The pretzel is a knotted arm figure in discofox: the follower is guided under the arm beside the leader. Learn it safely, without pulling or twisting.
The honest answer to "What is a pretzel in discofox?": a knotted arm figure in which the follower is guided under the arm beside the leader. The cheat pretzel (Mogelbrezel) is the entry. Exactly how it is built is shown by your teacher – there are variants, for example the pretzel armlock form.
The pretzel looks harder than it is. The appeal lies in the knot: two arms interlace, and both must know exactly when to let go. That is teamwork, not a feat of strength: whoever pulls has already lost the figure.
For context: there is no study on this figure. What exists are measurements of dance couples in waltz. In closed hold, the partners' upper bodies are linked; a world champion couple produced especially long first steps in the paired hold, mostly the woman [2] (TRANSFER: waltz, no arm figure). The lesson for the pretzel: connection works through the centre, not by pulling the arm.
Before the first knot a practice rule applies (no study evidence): agree on a clear stop word. When someone says it, you release at once, no discussion. That takes the pressure off the figure and makes it easier for both.
Realistic: One or two evenings for the cheat pretzel; the full pretzel calm and safe takes more repetitions – no study gives a time frame, that is experience.
The wrap figure runs calmly, without pulling. Milestone: Five repetitions without jerks.
Practise the entry variant in slow motion. The follower is guided under the arm, but never pulled by the arm. Milestone: Both feel where the knot begins.
Before you knot, practise unknotting. Anyone who does not know how the knot releases gets stuck. Milestone: You release the knot in slow motion without pull.
A measurement of seven professional and fourteen amateur couples showed that the woman stabilised the couple in dance hold [3]. Use that: the leader gives the impulse through the trunk, the follower answers with her frame. Milestone: The follower can dance the figure without comment.
Put the pretzel into a known sequence. Milestone: Three pretzels in a row without losing the rhythm.
Which variant your class teaches and which arm you start with is shown by your teacher. Especially important: anyone dancing the pretzel for the first time should watch it first. Watch your teacher with an experienced person before you knot yourself – that saves you the unsure first attempts.
Arm figures load shoulders and wrists when someone pulls or twists without the other being able to follow. There is no study on discofox for this; we rely on surveys in partner dance. In a survey of 450 non-professional salsa dancers, 22% of women and 14% of men had at least one injury in a year, 1.1 and 0.5 per 1000 hours [1] (TRANSFER: salsa). Among Dutch competitive dancers, 80.7% reported at least one injury, most often at foot, ankle and lower leg [4]. Among international DanceSport dancers, the injury rate was about 1.7 per 1000 hours, higher in women than in men [5] (TRANSFER: competitive dance). Never twist an arm against resistance, let go at the first pull and stop if it hurts. This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training.
The best pretzel is the one you hardly see. In the measurement of standard couples, professionals showed more sway of the centre of pressure in hold than amateurs, but less regular; the authors read this as more automated postural control [3]. Transferred: the more automatic your basic hold, the more attention you have for the knot.
Your weekly plan (practice suggestion, no study evidence): Three sessions of 15 minutes, each with five minutes of easy warm-up for shoulders and wrists. Session 1: wrap figure and cheat pretzel in slow motion. Session 2: practise the exit. Session 3: at music tempo with video.
Video check in three points: (1) Is the arm pulled? (2) Do you both know the exit? (3) Do the shoulders stay down? Also film in slow motion: a knot that looks clean in slow motion usually holds at music tempo too.
A knotted arm figure in which the follower is guided under the arm beside the leader. The cheat pretzel is the entry. Variants differ between classes.
The cheat pretzel is the entry variant with an easier knot. How much knotting your class includes is shown by your teacher.
No. Partner dances such as waltz have been measured: the upper bodies are linked in hold [2]. For the pretzel this is a transfer.
Never twist against resistance, release immediately on pull, practise slowly. There are no specific studies for discofox.
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