In his article titled “The Science and Magic of Lindy Hop,” Andy Connelly, a swing dance instructor from the University of York, draws connections between the force of tension in social dancing and Newton’s Laws of Motion.
Newton’s First Law of Motion states that “an object remains at rest, or in uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change by an externally imposed force.” A swing out, an 8-count move, pictured in Figure ____, is an example of Newton’s First law of motion. After counts 7 and 8, the follow (pink) is standing apart from the lead (blue), waiting for the lead’s tension of pulling the follow in on counts 1 and 2. This is the “change by an external force” caused by the lead taking a rock step as shown in Figure _____ that brings the follow into a closed position, pictured on counts 3 and 4, to the lead. Like stated in Newton’s Law, the follow will move in “ uniform motion in a straight line” on counts 1 and 2, and the follow’s momentum does not change until “catched” by the arm of the lead as the follow will feel the momentum to continue to move past the lead.
When applied to swing dance, Newton’s First Law of Motion helps Lindy Hoppers to understand the basic fundamentals of swing outs. More specifically, this understanding of the tensions produced in swing outs increases
…show more content…
The greater amount of compression from the lead on the hand of the follow as demonstrated in ______, results in a faster spin, a characteristic of the tuck turn. Not only this, because of the increase in velocity of the follow from the harder push, momentum, p= mv, (momentum is equal to mass times velocity) of the follow increases, and the follow will continue to spin until the lead catches her by her arm. This represents Newton’s First Law of Motion: “an object remains at rest, or in uniform motion in a straight line, unless its is compelled to change by an externally imposed