Week Seven

This week, you worked on a practice sequence in Salsa.

– CBL in Closed Dance Position (2 measures)
– CBL slipping to Open Dance Position (2 measures)
– Chase Turns (4 measures)
– Follow’s Hammerlock to Sliding Door (4 measures)
– Basic changing to Handshake Dance Position (2 measures)
– Handshake CBL with “Secret Agent” or “Double Secret Agent”

** Secret Agent **
It’s a Lead’s Hand Change Behind the Back from Handshake Dance Position during the second measure of a Cross Body Lead (CBL).

** Double Secret Agent **
It’s a Follow’s Inside Turn during the first part of the second measure of a CBL, followed by the Secret Agent during the second part of the second measure of a CBL.

Remember, the first three steps (the first measure) of a Cross Body Lead are always the same. During the second measure is when you did the moves I called the Secret Agent (only the Lead turning) or the Double Secret Agent (the Follow turning then the Lead).

The whole CBL also takes just two measures of music – the same amount of time as a basic. The Chase Turn/CBL combination together takes four measures of music.

You spent a lot of time in class working on Salsa and CBL’s. CBL’s are very important and versatile for Salsa dancing as well as every other Latin dance.

** Hustle **
You learned to transform the Alternating Right Side Passes from last week into Lead’s Belly Pass and a Follow’s Right Side Pass from Handshake Dance Position.

Please take advantage of our Hustle Playlist.

** Next Week – final week of class **

• Salsa: Opening Break & UAT
• Salsa: Crossover Breaks
• Salsa: Face Loops and “Delays”

Consider one of the August Short Sessions
– Short Session Salsa (Thursday during our usual class time)
– Short Session Latin Drills (Saturdays 1-3pm)

Week Six

This week, you learned a fun, versatile dance called Hustle. It is done to fast temp music in 4/4 time. You learned the four-count Hustle – Rock-Step-Step-Together – and did Alternating Right Side Passes.

** Rumba **
The Opening Break and Underarm Turn (OB and UAT) is a very important move in many many different dances.

• Half a box
• Opening Break (each person stepping backward – Leads with Left, Follows with Right)
• Under Arm Turn (staying connected with Lead’s left hand to Follow’s right hand)
• Side-Together-Together

From there, the sequence is over, and you can go back to a box.

You also learned to add New Yorkers (aka Cross Over Breaks) to the sequence.

To OB and UAT, you added Crossover Breaks (X-Overs) (aka New Yorkers). Remember, it’s the inside feet that come through in the X-Overs.

• Half a box
• Opening Break (each person stepping backward – Leads with Left, Follows with Right)
• Under Arm Turn (staying connected with Lead’s left hand to Follow’s right hand)
• Cross Over Break to Lead’s Right/Follow’s Left
• Cross Over Break on the other side
• Cross Over Break on first side again
• Under Arm Turn (staying connected with Lead’s left hand to Follow’s right hand)
• Side-Together-Together

** Next Week **

• OB and UAT in Salsa
• CBL’s with turns
• In-class Showcase

Week Five

This week, you reviewed the for versions of the Sliding Door in Merengue. Realize, these Sliding Doors can start with either person in a Hammerlock, but in class we did them starting with a Follow’s Hammerlock – particularly with Lead’s Left Hand Up (Follow’s Right Hand Up).

After a fast review of Closed Dance Position (and the place dancers come to expect the Lead’s Right Hand to be) and the move/pattern called the Cross Body Lead in Salsa, I taught a brief combination (aka amalgamation).

Each component takes two measures (the time it takes to do a full basic)…
– Basic in Closed Dance Position
– Cross Body Lead in Closed Dance Position
– Cross Body Lead ending in Open Dance Position
– Chase Turn (could repeat multiple times)
– Half-a-Basic to a Follow’s Hammerlock (under Lead’s Left Hand / Follow’s Right Hand)
– one of the sliding door moves (taking an even number of measures)

** Pattern vs Rhythm **
I made quite a point of distinguishing the Pattern (aka “move” or “figure”) from the Rhythm.

– The Pattern describes where you move your feet/body
– The Rhythm describes when you move your feet/body

Embracing this distinction will help you to transform many of the moves you already know in Merengure (done using the Merengue Rhythm) into Salsa moves! The Rhythm (which itself is a function of the music) drives the moves in Salsa dancing.

** Rumba **
Near the end of class, we switched gears to a slower dance called Rumba. It is sometimes called “Box Rumba”, but more specifically, you are learning “American Style Rumba”.

The Rhythm is “Slowly, Quick Quick” (abbreviated SQQ). You learned a moved called Crossover Breaks (aka New Yorkers).

**Next Week **

• Rumba: Crossover Breaks, Opening Break, Underarm Turn
• Salsa: Crossover Breaks, Opening Break, Underarm Turn
• Salsa: CBL’s with Turns

Week Four

This week was mainly a chance for you to get comfortable with the skills you already know. Cuddles and Hammerlocks (and combinations involving Cuddles and Hammerlocks). Sliding Door (the various versions of it). Tunnels. Negative Space in general.

When we switched to Salsa, you worked on doing the Chase Turn with greater control and accuracy – knowing exactly when and how much to turn. In class, you will learn a number of turns. Those turns will all begin by stepping forward prior to turning.

In addition to reviewing the Chase Turn, you learned to do what I called a “You Go I Go” as well as a “We Go” turn (more accurately called a Barrel Roll).

The Two-Hand-Up turns (like the “You Go I Go”) require both people to keep both hands together throughout the turn. The “We Go” turn involves a modification where your hands start at 180* from each other on the imaginary vertical circle between you and your partner.

** The Cross Body Lead (CBL) **

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.

You learned to do the CBL in Closed Dance Position. I discusses some of the important features of the Closed Dance Position, particularly where the Lead’s Right Hand is expected to go. I bring that up for several reasons…

1. Leads benefit from knowing what is expected of them, making them better dancers faster.
2. Follows (especially as you are first learning to dance and attending social dances) should know that inappropriate contact is always inappropriate, even when partner dancing. Some creepy Leads may attempt to take liberties with personal space, resulting in inappropriate contact.
3. Learning good form (a good Closed Dance Position) from the very beginning makes other moves possible later.

** Next Week **

• CBL’s in Open Dance Position
• CBL’s with Follow’s Turns
• Rumba Basic

Week Three

** The Merengue **
Merengue is a very versatile dance. Not only is it popular at Salsa clubs, it has a very simple basic “step”. You have wide latitude to use Cuddles and Hammerlocks (and their derivatives) to improvise many many fun and interesting moves.

You can do each move in eight counts of music (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) or in half that time (1-2-3-4). For variety, you can switch between doing the same moves in eight counts or four counts.

The music has a characteristic driving, even beat, with the bass drum or bass guitar strongly hitting every beat of the measure (boom, boom, boom, boom).

** The Salsa **

I introduced the Salsa basic. I will start by teaching “Salsa on One”, meaning the movement forward or backward (the Break)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.

Each half of the basic (the forward half or the backward half) takes one measure of music. Therefore, it takes two measures of music to get through the entire basic.

You could count the Salsa (on one) basic 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.

** The Chase Turn **
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.

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)

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).

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

** Cuddles and Hammerlocks as Negative Space **

You began using Cuddles and Hammerlocks as a way to explore Negative Space:u

• Invision a window to do a Cuddle
• Invision a door to do a Hammerlock

You can create countless moves by creatively utilizing Negative Space.

** Sliding Door **
The Sliding Door is a way for the Lead to pass behind the Follow’s back, taking care to match heights with whomever is shorter. You will develop four different versions of the Sliding Door by changing which hand is the up hand (or whether you change the up hand).

The Sliding Door starts with a Hammerlock for either the Lead or the Follow. You must experiment with the various results depending on which partner begins in the Hammerlock.

** Tunnel **
The Tunnel starts with a Cuddle. You learned a version starting with a Cuddle for the Lead. You ended with a new kind of turn at the end – a Two-Hand-Up Turn.

** Proprioception **

While the things we are doing in class are definitely “dance moves”, they are also exercises that allow you to discover for yourself the kinds of things that are possible 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.

Learning to dance – for most people – requires developing a new 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, 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 endeavor 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).

** What and How **

Knowing what to do (the moves or the steps of a particular dance) is only a part of knowing how to do the moves. I teach you not only what to do but how to do it and make it work with a partner.

Remember that “doing the steps” is just a part of “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”.

Next Week:

• Review of Negative Space
• Applying Merengue Moves to Salsa
• Two-Hand-Up Turns
• Rotational Hip Action
• The Cross Body Lead

Week Two

After a comprehensive review of all the material from last week – the Hand Change Behind the Back, the Lead’s Under Arm Turn, Touchless Dancing, and the Friction Connection – you learned a whole system of moves and how to combine them.

** System of Moves – Cuddles and Hammerlock **
You 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).

— Turns for Follows –
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 Leads indicate a turn for the Follows, creating Cuddles – hand-across-the-face (the cute move) – and Hammerlocks – hand-away-from-the-face. There are four possible combinations here…
– Follow’s Cuddle on Lead’s Right
– Follow’s Cuddle on Lead’s Left
– Follow’s Hammerlock under Lead’s Left Hand
– Follow’s Hammerlock under Lead’s Right Hand

— Turns for Leads –
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. Again, there are four possible combinations here…
– Lead’s Cuddle on Follow’s Right
– Lead’s Cuddle on Follow’s Left
– Lead’s Hammerlock under Lead’s Right Hand
– Lead’s Hammerlock under Lead’s Left Hand

Important Principles

• if you can do the move “on one side”, you can do the same move “on the other side”, thus doubling the number of moves you know
• if the Follow can turn, so can the lead, again doubling the number of moves you know
• You can get out of a move in three ways…
  • Go back the way you came
  • Just Let Go
  • Use Negative Space (a topic for next week)
• Double the number of “moves” you know by being aware of the following fact – if the Follow can turn, so can the Lead.

**Cuddle and Hammerlock Combinations **
You learned eight different moves based on one hand going up and one hand going down – four moves where the Follow is turning and four moves where the Lead is turning. You can combine these separate moves into combinations:

• Follow’s Cuddle on Lead’s Right linked directly to Follow’s Cuddle on Lead’s Left
• Follow’s Cuddle on Lead’s Right linked directly to Lead’s Cuddle on Follow’s Right
• Follow’s Cuddle on Lead’s Right linked directly to Follow’s Hammerlock with Lead’s Left Hand Up

Or more generally:

• Cuddle on one side to Cuddle on the other (for either Lead or Follow)
• Hammerlock on one side to Hammerlock on the other (for either Lead or Follow)
• Cuddle to Hammerlock (keeping the same up-hand) (for either Lead or Follow)
• Cuddle for Lead to Cuddle for Follow (keeping the same up-hand)

Being able to smoothly do these combinations makes you a better Lead/Follow and allows you to become more aware of and sensitive to how your partner moves their own body.

Cuddles and Hammerlocks are very versatile and are the raw ingredients for countless other moves. By envisioning Negative Space (more next week), 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 are “moves”, they are also exercises that allow you to discover for yourself the kinds of things that are possible 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.

Next Week…

• Negative Space
• Sliding Door / Tunnel
• Merengue Music and Basic
• Salsa Music and Basic
• Chase Turns

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.

Thank you for completing the UW paperwork. Please also complete my separate waiver and welcome survey, and download the class syllabus…

• Waiver (print and bring to class)
• Welcome Packet (print and bring to class)
• Policies (keep for your records)
• Syllabus: Summer 2011 UWCE Latin/Salsa Class (for your information)

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

** The Warm Up **
The warm up is the most important part of any dance class. It how you train your body to move in new ways, developing the strength, balance, and poise necessary for dancing. 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 warm up.

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, yet a warm up is frequently missing from many ballroom dance classes.

In the ballroom classes and workshops I have taken or taught over the years, students get through more material more quickly and with greater satisfaction in those classes that began with a comprehensive warm up.

** My Approach **
Just like there is more to music than the notes, and there is more to painting than the brush strokes or color pallet, there is more to dancing than the steps.

Ballroom dancing (partner dancing) involves many skills. The steps (aka “moves” or “figures” or “patterns”) are important. It may seem that knowing the steps may be all it takes to ballroom dance. However, things like balance, strength, responsiveness, timing, and communication all go into doing the steps with a partner.

I believe in teaching you how to dance – how to make the steps your own so that you will always remember the moves you learned in class. You will know how to produce the moves in addition to what you are trying to produce.

It takes a little bit of time to lay this foundation, but it is time well spent.

** Leading and Following **
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.

Partner dancing is a dialogue between two people – each person voluntarily dancing together in response to each other. The Lead does not tell the Follow what to do!

Leading does not imply control. Leading simply means going first. Following does not imply submission. Following simply means going next. Everything you do in partner dancing involves taking turns responding to each other.

The Lead’s role is to move somewhere new. The Follow’s role is to respond to the Lead’s movement. The Lead then responds to the Follow’s response!

Follows have a lot of power in the partnership. A Lead cannot go again until the Follow has moved in response. That is, Follows can make Leads wait their turns to go again. The communication between Leads and Follows involves taking turns.

** The Connection **
You started with Touchless Dancing. It is an excercise in perceiving your partner’s movements. Everything each person does must be clear and readable, and each person learns patience while dancing (waiting your turn to go).

We worked on what I call the Friction Connection – not too hard, not too soft, just right – and that each person is responsible for building and maintaining the connection. We did this by doing a high-five and keeping your hands together. Each partner must maintain that feeling of connection.

We used the Friction Connection to begin moving around the room – simply at first and then adding turns.

** Leads Turns **
Leads learned to do a Hand Change Behind the Back (starting right-to-right), and then an Under Arm Turn (UAT) (after ther hand change, you are Lead’s left to Follow’s right).

** Follows Turns **
Follows do not need to “copy” the Lead. Instead, Follows go where their own hands go! When your hand goes in a circle, as is the case for turns, your whole body goes in a circle.

The hand going up, by itself, means that someone is about to turn. Only when your hand begins moving in a circle (as in Hand Across the Face and Hand Away from the Face) do you actually turn your whole body.

** Summary **
Learning to lead and follow from the very beginning of learning to dance promotes greater understanding of dancing and ultimately allows you to dance skillfully, creatively, and expressively. When you begin learning the specific steps and patterns for the various dances, already knowing what it feels like to lead and follow (responding to each other) will help immensely.

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

Next Week

• Personal Space and the Three Socially-Acceptable Regions of Contact
• System of Turns – Cuddles and Hammerlocks
• The Merengue Basic and Music
• The Salsa Basic and Music

Please write a comment (in the Comments area, below) about your goals for our class…