Week Eight

Today it was a thing I called the Safety Dip. In order to do this, you worked through a series of Shared Weight exercises that involved being able to safely transition from a Wall connection to a Hook connection and back again while under excellent control.

One of the many points I was driving home is that the Follows must be in control of their own bodies (and not expect the Leads to just hold them up).

Another point – the corollary to the one above – is that Leads should not attempt to just toss the Follow around! Dips (and every trick, really) involve a lot of self-awareness of one’s own body, as well as mutual awareness of your partner’s body.

Some of the things you see more-experienced dancers do simply will not work without a good understanding of connection. Instead of simply telling you that in words, I thought it would be more useful to set up a relatively safe way for you to recognize the importance of “connection” for yourself.

Also, it gives you a chance to demonstrate good Leading and Following.

• Leads: You are not a “Good Lead” by inflicting every move you know on each new partner. Instead, you are a Good Lead only by recognizing what you and your partner can safely do together and only doing those moves!
• Follows: Despite what some non-Good-Leads might insist, you do not have to do moves that make you feel uncomfortable and you are under no obligation to do dangerous moves with people whom you do not know!

I cannot stress that enough.

• Follows, do not do dips and drops and tricks with just anyone!
• Leads, do not inflict your presumed knowledge of dips and drops and tricks on unsuspecting Follows!

In other words, practice doing “tricks” with a specific partner before doing those tricks with that partner at a social dance. Tricks are fun and look easy. But they look easy because the people doing the tricks (1) know how to do them safely, and (2) have practiced them previously.

Before you do tricks with anyone at some public event, you must practice them some place previously!

Week Seven

This week you spent time with left-turning boxes and right-turning boxes, emphasizing the important of the backwards-moving person. That person makes it possible for turning boxes to have more rotation. It is the job of that person to get their body out of the way, making room for the forward-moving person.

I defined Natural Turn (right turn) and Reverse Turn (left turn). A right-turning box may be called a Natural Box, and a left turning box may be called a Reverse Box. The terms “natural” and “reverse” derive from the observation that doing a number of Natural Boxes consecutively takes you on a path the same direction as the Line of Dance, and doing a number of Reverse Boxes consecutively takes you on a path that moves against (or reverse of) the Line of Dance.

Your dancing started to take on a new life and energy, and started to move around the floor a lot more, when the backward-moving person did the job of getting out of the way for the forward moving person in your turning boxes.

Then, we switched gears to Argentine Tango.

Argentine Tango is an improvisational dance that consists of walking and turning. Sounds pretty straight forward, but learning the mutual partner awareness is the tricky part.

You were learning to distinguish weight-changing movements from turning movements, or simply “weight change, rotate, weight change, rotate”, or even more simply “step, turn, step, turn”.

Being able to clearly lead these two types of actions separately (rotation vs weight-changes) means Follows will be able to move confidently (either turning in response to rotation, or changing weight to the other foot – or not changing weight at all).

You learned a “basic step” for Argentine Tango. I put that in quotes because Argentine Tango is an improvisational dance, and the basic step exists so that you can learn to add improvised movements in a systematic way. Eventually, you will discover your own ways to add these movements (like the Forward Ocho), but for now, having a “basic step” that I divided into “chunks” provides some structure so that you can focus a little more on how it feels to do certain movements (vs having to also discover when to do certain movements).

If you liked the dips photos, see the Class Webpage for my Thursday night UWCE Class.

Also, see the Comments below on this page, as well as This Post for more information about the Hangar Dance on Saturday, 31 July 2010.

Week Five

We spent most of class on the Fox Trot. We started with the figures (aka moves or patterns) you know from Waltz and applied them to Fox Trot. Specifically, we were doing the Box Rhythm in Fox Trot. This is a four-beat rhythm counted as Slow-Quick-Quick (SQQ).

A particular pattern – like a Left-Box or a Simple UAT – tells you where to go. The Rhythm tell you when to go there – the music helps to dictate the rhythm.

Though Waltz and Fox Trot may use some of the same patterns, the rhythm for each dance is distinctly different. (The rhythm for Waltz is 1-2-3. The box rhythm for Fox Trot is SQQ.)

In ballroom dance terminology, it takes twice as much time to do each “Slow” as it does to do each “Quick”. Using music terminology, for Fox Trot a Slow takes as much time as a half-note, and Quick takes as much time as a quarter-note (in 4/4 time).

We had an interesting discussion about what constitutes the “beginning” or “end” of a move. I described the phenomenon of how dance is taught in the US vs in other parts of the world as it relates to which foot Leads move first.

In the US, the dance syllabus is designed to teach left-turning figures before right turning figures. Hence, the Lead learns to step forward with the left foot in the first figures you learn. Each additional figure you learn, then, is constructed so that the Lead will be moving with the left foot first, which constitutes the “beginning” of the figure.

Constructing each figure so that it starts with the Lead’s left foot has the consequence that each figure must take an even number of measures to complete (for box rhythm). For instance, the Left Box takes two measures, and the Simple UAT takes four measures. Starting with the Lead’s left foot, and then doing an even number of measures (of left-Q-Q, right-Q-Q), will always result in the Lead being ready to move the left foot to start the next figure.

This means the “end” of the move is a measure where the lead moves the right foot.

This caused some interesting confusion for the Right Box, since the “end” of the move is the forward-moving part of the right box for the Lead (right-foot forward, side, together).

On to the Simple Twinkle and the Magic Rhythm…
At the beginning of this class note, I was differentiating between “pattern” and “rhythm”. A particular dance, like Fox Trot, may use “patterns” that appear in other dances, but the “rhythm” is what helps to make those patterns into Fox Trot.

This is important because dances may use more than one “rhythm”, and you may switch between rhythms in the same dance. Fox Trot, for instance, uses two different basic rhythms. The Box Rhythm is a four-beat rhythm counted as S-Q-Q. The Magic Rhythm is a six-beat rhythm counted as S-S-Q-Q.

I demonstrated how to do the Simple Twinkle in the Magic Rhythm and compared/contrasted it with the Simple Twinkle in Box Rhythm.

Sounds complicated, I know. All these rhythms. All these dances. All these patterns. But with a little practice and some time, it all starts to come together. It is possible to describe ballroom dancing by the interactions between patterns and rhythms (the figures). It is also possible to describe ballroom dancing by the interactions between dancer partners and music. Focusing on only one of those sets of interactions leaves out something important about dancing in general.

Upcoming
College Ballroom Dance Association (UWMBDA): My professional dance partner, Sarah Calhoun, is teaching the pre-dance lessons at this week’s dance. UWMBDA is presently the largest social ballroom dance “scene” in Madison, with participants ranging from HS-age through retirement. For details, directions, time, and location, see this link.

Next week, we will work more on Fox Trot, developing more patterns that use the Magic Rhythm.

Week Four

This week was less about adding new moves – in fact there were no new moves. Instead, you were taking the time to become more skilled at remembering the moves you already learned (useful for planning ahead when Leading). Plus, you were working on how to Lead and Follow with greater skill and confidence.

I introduced the concept of Rise and Fall – the bending of the knees prior to moving forward or backward. When Leads do this, Follows are better able to read what is about to happen – ie, which direction you are about to move together.

Follows also began to put some energy into the Lead’s right hand – the one on the Follow’s back. Leads, you must provide a solid perimeter with that right arm/hand. Follows will be able to read even better the direction you are about to move together.

The partnering in ballroom dancing works due to elements that both partners contribute (ie, Leads provide a perimeter and perform the Fall action – bending the knees – prior to moving forward/backward, Follows use the Lead’s right hand on the Follow’s back to sense direction changes).

It is important for both partners to know various moves (and understand music, rhythm, etc). It is also important for both partners to know how to communicate with each other while dancing. Everyone in class is doing a great job on both tasks.

At the end of class, you learned a new dance – Fox Trot. You were doing the Box Rhythm, the Slow-Quick-Quick (SQQ) rhythm. You can do all of the same moves you already know in Waltz by changing the timing of the moves (switch from an even 1-2-3 to SQQ). In ballroom dance terminology, “Slow” takes twice as long as “Quick”. In Fox Trot, “Slow” takes two beats of music, and “Quick” takes one beat. That way, SQQ takes up four beats of music.

Next week…
– more Twinkles (in Waltz)
– the Magic Rhythm (in Fox Trot)

Week Three

I am interested in teaching you good habits from the very beginning. We worked specifically on posture and bringing your feet together on the “three” of your “one-two-three” count in Waltz.

We reviewed the Left Turning Box, the Simple Twinkle, and the Simple UAT from last week. To this, we added the Progressive Basic (either the Lead or the Follow may be the forward/backward moving person) and the Right Turning Box.

In the Left Turning Box, someone’s left foot goes forward on the first beat of the measure (the “one”). Another way to think of it – when your left foot moves, it goes forward, and when your right foot moves, it goes backward.

In the Right Turning Box, it is exactly the opposite of the Left Turning Box. Someone’s right foot goes forward on the first beat of a measure, or when your right foot moves, it goes forward (and the left foot is the foot that goes backward).

I discussed how I use our class time to cover both what to do and how to do it. Working on only one of those aspects means missing an important part of partner dancing.

Much of the “what to do” piece are the particular patterns or moves, as well as the social norms of partner dancing (where your hands/arms are in a closed dance position, how close it too close, etc).

Much of the “how to do it” piece involves muscle strength in your own body. I started to describe how specific exercises from our warm up are useful for developing that muscle strength.

Next week, we will, of course, review everything from this week. In addition, you will apply much of what you already know in Waltz to a new dance, the Fox Trot.

Week Two

We have a small summertime class that will allow for a lot of individual attention. However, please talk to me (or email me) early in the semester if there is something about class that you would like me to address.

We reviewed the material from last week, including the friction connection, using parallel feet (vs turned-out or turned-in), creating a good frame, and moving/moving into space (ie, Leads waiting their turn).

Building on the box from last week, you learned the Twinkle aka Simple Twinkle. This is a two-measure pattern that involves moving from Closed Dance Position to Promenade Dance Position (opening like the covers of a hard cover book, trying not to break the binding).

You then learned a four-measure pattern called the Simple Under Arm Turn (UAT). For the Lead, it works pretty much like a box, turning a quarter-turn to your left on the third measure.

For the Follow, this move involves many things. It involves a special way to make a curved path along the floor while at the same time stepping forward on each step. There is a good period of time during the move where the Follow cannot see the Lead (requiring the Follow to trust only where her hand is going vs watching where the Lead is going).

Since we have a short eight-week summer term, I want to get into some of the more exciting and enjoyable moves early. The Simple UAT is just such a move. But in addition to being a “move”, it also teaches the Leads to exhibit confidence in their Leading, it teaches the Follows to trust where their hands are going for information about the direction of a turn, and it begins to get everybody moving around the room.

So far we have a Left Turning Box, a Simple Twinkle, and a Simple UAT.

Next week, in addition to review, you can look forward to…

• Right Turning Box
• Progressive Basic
• a new dance, the Fox Trot

Week One

Hello Dancers,

Each week I will post the highlights of what we covered in class. This is not meant to be a dance manual or a substitute for attending class. Instead, it is here to help you remember what we worked on between classes.

We started with our risk statements, policies, and paperwork. I briefly discussed my experience dancing and competing as well as my approach to teaching dance.

The warm up is the most important part of any dance class – it is the time when dancers learn to use their bodies in new ways. In addition to promoting greater leg and back strength, general flexibility, and avoidance of injuries, we will develop numerous isolations and greater coordination.

Dance classes in other genres of dance – Modern, Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop, African – all begin with a comprehensive warm up. Partner dancing (ballroom dancing) is another dance discipline equally as involved as those I just mentioned, yet a warm up is frequently missing from many ballroom dance classes. In the ballroom classes and workshops I have taken over the years, participants get through more material more quickly and with greater satisfaction in those classes that began with a comprehensive warm up.

I believe in teaching you how to dance, not just teaching you how to reproduce steps, patterns, and figures. It takes a little bit of time to lay this foundation, but it is time well spent. You can learn to lead and follow well. Both are skills that people can develop.

The lead’s role is to define space. The follow’s role is to decide how and when to occupy space. Partner dancing is a dialogue between two people – each person voluntarily participating in the activity, dancing together. The lead does not tell the follow what to do! The Lead simply goes first. The Follow goes next.

You worked on what I called the “friction connection” – not too hard, not too soft, just right – and that each person is responsible for building and maintaining the connection.

You used the friction connection to begin moving around the room, walking in a way that inspires confidence in your partner – confidence that (s)he knows where (s)he is going.

You learned to build a good Closed Dance Position, paying attention to doing it well and developing good habits for your dancing. It is easier to learn how to dance well from the very beginning than it is to repair deficiencies in your dancing later on.

By the end of the class, we began dancing the “box” pattern to Waltz music. We built the box from simple movement principles – moving forward or backward, moving sideways, and bringing our feet together – changing weight from one foot to the other with each movement.

The leads were actually leading. The follows were actually following. Learning to lead and follow from the very beginning of learning to dance promotes greater understanding of dancing and ultimately allows you to dance creatively and expressively.

I end each class session with a review, in the form of a question. “What is something useful or interesting you learned today?” Everyone gets a chance to answer, because sometimes the best observations and really good insights can come from your fellow classmates.

Next week, we will work on the three socially acceptable regions of contact, develop more things to do in the Waltz, and learn the Merengue.

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