[blue steel]

ok, so i was talking to a dancer from the a certain studio about how they do certain locking moves and for the most part, everything was similar to the technique i've been taught, except for wrist twirls and double uncle sam points.

now i've grown accustomed to doing my wrist twirls with my chest out (more akin to how some french lockers occasionally do it), and i occasionally play with it by leaning and looking in different directions. as for the double points, i've been taught to wrist twirl back behind my ears with my shoulders pulled behind, lean back with my chest out, then pull my chest inward and shoot my arms out in a hunched position.

however, the dancer told me to not look and to ALWAYS lean back into my wrist twirls using my hips and lower back. and for the double points, she told me to always lean back into it, but not wind back with my shoulders.

of course i gave it a try and it looked good, as it had a more original locker feel to it. needless to say, i want to add it to my repoitoire, but i don't like to think that there's absolutely one way to do certain moves, and i don't want to feel like i'm losing foundation if it's not done according to one studio's technique.

i want to be open minded to everything about locking, but would i be in the wrong if i still kept the technique i was taught but incorporated the ideas and techniques from others? how do you all execute these fundamental moves?

keep in mind i still want to do things the way i've been taught, and i want to have my own sense of style to an extent, but i want to be true to the dance.

this is kind of a pressing issue for me when it comes to my dancing cuz now i'm beginning to question whether my technique has been wrong all along, so any constructive comments, answers, opinions etc. would be appreciated.

[wavedash]

Of course it's alright to keep old techniques, and be able to switch from style to style... I learned from the two polar opposite sides of locking, one being a style that was basically an offshoot of Chain Reaction which we can call Valley style (but I feel at this point now BETTER than), and the other being from Greg Campbellock Jr. Of course there have been other things to guide me along but that's not my point. In the Valley style that I learned, there are sharp and really quick movements not to mention the difference in form. In Greg's version of Original style, there are a bunch of elements which emphasize more "funky" movement.

Take what you like and run with it, but be able to do it all. Practice locking in different styles so you understand how to work with it and to incorporate as much of it into your own dance as you can.