Week Three: 1-28-10

We worked on a little sequence tonight, dealing with both timings, some turns, and a promenade position…and it went a little something like this:

• Do a full box (S-Q-Q)
• Then open up to promenade position
• Progress forward with the “Magic Step” (S-S-Q-Q), and close up
• Return to promenade position, and progess forward with another Magic Step, this time with a Follow’s under arm turn. Close up when you’re done. Remember: Magic Steps come in pairs!
• Do half a box, and open to promenade position again at the end (S-Q-Q)
• Enter the flip-flops (Leads moving forward, and redirecting the Follow from Lead’s right arm to Lead’s left..etc)
• To end, Leads simply hold up their left hand to catch the Follow’s right as the Follow is flipping back in that direction
• And back to a box! Rinse and repeat.

We talked about a few things that go into a promenade position. Lead’s shouldn’t be squishing or manipulating or torquing the Follow. The Lead is only turning, the Follow is responding.

Likewise, when switching from progressive movement (something going forward in a line) to box movement (something that switches direction), the concept of momentum becomes more important. When moving down the floor, Leads should keep their momentum continually moving forward. To signal to the Follow that something is changing, that momentum needs to be checked.

Put another way: as a Follow, when I am being lead in progressive movement, it feels like I am water running downhill–it never stops, even if it pauses briefly to move around a rock or something. When I am being lead in box motion, it feels like I am sloshing water in a jar. It knows where the edges of the universe are, so to speak, though fills that universe completely (without spilling!).

Week Two: 1-21-10

Hello Dancers,

As a reminder: 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.

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 dealt more with concepts of Lead and Follow as we explored how to get into a closed position: BIG elbows, slightly offset, and maintaining that nice friction-y connection.

To get into a closed position, we used other points of contact. Last week, we had dealt mainly with hand-to-hand contact. This week, we also worked with hand to shoulder. These points can slide and turn, stop and start, move forward and move backward. Likewise, closing one’s eyes (for the Follow) can sometimes make it easier to feel where the Lead is directing the point of contact.

It’s not where you step, but when you step.

We worked with the “Magic Step”: Slow-Slow-quick-quick (lead starting forward on the left). I talked briefly about the math problem that this creates: 4 count measures, and 6 count basics?! Don’t worry…like swing, it resolves itself if you always do an even number of Magic Steps!

Announcements from this week: We’re looking for some help getting an Adult USA Dance chapter started. Check our page (http://www.artofdancemadison.com/944/) for a list of specific tasks we need help with.

Also, we are running various specials on private lessons. Continue to check our Specials page (http://www.artofdancemadison.com/specials/)!

Welcome to New Dancer Fox Trot 101!

We started off doing some partnering work: finding a sticky connection that brings us together with our partner without being stuck. Leads started moving space around the dance floor, and Follows filled that space, whether moving forward or backward.

We started off marking time with our walking–a nice measured walk around the room in time to the music. We later amped this up a bit, and started differentiating between “slow” and “quick” steps. We can count Fox Trot in a few different ways: Slow-Quick-Quick; 1-HOLD-2, 3, 4; baaaaah-yump-bump; etc. The important part is that that first weight change takes two beats, while the second and third weight change only take one beat.

Walking also became a little more involved: we’re now rolling from the heel to the toe, with that “rocking chair” action. No more picking our feet up!

Leads experimented walking forward and backward, using one hand or both hands. Also, we walked counter-clockwise around the outside of the floor. Like a running track, this is a convention in Ballroom dancing for all travelling dances (including Fox Trot, Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Country 2-Step, and Samba). The middle of the floor is used for stationary moves–spinny, flashy stuff–and the “inside track” of the outside is used for slower dancers.

You can read more about social dance conventions in our FAQ:

Etiquette
Beyond Etiquette

We talked about the Point of Contact. This is the place that the Lead and the Follow come into contact with each other. We were mainly using hand-to-hand contact this week, though will explore other options in the coming weeks!

We began drawing some circles, both across the face and away from the face. If the Leads are leading the Follow in a turn (or redirecting their space), the Lead will draw a circle around the Follow’s head (moving the point of contact). If the Lead wants to turn, the Lead leaves the point of contact stationary and moves him or herself.

Why does this work? Because the Follow is following that point of contact, connected with an imaginary string from the bellybutton! If the point of contact moves, the Follow moves. If it doesn’t move, the Follow doesn’t move. Magic!

Great job with your first class!