Originally Posted by Serenity.:
“Genuine question - why were they faked?”
It's quite complicated to explain to someone who doesn't dance AT but I will give it a go.
There are basic principles at play in AT (the physics if you like) One of these is that the dance works on the basis that the couple share an axis. They lean into one another so that they in effect create a balance point that is sort of in space between the two of them.
Another principle of the dance is that each step is concocted by the man taking the lady just far enough from that axis or balance point that she is forced to put her foot down to save herself from toppling over. So when dancing as a partner you feel, comfortable then less comfortable then OMG intolerable I am going to fall, I have to put my foot down! Another rule is that the lady NEVER has her weight on both feet. As soon as her free leg hits the floor she switches her weight to it.
The skill of the lead is to engineer that discomfort so that the lady puts her foot where he plans. It takes a lot of skill and experience to do this.
The step on ITT were a series of displacements called sacadas. In real life the man will take the lady off her axis point, under control, until she has to place her weight on the free foot. Because he has complete control over the timing and location he knows just when her standing foot will release and he places his foot in the space she vacated. It happens so quickly and smoothly that an optical illusion is created and it looks like they are kicking each others feet out of the way. But really there is NO KICKING!
The gancho or hook is the bit where the leg bends during displacements. This happens because - as the follower releases the weight from her standing leg, the man when moving in, to take up the footprint she is vacating, gently applies pressure to her thigh with his thigh. This forces her leg out at an angle. and you get the illusion of him kicking her leg out of the way so it flies out at an angle.
To someone who knows AT it was fairly obvious in that training VT that Simon was merely following steps. So he was placing his foot according to the directions of the routine and kicking on the beat as directed etc.
Its a subtle difference particularly as AT is all about optical illusion in the first place. But to anyone who has learned AT, even to an improvers level, it is clear that the natural physics or dynamic on which the dance depends is not being used. Instead the steps are just placed because that's what the choreography says.
Really hard to describe I am afraid.
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