Technique Partnering https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/how-much-training-does-a-ballroom-dancer-have/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/how-much-training-does-a-ballroom-dancer-have/ Thu, 27 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT I asked ChatGPT to compare professions based on how much training time one puts in to each and this is what they came up with. That basically checks out with my own experience,… https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/retirement/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/retirement/ Sun, 19 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMT The Viennese Waltz of Saturday night's Ohio Star Ball semi was our final dance as professional competitors. We decided that Ohio would be our final competition, but we wanted to… https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/exam-prep-livestreams-general-discussion/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/exam-prep-livestreams-general-discussion/ Mon, 11 May 2020 12:00:00 GMT I thought I'd put one place for everyone to take a look at all the Exam Prep livestreams I've been doing. So here goes… March 26 — Pamela Licht and Izabela Jaworska March 30 — Ron… Exam Prep USISTD https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/123-of-a-natural/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/123-of-a-natural/ Thu, 19 Dec 2019 12:00:00 GMT The forward swing Natural Turn from a stand still 1. Step 1 RF forward 1. Commence by elevating the center and turning the body against the desired direction: e.g. turning left in… https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/what-theater-arts-taught-me-part-1/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/what-theater-arts-taught-me-part-1/ Tue, 19 Dec 2017 12:00:00 GMT All learning is a process of self teaching to some degree. You can understand the instructions behind a certain technique, but to make it useful you need to figure out how much of… Ballroom Technique https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/oddities-1/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/oddities-1/ Fri, 16 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMT One of my coaches recommended that I go through all the figures and write down what bits of technique are peculiar to those figures. So starting with some of the later figures… https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/all-them-toes/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/all-them-toes/ Mon, 08 May 2017 12:00:00 GMT There are a bunch of places in the ballroom technique where we step down on a toe or lower on a toe. This always befuddled me in years past. The normal footwork associated with a… Ballroom Technique Basic Weave Bounce Fallaway Rise and Fall https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/continue-turning/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/continue-turning/ Mon, 08 May 2017 12:00:00 GMT Why do they bother mentioning that we continue to turn? Let's look at where we can find mention of "continue to turn" 1. Natural Spin Turn for Man and Lady on 5 2. Outside Spin… Body Turn Pivots Turn Ballroom Technique https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/converging-lines/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/converging-lines/ Mon, 08 May 2017 12:00:00 GMT In Smooth one of the trickiest things to do is move from one open position to another, or even worse to a closed position. Often this is where there are breakdowns in a couple… https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/multiple-alignment-figures/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/multiple-alignment-figures/ Mon, 08 May 2017 12:00:00 GMT So...you may ask, "Why the heck do we need so many different types of whisk or double reverse spin?" These figures are there to breakdown two things. First, they give… Ballroom Technique Alignments https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/not-my-partners-keeper/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/not-my-partners-keeper/ Mon, 08 May 2017 12:00:00 GMT This may sound odd but we rarely do the same actions as our partners. One of the most difficult ideas to convey in partner dancing is that each dancer must control their own… Ballroom Technique pivots pivoting action https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/the-ballroom-technique/ https://michaelchoi.nyc/blog/the-ballroom-technique/ Sat, 06 May 2017 12:00:00 GMT So...I'm going through all those places with Body turn as I prep for my Examiner's assessment. These are places where the body turns on top of the supporting leg without any turn… Ballroom Technique Body Turn