Week Seven

This week, we worked on the right-to-right and left-to-left handhold (ie, criss-cross). We started with “right-to-right left-over-right” – if you put your hands together in that way (one hand at a time), you will always end up with the hand arrangement that you intend.

With criss-crossed hands, we worked on various turns that resemble cuddles/hammerlocks.

We also worked more with negative space, timing moves to work well, and with deflections in the vertical plane (ie, leading the follows to duck).

It is very important to think about leading and following in terms of “suggestions” or “deflections” and not “force / turn / push / pull”. Those hard action verbs result in a harsh lead/follow connection and can quickly result in injury.

And remember, either person can just let go with one or both hands. We only mentioned briefly during the conclusion of the class that letting go with just one hand will result in an entirely different-feeling set of moves.

Also remember that the things we have been doing in class – while also being “moves” – are more importantly the exercises that allow us to discover how to lead and follow. We discover much assertiveness, decisiveness, and attentiveness are required in order to actually dance with a partner.

Everyone is doing a great job!

Week Six

Taking advantage of the weather-related small class size this week, I presented what I call the Safety Dip. (See Photos above in this post.) Unlike the other material we have worked on so far in class, doing dips requires a different kind of connection to your partner. We were working on Shared Weight exercises to discover what it feels like to begin relying on your parter to greater degrees for providing a sense of stability, balance, and support.

We talked about some styling aspects (regarding placement of the arms for Leads and Follows), the posture Leads must maintain during dips, and the amount of work the Follows are doing in maintaining their own balance and connection to the floor. We also discussed the responsibility of not assuming your partner will know how to dip safely (whether you are Leading or Following).

Remember, with great knowledge comes great power. I implored you to only do dips with other people who have been taught to do dips, and to practice with those people first.

Week Five

In Merengue, you worked on the Alternating Right Side Pass, taking care to remain at most an arm-length apart. This will be very important when be translate this move into the Salsa, Huslte, Swing, etc.

You did a two-hand-up kind of turn that I called the I Go You Go. Then, you introduced a “delay” (using one hand at shoulder level), making a more complicated-looking move.

In Salsa, you reviewed a Chase Turn, which is a done with a Visual Lead (no physical connection between the Lead and Follow). Both partners get to be the turning person. The turning person begins turning on the forward-moving part of the basic.

You learned the Cross Body Lead (CBL) in the Salsa. The CBL is a very important and versatile move. It is a specific way to change places taking two measures of music. The CBL involves two 90-degree (quarter) turns for the Lead, and a single 180-degree turn for the Follow.

Next week, you will do much much more with the Cross Body Lead Salsa, beginning to incorporate many more turns.

Week Four

Much of our class time was devoted to reviewing the Sliding Door and the Tunnel. These are both examples of moves that also make you better Leads and Follows – ie, you are becoming more accustomed to reacting to each other while dancing.

Many of you are becoming more interested in knowing how to string moves together and how to know what fits together. I worked individually with a few people in class regarding how to do just that, and I mentioned it to the entire group when I discussed continuing the same direction of rotation for turns, transferring turns from the Follow to the Lead (and vise versa), or turning with the same “up” hand.

You are also becoming more interested in knowing how to differentiate between dances – Merengue vs Salsa, for instance. Both are examples of what I call “Latin Jazz” – lots of percussion and brass instruments. Tempo is a clue. Rhythm is a clue.

It is very difficult to describe musical qualities using writing alone. It is also difficult to provide music examples directly (given copyright issues). However, there are characteristics to music that will help you to determine the style of dance that may fit – the choice of dance is often subjective, and for some songs different people will hear it as a Salsa, Merengue, Hustle, or maybe something else. (There are few absolutes with dance, but there are many guidelines.)

Merengue music is characterized by a strong bass drum (or bass guitar, or both) on each beat of the measure. The music is often described as “driving” or “pounding”.

Salsa music has more characteristic layers. There is an element to Salsa music that I have not discussed in class yet – that is the Clave Rhythm (sometimes called the Son Clave). It is a specific two-measure rhythm that helps to identify Salsa music as Salsa music.

The links below go into detail. If you know how to read music, there are many technical videos on YouTube that you may enjoy – search for “Clave Rhythm” on YouTube. You will find some great examples devoted to percussion and piano. (There are also many crummy or confusing videos on YouTube.)

Here are a few resources that may be useful…

• Salsa Music (on Wikipedia)
• Merengue Music (on Wikipedia)
• Salsa Rhythm for Absolute Beginners (on YouTube) – very good description
• Example of Merengue Music (on YouTube)
• Another Example of Merengue Music (on YouTube)

If all of that seems overwhelming, don’t worry, I have been playing musical instruments for over twenty-five years, and some of the musical theory is over my head. You do not need to understand intricacies of music and musical theory in order to dance. You just need exposure to different genres of music, and you need someone who can tell you what they are at first. After awhile, you will get a sense for it. Our brains are excellent at categorization, and that categorization does not need to be on a conscious level. You will get a sense for what dance belongs to a particular piece of music with a little time, patience, guidance, and practice.

Also, notice that the Clave Rhythm is not the same as the rhythm you use for the moves/patterns while dancing Salsa. Confusing, I know. The Clave Rhythm helps you identify Salsa music as Salsa music – it does not translate directly into when you move your feet while dancing Salsa.

When we switched to Salsa in class, you learned a Chase Turn, which is a done with a Visual Lead (no physical connection between the Lead and Follow). Both partners get to be the turning person, so in the descriptions that follow, I refer to the “turning person” instead of Lead/Follow.

Doing a Chase Turn involves a specific type of turn – a Three Step Turn (aka Walk Around Turn or Spot Turn). The turn occurs during what would have otherwise been the forward-moving part of the basic (the Left-Bump-Bahhh) for the turning person. At the end of the turn, you will have returned to the same place on the dance floor as you started, ready to do the backward-moving part of the basic (right-bump-bahh always follows left-bump-bahh). Your right foot will not have moved to a new place on the dance floor (it will have rotated in place, but will not have moved from its original starting position).

The Chase Turn emphasizes some important dance principles. (1) You can be “connected” to your partner without physical contact. (2) Each parter must continue dancing (ie, keeping the rhythm) while the other person is turning. (3) The turning person must also keep the same rhythm while turning (and finish the turn in the appropriate amount of time (in one measure for Salsa).

The Chase Turn can easily become a Hammerlock for either the Follow or the Lead.

Next Week…
– Review of the Chase Turn, including Hammerlocks
– Linking the Sliding Door to Chase Turns
– The Cross Body Lead (CBL)
– Adding one-hand turns to the CBL

Week Three

Hello Dancers,

Can you believe it is only the third week of class? Everyone has already learned a lot!

However, everyone is still learning, and for as long as you continue dancing, you will always be learning! (It’s the journey that counts, not the destination.)

It is inappropriate to conclude that any mistakes that happen while dancing must be caused by your partner. The best dancers know that they will always have something new to learn and new to discover.

Thinking you know enough to correct your partner (after only three dance classes) is presumptuous and rude. Being gracious with your fellow students trains you to be good, desirable, respectful dance partners.

Onward to review…

The exercises in class are designed so that each dancer can match how you are leading and following to each new person you dance with. Leading and Following are continually-variable skills, and dancing with different partners feels different, even though the principles involved are the same (friction connection, good posture, no claw hands, no thumbs, etc).

Learning to respond to each other – vs only “doing the steps” or “doing it right” – makes you a better dancer (Leads and Follows alike).

Today, we reviewed Cuddles and Hammerlocks as a system for turning/moving that can apply to the lead or the follow (if the Follow can turn, so can the Lead, and vise versa).

We used Cuddles and Hammerlocks as a way to explore Negative Space. Negative Space is the empty space you create with your body and arms, and is one of the three ways out of any “move”. The first one is “Just let go”, the second one is “Go back the way you came”, and the third is “Use negative space”.

We built a few more Negative Space moves, including what I called the Sliding Door. It starts with either person in a hammerlock – though we only did the version starting with the Lead in the hammerlock. The Lead moves behind the Follow shoulder-to-shoulder at a matching height. Depending on whether (1) the up hand stays up and the down hand stays down, (2) the up hand goes down and the down hand goes up, (3) both hands go up, and (4) both hands go down, we have different outcomes and different negative space that opens up.

You also did the Lead’s Tunnel, which started with a Lead’s Cuddle (on the Follow’s right side, though it also works with a Lead’s Cuddle on the Follow’s left side).

Remember, Just Let Go if something isn’t working out!

You ended class with Salsa, distinguishing between the rhythm of Salsa (see last week’s class note) and the basic pattern.

Week Two

Thank you for completing my Welcome Survey. If you still need to complete it, you can find it here.

In addition to the small half-sheet waiver that the UW requires, I also require a separate Waiver. On the first day of class, I ran out of that form. If you did not complete an Art of Dance waiver (whole-sheet green-color) on the first day of class, you can find it here.

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, standing with turnout, leading turns and being lead to turn using arm-level connections. Next week we will begin to develop the characteristic Latin hip action (the rotational action of the hips).

We worked a system for turning based on one hand going up (to approximately forehead-height of the person who will be turning) and one hand going down (so that the wrist is below the elbow on both partners).

By leading hand-across-the-face and hand-away-from-the-face turns with the up-hand while maintaining connection with the down-hand, the Lead provides the space for the Follows to turn, creating Cuddles – hand-across-the-face (the cute move) – and Hammerlocks – hand-away-from-the-face.

Leads can put themselves into Cuddles and Hammerlocks by moving their bodies under the up-hand, though without moving either of the hands while in the process of turning. Double the number of “moves” you know by being aware of the following fact – if the Follow can turn, so can the Lead.

Cuddles and Hammerlocks are very versatile and are the raw ingredients for countless other moves. By envisioning Negative Space, we can find new and interesting ways to get out of familiar moves. Letting go with both hands always works!

While the things we are doing in class can also be simply considered “moves”, more importantly they are exercises that allow you to discover for yourself the kinds of things that are possible in when dancing with a partner. It is not necessary to master any particular “move” but rather to use those exercises as a way to expand your own concept of what is possible.

The Salsa

I very briefly introduced the Salsa basic. I will start by teaching “Salsa on One”, meaning the movement forward or backward (the Break) off of our imaginary paper plate happens on the first beat of the measure of music.

There are flavors of Salsa that happen on the two, meaning the forward/backward movement happens on the second beat of the measure (NY Style/Salsa Nuevo, and Mambo – the dance from which the Salsa we know today originated).

Salsa on One, itself, can occur with several regional style differences – Cubano-/Miami-/Miami-Cubano/Rotary-Style, and LA-Style.

There may be other styles. Salsa is a very popular and ever-evolving dance form.

You could count it as Quick-Quick-Slowly-ly, 1-2-3-hold-4, or my favorite Yump-Bump-Bhaaaaaaa. I find that singing the rhythm helps the movements relate to the music better.

Musicians may find it helpful to think about quarter-note, quarter-note, half-note. (or Quarter, Quarter, Half-Note). You could count “1-2-3 (hold 4) 4-5-6 (hold 8)”.

Some people found it helpful to count the rhythm as “Left-bump-bhaaaaaa, Right-bump-bhaaaaaa” (or Right-bump-bhaaaaaa, Left-bump-bhaaaaaa). Counting Left-2-3-hold, Right-2-3-hold is the same kind of thing.

Regardless of how you find/maintain/feel the rhythm, the important thing is that you do find/maintain/feel the rhythm! Any system that works for you – numbers, quicks-and-slows, sounds, left-bump-bhaaa, etc – is the one you should be happy to use. There is no one right way to keep the rhythm! Use what works for you. It does not need to be the same way as the one that works for your partner.

Next week…

• You will use Cuddles and Hammerlocks as a way to explore Negative Space, including the Tunnel and the Sliding Door.
• You will also work more on Floor Craft – the art of collision avoidance.
• The importance of the Salsa Rhythm over the particular Salsa Pattern.

Learning to dance – for most people – requires developing an expanded awareness of your own body. Most people have a sixth sense, but it is not ESP or anything paranormal. Our sixth sense is called Proprioception – the awareness of the position of one’s own body. In fact, unless your sixth sense has been lost or damaged – as can be possible with our other five senses as well – you can further develop proprioception.

In order to learn to dance – or rather to learn to dance well – it is our proprioception that must be enhanced. The warmup exercises in this class – and in many of the better dance classes I have taken in other genres of dance – are designed to do many things, including enhance our proprioception.

For those interested or currious, I enjoyed reading the book Running with the Whole Body. Amoung other things, the book discusses proprioception and describes exercises intended specifically for runners. Almost anywhere in that book where it says “running” it could have very well said “dancing”.

An entire approach to movement (and physical rehabilitation) – called the Feldenkrais Method – employs the same kinds of strategies discussed in the book. (The book was written by a Feldenkrais practitioner, so the book actually uses the Feldenkrais Method.)

I make use of similar principles in dance class. I endeavour to teach everyone how to move effectively and comfortably with a parter, as well as how to communicate movement with a partner (applies to Leads and Follows equally).

Remember that “doing the steps” is not the same as “learning to dance”. It takes a bit more time to develop the physical awareness to dance well, but once you become comfortable with the idea that dancing happens in the body (vs in the feet), you can learn countless patterns more easily, and even make up your own new “moves”.

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 did in class.

In order to learn to do something new with your bodies – like learn to dance – you need to engage in new activities. The warmup is designed to be just such an activity.

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

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 how to reproduce steps, patterns, and figures. It takes a little bit of time to lay this foundation, but it is time well spent. Leading and Following are skills that you can develop in a short amount of time, by engaging in all of the activities and exercises in class. You will continue to refine your Leading and Following skills for as long as you continue dancing.

The Lead’s role is to define space. The Follow’s role is to react to the new space, deciding how and when to fill the new 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! Leading does not imply control. Rather, it means “Going First”. Following means “Going Next”.

Furthermore, Follows have a lot of power in the partnership. Leads cannot create more new space until the Follow has reacted to the existing new space. That is, Follows can make Leads wait their turns to go again.

We 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.

We used the Friction Connection to begin moving around the room – simply at first and then adding turns. Leads turn their own bodies by creating space under the contact point and moving their bodies through the space. Follows turn when the leads create space that goes in a circle (ie, the contact point moves).

Learning to lead and follow from the very beginning of learning to dance (vs “doing the steps”), promotes greater understanding of dancing and ultimately allows you to dance creatively and expressively. I certainly thought everyone looked good when we all clumped into the corner and started to apply what we just learned.

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

Next Week

• The three socially-acceptable regions of contact
• The system of moves based on “up, down, across, & away”
• The Salsa basic