Dancing Tid-bits Issue #214

Today's Topic: Locking of the Knee

Black is Black and White is White..right?

Say! I am crazy. But you know, sometimes you have to think about it. Black is black because we started to call it black (like darkness of night) etc. If we had started to call the darkness of night as white, things will be just opposite. Believe it or not, terminology is the same way. We just start calling something as "something" and soon it comes to be known as "something".

This happens in dancing very often. Sometimes I don't understand why New York is a New York?

Well today I am talking about something that we call a "Locked Knee'.

Our knee joint bends and this is called "Flexion". We can straighten it out
and this is called "Extension".

What is a Locked Knee? In medical text book terms, a "Locked Knee" is a locked knee. In other words, if a knee is bent and can not be straightened out, this is considered "locked". The emphasis is on a lack of straightening all the way to it's full extent. The common cause for a locked knee is an injury to a meniscus which are a pair of soft cushion plates between the two bones.

Dancers definition of Locking? As dancers we are lead to believe that the last 5 or 10 degrees of straightening (extension) puts the knee in a locked position. Whether this ever happens in dancing or not is a subject for further discussion. Why did nature provide this "locking" feeling with full extension? I am thinking and researching this subject.

So, you know what I mean? Here the dancers definition is in complete contradiction to medical definition. But then, who am I to challenge that.

I will end this Tid-bit here and I certainly did not mean to confuse you.

This is ironic. I just saw TV coverage of Terri Schiavo's death. Her husband Michael calls it an act of Mercy and her parents, the Schindlers consider this Murder. You know what I mean?.. I am with the parents. It is a sad day in
America. Max