Week Thirteen

This is our second-to-last class, and it was a small group today. So, as been my tradition for many years, when the class size is unexpectedly small I teach “tricks”.

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!

You also worked on Arm Styling and Creating Lines. You worked on how to “unfold” the arm from the shoulder to the fingertips. You also worked on matching expansion (your fingertips and your toes reach their maximum positions simultaneously), as well as matching your partner’s expansion (so everyone’s fingertips and toes reach their maximum outstretched positions simultaneously.)

Further, you worked on some generalities of male styling vs female styling. I talked about this in terms of being inside a globe and which parts of the equator-to-north-pole could be utilized for male/female styling.

In addition, we worked on some right-to-right and left-to-left handhold moves in Merengue, including a you-go-I-go move, a thing I referred to as the Elbow Breaker and the thing the class dubbed the Jungle Gym (a tricky-looking move starting with the Lead’s hammerlock-like move from right-to-right and left-over-right handhold).

I will see you next week for our Final Class!

Week Twelve

Can you believe the semester is almost over? It seems like only yesterday that everyone looked at me like I was nuts when we started the warm-up, and now everyone can do the warm up! (It is really cool for me to see that happen.)

This week was review of the CBL, the Secret Agent, the Double Secret Agent, as well as adding some of the things you already know how to do (like Hammerlocks) to the CBL.

We worked on a practice sequence in Merengue so that we could adapt that sequence (or pieces of it) to Salsa.

In Salsa, you can do a CBL ending with a Follow’s hand-across-the-face or hand-away-from-the-face (inside vs outside) turn. Hint – one results in more amount of turn than the other.

You can also do a Follow’s Hammerlock (which is just a special kind of hand-away-from-the-face- turn) to finish a CBL. It would be possible to progress immediately to the Follow’s-Hammerlock-portion of your practice sequence. Or, you could to the first part of a basic (forward for the Lead, backward for the Follow) followed by a right side pass to get out of the Hammerlock. (The choice is ultimately yours.)

We finished class with a dance called Hustle. This dance is based on Swing and is danced to “disco-tempo” music (fast). Hustle is the dance that John Travolta did in the iconic movie “Saturday Night Fever”.

Dancing Hustle involves doing a lot of Alternating Right Side Passes (which are just special Cuddles). You worked on the four-count basic (there is also a three-count basic) which uses four weight changes (as does the three-count basic). Lead’s always do the Ball-Change (aka rock-step) on their Left Foot. Follows always do the Ball-Change with their Right Foot. The Ball-Change (rock-step) always happens by moving backward (ie, away from your partner) a very tiny step.

You quickly learned the Lead’s Belly Pass, which is just a Lead’s Right Side Pass without using the “up” hand (only the “down” hand).

Next week, I want to explore a bit more Hustle, introduce Rumba, and work on criss-cross hand hold moves in Merengue.

Stay Warm!

Week Eleven

This week as largely a review of last week. (Please see the Class Note for Week Ten, above.) In Salsa, we spent less time on the right side pass this week, and more time on the CBL (with Secret Agent and Double Secret Agent).

While we were still dancing Merengue, I had everyone work on a sequence of “moves” that together capture the various skills you have been learning all sememster. Lead’s-Cuddle-on-Follow’s-Right-Side-To-Tunnel to the thing I called the Krither (remember the story – named after two students, one named Kristin and the other named Heather), to Follow’s Hammerlock, to sliding door, to the “tooshie” move”, then repeat.

(I hope by now everyone has noticed how difficult/confusing it is to describe movement concepts with written language alone.)

Wow! Those are a lot of components. To do each of those separately (and all of those together), you have needed to react to changing space, to move smoothly and with flexibility not only in your body and limbs, but in regard to what may happen next, to know that both the lead and follow can turn, and to take advantage of changing elevation (leads bending at the hips or at the knees as needed).

Taking the sequence, I encouraged you to do it on the other side (ie, starting with a Lead’s-Cuddle-on-Follow’s-Left-Side). All of the directions of turn, and all of the up-hands vs down-hands are exactly opposite.

At the end of class, Sarah and I began introducing some right-to-right and left-to-left hand-hold moves, including something that resembled a hammerlock, and yet another you-go-I-go kind of turn. We also did a move that I called the Elbow-Breaker. Some of you even figured out how to do that move on the other side.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Week Ten
Hello Dancers,

Since we had low attendance today (thank you everyone who let me know in advance that you would be absent), we crammed through a lot of material relatively quickly. I am confident you will be able to do all of these moves (and all of the dances still to come) with confidence!

Today you worked on the Follow’s Hammerlock to Right-Side-Pass and the Lead’s Hammerlock to Right-Side-Pass. These moves help to reveal the importance of moving with small steps, moving with accuracy, leading in a timely manner, and following with power.

You also worked on a pair of related moves that use the Cross Body Lead (CBL). I called them the Secret Agent and the Double Secret Agent. The first one uses a Lead’s hand change behind the back (starting the CBL with a handshake-hand-hold). The second one builds on the first by adding a Follow’s inside turn (hand across the face).

You worked briefly on another turn for the follow (also using the CBL). Everything we did involved a connection to the Follow’s right hand – sometimes it was with the Lead’s left hand, and sometimes it was with the Lead’s right hand. In either case, the turn works the same for the Follow since the connection is with the Follow’s right hand.

You did a hand-across-the-face (inside) turn, where the Follow turns one-and-a-half-turns. You also did a hand-away-from-the-face (outside) turn, where the Follow turns one-half-turn only.

At the very end of class, you learned a new way to do a Right-Side-Pass that used a Cuddle instead of a Hammerlock. We applied that to the dance Hustle.

We have Four Classes Remaining! I have some ambitious goals regarding what we will cover…

• More Salsa CBL-based moves
• Criss-Cross Hand Hold (for Merengue/Salsa)
• More Hustle (to emphasize small steps and controling ones own body movements)
• Rumba (at least five “school-figures”)
• Cha Cha (at least five “school-figures”)

Realize that all semester you have been learning not just a set of moves, but a way to think about, to create, and to react to movement. Every dance is built on being able to create and to react to constantly changing space.

Each of the dances we will still cover in class builds on the skills you already have, adding new music and new rhythms.

Week Nine

Hello Dancers,

My professional dance partner, Sarah Calhoun, was gracious enough to join us in class today. For the visual learners, hopefully watching Sarah dance gives you some ideas about adding your own personality and style to your dancing.

You have accumulated a lot of raw ingredients for how to partner dance – how to move with and in response to a partner.

You have worked on different “levels” of contact (arm/shoulder/waist), friction, circles, responsiveness, rolling with “mistakes”, creativity/inventiveness, chivalry/respectfulness, being skilled and being confident without becoming prideful or arrogant, how to dance well, and generally how to be welcome members of any social dance scene.

It is time to start applying these various skills to any number of dances (more later in this post).

This week I had intended to cover the Cross Body Lead (CBL) in greater detail. We did, however, spend more time becoming skilled at Right Side Passes for both the lead and the follow.

I introduced the “Dance Mantra” of Yump-Bump-Bah, Do-The-Move, Yump-Bump-Bah, Undo-The-Move” as a way to (1) remember how to do things, and (2) drive home the importance of pacing yourself. Your dancing ends up looking better, feeling better, and being more fun if you take your time between “moves”. Your dancing is less hurried-looking, less frantic-looking, and more importantly more comfortable when you take enough time to do your moves.

We were doing a Right Side Pass out of either a Lead’s Hammerlock or a Follow’s Hammerlock. Your Dance Mantra changes a bit for the Lead’s Hammerlock version, reflecting the timing at which the turning person (the Lead) is “Doing-The-Move”.

Hint: The turning person turns by stepping forward into the turn (with the Left Foot) – the front part of a basic. So the “Do-The-Move” part of the chant happens on the front part of the basic for whomever is turning.

We spent the last few minutes in class reviewing the CBL and the Closed Dance Position – see last week’s Class Note regarding the appropriate location for the Lead’s Right Wrist.

Some of you were already noticing that the CBL is a way to change places by rotating as a couple (as seen from above) to the Left, and the Right Side Pass is a way to change places by rotating to the Right.

You will end up doing both for any number of dances. Salsa (LA-Style in particular) uses the CBL more than the Right Side Pass. Hustle (a popular fast-tempo dance based on Swing) is just the opposite, using more Right Side Passes than CBL’s.

Next week in class I have ambitious plans. We will of course start with Merengue, then move quickly to reviewing Right Side Passes in Salsa, and then more extensively covering CBL’s and a variety of “moves” (all based on things we have already done in Merengue).

We will extend our Right Side Passes by covering a “Club” dance – Hustle. Hustle has existed for decades, and is still danced at social ballroom dance events, dance competitions, and even contemporary night clubs. Sarah and I have gone to places like Madison Ave (on Univ Ave here in Madison) and Decibel (on the fashionable East Side of Milw near the Oriental Theater) and had a lot of fun doing Hustle to the music they play there.

You may recognize Hustle as the dance from the iconic 70′s movie “Saturday Night Fever”. We still do it, but without all the polyester and giant collars!

See you Tuesday!

Darrell

Week Eight

This week, we reviewed the various Chase Turn variations as well as introduced a very important “move”, the Cross Body Lead (CBL).

The Cross Body Lead is a special way to change places by turning 180 degrees (half-a-turn) to the left in two measures of music.

Each person gets six weight changes (steps) – it is two yump-bump-baaahs, afterall. The Lead must get out of the way and stay out of the way.

The Follow passes the Lead like the Lead isn’t even there..

The Follows will go where thier hands go, so the Lead is careful to send the Follow’s hands on a straight-line path past the Lead.

Small steps make this work well.

CBL’s can be done in Open Dance Position as well as in Closed Dance Position.

Next week, we will add a number of our hand-across-the-face and hand-away-from-the-face moves to the CBL.

Week Seven

This week was mostly a review – a chance to get comfortable with the Salsa Rhythm as well as with the basic Pattern.

The Chase Turn is a great example of a single “move” that becomes many other moves just by changing something. The something we were changing involved two things – 1) the hands we were using, and 2) the level the hands were at.

I have talked about three socially-acceptable regions to make contact with another dancer… arm level, shoulder level, and waist level.

When we are doing any kind of under-arm-turn (UAT), we are also using a fourth level – head level. We don’t make contact at the head, of course, but we do move a contact-at-the-hands up to head-height.

We can invent new “moves” by taking a move we already know and changing something about it, like the level of the connection.

The footwork, timing, direction of turn, and amount of turn for each of our chase turn variations is exactly the same. The only thing that makes any of the variations different is something about the connection – the hands we use, as well as the level the hands are at.

We will come back to this idea that I call Change One Thing.

We worked on Closed Dance Position, and how transition into and out of closed dance position.

There is only one acceptable place for the Lead’s right hand (wrist) to be when in Closed Dance Position. The Lead’s right wrist goes in the Follow’s left underarm.

Partner dancing is a ritualized way to invade the personal space of another person. People who attend social dance events rightfully expect the other participants to honor their personal space. Knowing how to dance in a Closed Dance Position shows that you understand the (usually unwritten) rules about personal space.

Happy Halloween!

Week Six

Hello Dancers,

You have now developed enough skills to start applying them in systematic ways. Remember, every dance (Salsa, Rumba, Cha Cha, Waltz, Tango, etc) requires being able to lead and being able to follow in order to dance them well. You have been developing those skills (by virtue of using doing the “moves” in class) all semester.

Please refer to the weeks four & five class notes regarding the Salsa Rhythm (Yump Bump Baah, Left-Bump-Baah, Quick-Quick-Slowly, etc).

A Pattern, like the Salsa Basic, is just a systematic way to represent the rhythm of a particular dance. The rhythm (and thus the dancing) does not exist because of the pattern, but exactly the opposite!

• The Pattern indicates where to go.
• The Rhythm indicates when you should be there.
• Our Leading and Following exercises allow you to master how to get there.

The pattern also represents something about the style of a particular dance. (For instance, the dance Rumba can also use a Q-Q-Slowly rhythm, but Rumba has an entirely different style than Salsa.)

Salsa is a very energetic dance, and the moves we do in Salsa tend to be more compact and cover less space. The Salsa basic captures that style with its small movements.

In class, you did several variations on the Chase Turn. As a visually-lead move. As a Lead’s hand-change-behind the back and Follow’s Under Arm Turn (UAT). As a Lead’s UAT and Follow’s UAT. And as a Follow’s Hammerlock – it could also be a Lead’s Hammerlock.

Once someone is in the Hammerlock, you know a number of moves – sliding doors, transitions to cuddles (with tunnels, for instance), etc.

The important thing is for both partners to keep the rhythm the whole time. Whatever system of counting – numbers, singing, clicking your tongue on the roof of your mouth, saying Left-Bump-Baah, Right-Bump-Baah, etc – is the system you should use. Everyone uses something, even me.

Your counting system does not need to be the same as the one your partner uses!

All of the counting system are replacements for each other, after all, so it does not matter which system a particular dancer wants to use. Each system results in the same outcome – dancing in time to music.

ROAD TRIP
Join us in Belvidere, IL (about 75 minutes from Madison on I-90) this Saturday, 24 October 2009. Find details at Belvidere Ballroom Dance.

Week Five

Can you believe it has only been one month since our dance class began. The entire class is doing very well!

We spent today’s class refining the Sliding Door possibilities, really understanding how to do them well and why things might go badly. Remember, flexibile elbows and matching heights is importand (locked arms, too much distance between each other, and too much height difference causes problems).

In Salsa, we did a Chase Turn. That move requires us to do multipe things well.

• full weight changes
• turing by stepping forward into a turn (vs sideways or crossing, etc)
• Initiating turning moves on the meaure where the turning person begins with their left foot (the Left-bump-bah measure)
• turning on the ball of the foot (specifically the part of the foot behind the big toe).
• coming back to the foot that is still on our imaginary paper plate (the right foot) when turning
• the non-turning partner keeping the rhythm of the dance while the turning person is turning
• being able to lead and follow what is called a Visual Lead (we didn’t talk about this in class, but you were already doing it)

Next week we will pick up with variations on the Chase Turn as well as focus a lot on the Rhythm of Salsa (yump-bump-bah or Quick-Quick-Slowly). We will discuss what makes music recognizable as Salsa and not, say, Merengue. (Google “clave rhythm” to come pre-informed.)

We will turn All of the moves we have been doing in Merengue into Salsa moves. Sounds ambitious, but we can do it!

In our class this semseter, I have focused primarily on helping you to develop a new or greater sense of spacial awarenes and a greater kinesthetic sense (see the week two class note regarding proprioception). As long as you continue dancing, you will continue to refine those intangible aspects of your dancing.

Sensibly, we will continue to work on those skills throughout the semester.

Dancing – any kind of dancing – is an athletic skill. For most people, developing an athletic skill takes time and commitment to the process. The first weeks of tennis lessons, ice skating, weight training, golf lessons (to name only a few) focus on developing your skills, not on having a tennis match or golf tournament. You do not expect to perform those activities well without first acquiring the needed skills

Yet for learning to dance – partner dance in particular – I have found that many people think they can bypass the skills-development phase and still somehow go directly to the doing-it-well phase. That is a very self-frustrating (and egotistical) way to proceed with learning anything, nevermind an athletic skill.

I think the reason pro football players have done so well on Dancing with the Stars, for instance, is that they probably learned years ago to listen to their coaches and to do the exercises. They approch their sport (and learning to dance) as something they want to do well, and they trust that the coach (dance teacher) will help them maximize their abilities.

Interestingly, it has been my experience that US Marines taking my dance classes also have done very well, perhaps for an analogous reason. They made a commitment to learn something, and they trusted the process for learning it. They were never worried about asking too many questions or needing something explained/demonstrated again. I presume this is because deciding to do something (here, dance class) also implies doing it as well as possible.

Self-consciousness and ego never seemed to play a part. If they did not grasp a new concept immediately, they never felt personally diminished. They just asked questions. I admire that work ethic.

I told a story about a friend (Edi Gbordzi) who teaches African Dance – a fantastic class, by the way. Incredibly fun and high-energy. When he taught classes where he had to give a grade / midterm scores / etc, his policy was to start the semester with everyone having an “A”. He would then subtract points for missed classes, coming in late, and lack of participation.

Why grade that way? Why not base grades on a performance or skills test or exhibition of some sort?

Well, learning to dance (and improving dance skills) happens differently for each person. It is the teacher’s job to provide the environment and the challenges where you are able to learn to dance (by developing the coordination, strength, flexibility, agility, sensitivity, muscular control, etc).

Given the fact everyone has unique physical abilities, flexibility, strength, past or present injuries, etc, not everyone will be able to do absolutely everything. It may take more time for some people to develop the strength and flexibility, or to recover from injuries (not necessarily dance-related). Basing grades on performance ability (especially compared to other class participants) is unreasonable and unfair.

No, this class is not graded – but I still want everyone to get a hypothetical “A”.

I know (from personal experience and from numerous anecdotes over the years) that the only thing separating dancers from non-dancers is the willingness to try.

Even dance classes that give a grade tend to base the grade on participation (not the mastery or display of skill). Why? By participating – by putting in the effort – you actually develop your dance skills. That is the purpose of dance class, afterall.

It is common, especially for new dancers in any dance form, to think that dancing is a sequence of steps. Learn the steps and naturally you will know how to dance, right?

Not quite.

Knowing where to put your feet is tangible but not interesting. A person can move their feet to new places in all kinds of ackward, frantic, or potentially dangerous (regarding injuries) ways.

Knowing how to purposefully move your feet (really your whole body) to some new place is actually useful. The “how” usually requires developing strength, new muscle control, and new sensitivity within your own body. Those intangible qualities are not represened by knowing only where the feet are “supposed” to go.

For partner dancing, not only do you need to develop new levels of control and sensitivity within your own body. You also need to develop the sensitivity to react and respond to the movements of another person.

We can simulate dancing by “knowing the steps”. Similarly, painting by numbers simulates actually painting – you end up with what looks like a painting at the end, but you just filled in the lines by following exact instructions. You didn’t learn to paint. You didn’t learn to create new artwork. You didn’t own the process. You just copied.)

You wouldn’t think you could do a spectacular jump sequence in ice skating by just watching it or knowing where you are supposed to land. You have to own the skills involved in order to do it well (and without injury).

I have attended hip hop, modern dance (Graham), jazz, ballet, ice skating, Flamenco, and African class, as well as countless hours of ballroom/latin/partner dance classes (plus all the teaching). In the beginner level classes for all of these dance forms, inevitably and predictably someone tells to teacher to “just show me the steps”.

Non dancers tend to think that if they can copy the movements of actual dancers that they are dancing. I hope you recognize there is more to doing it well than simply reproducing the movements.

You can and you will dance well. Our class is designed for just that purpose!

Thank You!

Week Four

This week we reviewed the contact-at-shoulder-level exercises, as well as leading “deflections” and suggesting that the Follow bend at the waist.

We built a few more “negative space” moves, including what I called the Sliding Door. It starts with either person in a hammerlock and then the Lead moving 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.

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

We did Hammerlock-to-Cuddle (or Cuddle-to-Hammerlock) combinations for the Lead and Follow. (When watching someone do it, it looks like it should be harder than it is to just do it.)

We also worked on Salsa. 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.

We 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.

I stressed the importance of the Salsa Rhythm over the particular Salsa Pattern.

The rhythm is the timing for moving your weight from one foot to the other foot. (Each syllable in my yump-bump-bhaaaaa, or each Quick-Quick-Slowly is a weight change.)

It is the rhythm (combined with the music) that make Salsa what it is. The basic step we did in class is just one Pattern – just one specific representation of the rhythm.

Any pattern is the location to put your feet (and presumably your body) at specific times.

The rhythm, however, drives every pattern. The rhythm is the underlying foundation of any particular dance.

Any move we do is still salsa as long as we can keep the rhythm while doing it.

Remember, let me be the one to answer your “am I doing this right” or “how is this supposed to work” questions in class. Even if think your partner might know, just ask me.

Remember, if your partner tries to “teach at” you (the expression I use for describing unwanted critique or instruction), just ask me.

Correcting your partner duing dance class (or while out dancign) is bad form. Everyone is actually in the same dance class learning the same things at the same time. Even if you think you know how something is “supposed” to work doesn’t mean you should be the one informing your partner. Just ask me.

Thank You

Week Three

Hello Dancers,

Can you believe it is only the third week of class? All of you seem to agree that you are actually dancing (vs “doing the steps).

With the pride of accomplishment comes confidence. Please remember humility as well!

Everyone in class is still learning, and for as long as you continue dancing, you will always be learning – even dance teachers! (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.

I am careful about avoiding gender pronouns or discussing the “Man’s” part or the “Woman’s” part, when really the roles of Lead and Follow are in and of themselves gender neutral.

However, sometimes I will be specific about Men and Women, usually as it relates to anecdotes about behavior.

Men, don’t let yourself get cocky! Being proud and confident is great, but remain humble to the process of learning.

Women, don’t allow men to make you think you are wrong!

I have found that Women often learn to dance more quickly than men, and men get somehow threatened or freaked out by that and start trying to tell the women what to do while dancing (out of insecurity, arrogance, spite).

Ick.

Men, I call on you to act like true gentlemen. Ladies, I call on you to only tolerate the men who act like true gentlemen, and dismiss the others as still needing to get their heads on straight.

Onward to review…

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 also worked more on the different levels or regions of contact – I refer to them as Arm Level, Shoulder Level, and Waist Level. The exercise with the follow’s wrist at the lead’s shoulder level involved Leads getting their head under the contact point. The exercise with the lead’s wrist at the follow’s shoulder was an exercise (for Leads) in defining circular paths, as well as an exercise (for Follows) in responding to subtle movements from “unusual” contact points and in a constantly changing environment.

Note: It’s not really unusual to have the lead’s hand at the follow’s shoulder level – that is the traditional Closed Dance Position that we see on TV (Dancing with the Stars) and in old movies (Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, et al).

We applied a principle that there are three general ways out of any move… just let go, go back the way you came, and use negative space.

We took our Lead’s-Cuddle-to-Tunnel and turned it into a Follow’s-Cuddle-to-Tunnel. You needed to know about the deflections we were working on using shoulder-level contact in order to lead and follow the bending action needed for backing out of the tunnel.

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 trying to “do it right” – makes you a better dancer (Leads and Follows alike).

Thank you to everyone who completed my Welcome Survey.

Week Two

Thank you for completing my Waiver and the Welcome Survey and bringing them to class. For those of you who still need to complete them, they can be found 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. We also began 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 (the one people thought was bizarre initially).

lLeads 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.

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!

We used Cuddles and Hammerlocks as a way to explore Negative Space. We started to develop the Tunnel. Next week we will work on the Sliding Door. We will also talk more about Floor Craft – the art of collision avoidance.

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 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. It 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).

I have mentioned in class 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 worked on between classes.

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

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 decide 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!

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.

We used simple notions like up, down, across, away, and circle to begin to develop a system for creating moves. We worked on simple turns for the lead and follow, as well as some hand changes behind the back for the Leads, and Cuddles (the cute-looking move) and Hammerlocks (the one that felt somewhat unusual) for the Follows.

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?” Usually, everyone will have a chance to answer, because sometimes the best observations and really good insights can come from your fellow classmates.