Fun Floreo Facts
This week I went live on my Facebook page for a new series I’m calling ‘Tuesday Talks’. I’ll be live every Tuesday at noon PDT to casually chat about a topic of choice. This week I discussed Hand Floreos. Specifically some fun facts we often don’t have time to teach in a regular class.
Below is one of the topics I covered. I’ve also included a link to the video so you can check out other topics covered. PLUS, I’ve included the wrist mobility portion of the Floreos!Floreos!Floreos! course offered on fcbdu.com
What is a Floreo? How did they make their way into FCBD®Style?
flōreō (verb)
Hand Floreos are a staple movement in Flamenco dance. They were incorporated into FCBD®Style early on and have become a beautiful addition to our dance style.
“These moves are completely Flamenco-inspired. Jim Murdoch, th FCBD® name-inventor and a Flamenco dancer, taught Carolena the embellishments of dramatic arm positions and hand floreos. The hand floreos changed to suit the weight of the zils hanging from thumbs and middle fingers as the wrist rotates, which has caused FCBD® floreos to lead from those digits. Rina Rall’s penchant for Flamenco dance introduced the slow turns into the repertoire, such as the Corkscrew and Propeller.” - FCBD®’s Tribal Talk: Cultural Roots May 2000.
In some movements like the Propeller and Corkscrew Turns, they are embellishments and in other movements like the Taxeem, they are not only beautiful but also act as a way for us to synchronize our movements and communicate to our fellow dancers which hip is down or up. This is a significant detail when we are dancing in a venue where we can’t easily see our leader’s full body. Like, say a small cafe or restaurant.
Rina, previously of FCBD®, now owns a Flamenco dance company Rina Orellana Flamenco Academy, Company and Online Studio
Anatomy of Floreos
Warning: these are pretty nerdy details so feel free to skip over if your brain starts to overload :)
First, lets take a look at the bones in our forearm and wrist. Specifically I want you to notice how the forearm has two bones, the radius and the ulna,
We think of floreos are a wrist movement, but technically the wrist only flexes, extends, adducts and abducts.
In order to get the full range of motion in the floreo, we also need to pronate and supinate which is a movement in the forearm. This happens with the radius bone crosses over the ulna bone.
Luckily we don’t have to think about all this as we move our hand. Why bring it up? Well, the movement of the radius bone across the ulna creates an optical illusion making it look like the elbow is bending and straightening with every floreo, but the elbow joint isn’t actually involved!
Try it out:
Come into dance posture, arms at shoulder height, elbows lifted. Keep the bend in your elbow nice and rounded.
Next, begin doing some hand floreos. Watch the elbow as you do this. In most bodies, you’ll see it look like there is a decrease in the elbow joint angle every time you face your palm down, but it’s simply because the radius bone is now in a different position. No elbow joint involved. Because we are all a little different, some dancers may see more movement than others. Cool huh?!
Dancers that learn from video or online sometimes miss out on this realization because they SEE the elbow joint moving and often are trying to mimic what they see.
The great news is that we don’t have to work so hard to create beautiful, isolated hand floreos.
This little anatomy tip can also keep you from those “swimming arms” in the Bodywave, Arabic Hip Twist, and more. Save that extra energy and add it to your smile :)
Want More Information?
I go into a little more information including a range of motion tip in this Facebook video. Be sure to join me every Tuesday at noon PDT on my Facebook page where I’ll dive into a different topic each week!
And you can work on your wrist mobility in this portion of the Floreo!Floreo!Floreo! course offered in fcbdU.com
Did you find this helpful? Do you have requests for future videos and blogs? I’d love to hear from you!
Thank you for reading and watching.