Week ten (12 November)

Tonight was a full night! After doing a little review of Merengue and Salsa, we did a whirlwind tour of Nightclub Two-Step. This is a nice all-purpose dance that can be used in social situations for a large range of slower, poppy music (think “Lady in Red”). Like Salsa, it’s dance with a QQS (yump-bump-bahhhh) timing to it. Both Lead and Follow take a
back break on the quicks, and then side step together. We also worked on rotation of the basic: Lead goes, Follow goes.

I brought this up as an example of the portability of concepts between dances. Many of the specifics will differ, but the broad concepts will serve you well any time and any place.

After that, we returned to Rumba. We did some review of going into Cuddles and Hammerlocks. Then we moved on to Passes: left side of the Lead’s body (Cross Body Lead), and right side of the Lead’s body. With the Cross Body Lead (CBL), we worked on a few concepts. The first was dancing in a “slot”, or as if both Lead and Follow were dancing on a train track.

Leads: Move back out of the way, let the Follow pass you, and then move back in the way.
Follows: Move straight down the track, past the Lead, and then close back up to the Lead.

When all is said and done, the Lead and Follow have switched places (or, each person has rotated 180).

At the end, we started adding in some turns, either across or away from the Follow’s face. Some of you stumbled across the fun of multiple turns…and we will work more with those in days to come!

Remember, too, that this is just an introduction to these dances…the roadmap, if you will. There are many different directions that you can begin to explore from here! Darrell and I are always interested in hearing your feedback about how classes are going, and what classes you would be interested in taking! To that end, we’ve made a place for you to give us your feedback here:

http://www.artofdancemadison.com/868/what-kinds-of-classes/

We will offer additional price incentives or Art of Dance Merchandise for everyone who leaves a thoughtful and robust comment and then enrolls in any class or workshop!

Week nine (4 November)

We started by going back over some more Cuban motion and keeping ourselves attached to the ground (don’t let the $100 blow away!). Another big concept that we hit on was our center line (the imaginary line drawn down along the nose/naval)…and keeping our knees juuuust scraping along it! We don’t want the knees to bow out or cross over in front of each other.

This then brought us to some more work on isolations: ribs, then hips, ribs then hips…

We took a little time-out to do a brief exercise in Passive manipulation. While it can be difficult to — literally — place yourself completely in someone else’s hands, it’s a good reminder for both Follows and Leads that dancers need to be just as receptive as we are active. To communicate, you also need to listen.

We then went back to Rumba: box, extra step to the side, underarm turn, a few steps in place, and then back to a box in closed position. There was a second way that we worked on to recover from a UAT (Under-Arm Turn): the 5th position break. Leads rotate back about 90 degrees, opening space; Follows respond to the opening space and mirror the Lead’s action. Leads don’t need to push the Follow, or crank into the Follows back. Compression and expansion!

Week eight (29 October)

We started off with a little review of Merengue and Salsa, especially the chases from the previous week.

We started a new dance tonight: Rumba. I started off the class doing a little dance-transformation from Salsa to Rumba. In other words, the fundamental skills you have been learning for the past seven weeks are still applicable! There are still quick things and slow things, side things and front and back things. We’re still drawing circles across and away from the face. Easy cheesy!

We started working on a Rumba box in closed dance position. A rule of thumb: slow things go front and back, quick-quicks go side to side. We then started doing some Follow’s Under-arm Turns.

We also talked a little bit about style. Salsa and Merengue or more flirty, light-hearted dances. Rumba, on the other hand, is more sultry…the “bedroom dance”, if you will. As the Follows were turning, then, we worked the sexy. However, like all dance, this is all personal style. We all have different ways to express ourselves…and everyone’s “sexy” will look different. Embrace the difference, and find what works for you! Ultimately, what looks the best on the dance floor is what is comfortable. Take what works, leave what doesn’t.

Week seven

(22 October)

This week was all about discovering new ways to move our bodies with Cuban Motion. We worked on four main points…

1. Step with your toe first, then your heel (sliding the $100 bill along the floor)
2. Keep the feet (hips!) turned out
3. Get full weight changes
4. Keep your legs under your body

…with a few addenda added on…

(5) Bend and straighten the legs
(6) Walk like you are Cleopatra or King Arthur!

So, having spent some time re-learning how to walk, we then returned to some Salsa. We spent some time just working on these concepts in a Salsa basic, and then moved on to Chases.

The chases involve a new concept: visual leads. This means that both Leads and Follows need to be attuned to each other to realize when and how the space is moving for each partner.

These chases involved stepping (or shifting weight) and turning. As a rule of thumb, though, these don’t happen at the same time. So, like the basketball pivot, we move forward, turn, move back, turn, and bring our feet together. I go, you go, I go, you go…until one of us gets dizzy and we stop!

To help nullify the dizziness, we also worked on some visual leads for side breaks, and then switching between front and back breaks and side breaks.

Week six

The name of the game tonight was fun! We worked on taking a lot of the concepts that we’ve been working on in isolation and stringing them together.

We started with a review of Points of Contact. Leads and Follows found a sticky, post-it-like, fricton-y connection with each other. To make sure that you were really connecting to your partner with your body and not your eyes, we did some work with our eyes closed.

We reviewed Salsa timing: yump-bump-bah, Quick-Quick-Slow, 1-2-3 HOLD 4! Whatever words you attach to it, the point is that you take two steps (or changes of weight) that are twice as fast as your third.

We also returned to some basics of our dance position, and worked on keeping our feet turned out (heels together, toes apart), and getting full weight changes, even when stepping forward.

Then came the Closed Dance Position. Leads and Follows both worked to maintain that sticky, friction-y, post-it-like connection with each other, which means no pinched fingers, no noodle arms, no claw-hands, no vice-grips. We are connected because we both choose to be connected.

To switch between closed position, and the double-hand open facing position, we used an Opening Break, in which the lead takes a normal back-break on the right, and then a second back break on the left (instead of a front-break on the left). This creates extra space between Lead and Follow, and is a good way to initiate moves like turns.

So then we put together a little sequence: A few measures of a Salsa basic in closed position; Opening break; Hammerlock; Sliding Door; unwind; Lead’s cuddle to tunnel; unwind with two double-hand turns; a “window-shaped” head-loop for Lead’s styling; and back to a closed position basic.

Phew! Look how much you know already! Even more exciting: you were all finding ways to improvise within this framework, and make the dance your own!

Reminder: Check the Art of Dance Calendar for opportunities to go practice all of this! You certainly know enough to hold your own on the dance floor now!

Week Five

We started working on Salsa tonight! We started going over the basic “heart beat” of the dance: yump-bump-bah; quick-quick-slow; 1-2-3 HOLD 4; quarter note-quarter note-half note….etc.

While we worked with a basic “thinking pattern” (forward with the left and together; back on the right and together)…that is just a guideline for dancing! The more important thing is to get a full three weight changes per measure. These weight changes can be forward and back, left to right, or even in place! Remember, that “thinking pattern” is just a guideline…not a hard and fast rule!

We then began to incorporate the moves we have been working on for the past month into Salsa: cuddles, hammerlocks, and all of their variations.

One of the important rules of thumb: Lead a turn when the turning person’s LEFT foot is free. OR: Lead a turn when the turning person is moving FORWARD into the turn.

We also began to talk about changing the “speed” of our dancing: or creating variations in light and shade. Fast only exists because of slow. It is perfectly acceptable–and even appreciated–to take a few measures to get into or out of some moves….as long as you keep track of the foot you’re on, and keeping the heartbeat of the music going in your body!

We are now getting a better handle on some of the little “words” that are part of the larger “language” of Rhythm dancing. Like a language, you start off with basic sentences: “John runs” (basic, cuddle, hammerlock). The more you speak this language, though, and the more familiar the vocabulary becomes…the more complex sentences you will be able to make!

Great night tonight everybody!

Week Four

We continued to work on cuddles and hammerlocks this week. We started by reviewing the Lead’s Cuddle to Tunnel combination. However, like all moves, if the Lead can do it, the Follow can do it too! So we learned how the Lead can deflect the Follow’s space downward, creating a gap for the Follow to fill.

We then started working on Sliding Door combinations. These all start from a hammerlock, with the Lead walking forward into open space. Then the Lead has the options to switch the “up” hand, bring both hands down, or bring both hands up.

We also worked on a Barrell Roll, when both partners turn in the same direction at the same time.

Week Three

Hello Dancers,

This is Darrell Dieringer, Sarah’s professional dance partner and your substitute teacher for the week.

We did a solid review of the system of turns involving one hand going up (to about forehead-height of the turning person) and one hand going down (wrists below the elbow for both people).

From that system, we develop Cuddles and Hammerlocks. When leading a turn, Leads must create a path that goes in a circle (same action as dusting the tall shelf). When leading themselves to turn, Leads must be careful to not draw any circles (even little partial circles). When following a turn, Follows keep the fronts of their bodies moving in the direction of their own hands.

We discussed how to double the number of moves you know. If you can do a move with the left hand up, you could do it with the right hand up. If you could turn one way, you could turn the other way. If the Follow can turn, so can the Lead.

Using this, we reviewed the eight different moves based on one hand going up and one hand going down.

We did Cuddle-to-Hammerlock (or Hammerlock-to-Cuddle) combinations, as well as Cuddle-to-Cuddle and Hammerlock-to-Hammerlocks. Remember, if the Follow can be the turning person, so can the Lead.

Last, we did the Lead’s Cuddle to a Tunnel and introduced the two-hand-up turn (or what I was calling the “You Go I Go” / “I Go You Go” / “He Goes She Goes” / “She Goes He Goes” turn). The idea is that one person turns, then the other person (vs both people turning at the same time). It doesn’t matter who goes first – you get to decide that yourself when you are dancing.

It was a joy to teach your class. I hope to see all of you out dancing soon.

Darrell

Weeks One and Two

In the first two weeks of class, we began exploring ideas of connection and partnering.

We talked about points of contact: hand to hand, hand to shoulder, and hand to waist.

However, hands should always be kept supple and flexible. Over-use of thumbs will limit your range of motion…keep your thumbs out of the dance! Instead, create a connection between hands that has the same amount of energy as if you were trying to start a fire, and is sticky (but not stuck), like a post-it.

We also talked about the jobs of the Lead and Follow: The Lead creates space, the Follow fills the space.

We began working on concepts of cuddles and hammerlocks within Merengue. We also started talking about Cuban motion: creating a full-bodied “hip” action.