Week Four

Hello dancers! We started off our last Rumba class reviewing breaks: front and back, side to side, cross-over, and 5th position.

We then moved on to Circular Walks. These start with a Slow Under-Arm Turn, and then the Lead walks backward in a tight circle, while the Follow walks forward in a similarly-diametered circle (i.e. in a circle that shares a common center). The Lead will end this with a “J-hook” when the Follow is stepping forward on a slow on the right foot.

These Circular Walks are a great opportunity for Follows to work on styling–picking those apples!

This week was, sadly, our last week of class. Do not despair! Next week, I am starting the New Dancer Swing class. I will be focusing more on West Coast Swing, which is the dance that Darrell and I demonstrated at the end of class. Thank you all for a great class!

Rumba Student Discount
Sign up by the first day, mention the coupon code “RUMBA”, and take 20% off the total tuition!

Wisconsin State
Next week is the Wisconsin State Dancesport Championships – the biggest competition in the Midwest (next to the Ohio Star Ball). It happens April 14-18 (Wed/Sun) at the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee.

Darrell and I are recruiting spectators to watch the daytime events on Saturday, 17 April 2010. See Session 6 – Saturday Matinee. The Saturday daytime events are exclusively amateur events (dance students dancing with each other) and pro/am events (dance students dancing with their teachers).

You will see multiple skill levels (from new dancer through Open Gold) in International Standard in the morning and International Latin in the Afternoon.

See Tickets for prices – Saturday day is $20/person, and is good from ~8am to ~4pm (when the amateur events are finished).

The ballroom is then emptied so it can be set up for the evening banquet and professional competitive events. Saturday night is almost entirely sold out – standing room only tickets are available for $35/person. Still, it is worth it!

Ballroom dance competitions are a sensory experience that words and pictures cannot do adequate justice. The are very exciting events!

Week Three

We started out by reviewing the breaks we worked on last week: forward and back, side to side, opening break, cross-over (moving forward), and 5th position (moving back).

We worked on a little combination: Box, Opening Break, Cross-over breaks, Under-arm turn, 5th position break, and close up directly into a box again.

We then expanded on styling for Cross-overs by adding a walk-around turn: the Lead keeps connection with the BACK hand (instead of the front hand, like you normally would), both partners stretch to not knock each other over, and then when you just can’t take it any more, you let go and both Lead and Follow do a walk-around turn (or one of those “pivot” turns). You can use these as a way to end Cross-over breaks, or as a styling variation. Leads should be careful not to “shove” or “throw away” the Follow’s hand though–remember, you are just letting go….no song or dance needed!

We also worked a little more on Cuban motion: keeping toes connected to the ground, but also remembering to bring your heels down when you step (toe-heel, toe-heel); and bending and straightening the knees (you will never know what “straight” is if you don’t have “bent”!).

Reminders

1. No class next week (4/1/2010)! Instead, Darrell and I will be offering extra workshops on both Tuesday and Thursday. This is a great opportunity for you to work more on concepts like Cuban motion (hip action) and partnering and connection. You can find more details here: http://www.artofdancemadison.com/1002/. They will be covering such topics as Cuban motion and partnering.

2. The USA Dance Steering Committee is having their first meeting this Sunday from 2:00 – 3:30 at Victor Allen on Monroe St. More details here: http://www.artofdancemadison.com/998/. If you want to be a part of this, but are unable to make it to the first meeting, please contact Darrell or myself: http://www.artofdancemadison.com/contact/.

Week Two

It was wonderful being able to meet you all this week! We worked on a break drill. A break happens when you go somewhere, you stop, and replace your weight onto the foot you just left. We practiced doing front and back breaks, and side breaks to both the right and left.

We then went on to Cross-over breaks and Fifth Position Breaks (Fifth position = toe to heel). These both happen when Lead and Follow are shoulder-to-shoulder, and continue to dance on the opposite foot (left to right, or right to left). This will give you the look of running a three-legged race with your dance partner. Both of these can start in the same way that the Opening Break did: Lead’s front half of a box, then a side step, and the break.

Cross-over break
Slow: Side step facing each other, turn 90 degrees “outward”…
Quick: …step forward, and extend forward (that “fencing” position)…
Quick: …replace your weight back, rotate 90 to face each other.
Rinse and repeat!

Fifth position break
Slow: Side step facing each other, turn 90 degrees “inward”…
Quick: …step back into fifth position (toe to heel)…
Quick: …replace your weight forward, rotate 90 to face each other.

Please remember Darrell’s Rule of Three: don’t do more than three of these in a row!

We also did some work on Cuban motion. As I said, there are many different moving parts in your body, and trying to think about all of them at once will drive you batty! So a few key points to be working on for now:

• Keep your toes on the ground
• Bend and straighten your knees
• Use your abs to move your legs
• Keep your head level

How can you practice these? I’m glad you asked! Side breaks are a wonderful way to practice Cuban motion. Give yourself a few minutes every day, find a mirror, and do a bunch of side breaks.

Well done everyone!

Week One

Hello Dancers,

This is your substitute teacher (and Sarah Calhoun’s professional dance partner) Darrell Dieringer. Sarah was under the weather, so I filled in as teacher for class tonight.

Rumba is a sultry dance that has its roots in Cuba, with various West African influences. Our “Latin” dances are mostly Cuban in origin. Salsa, Mambo, Rumba, Cha Cha, Bolero, and even Swing can trace their origins to Cuba and even further to West Africa. Dances continue to evolve still today. For example, the dance Nightclub Two Step derives from Swing/Salsa and is a 1980′s invention.

We started with Touchless Dancing and the awareness that ballroom dancing is a ritualized way to invade the personal space of another person. People who ballroom dance (partner dance) agree to have their personal space invaded, but only by those people who adhere to the appropriate rituals.

These rituals involve our Regions of Contact, the “Goldilocks” connection (not too hard and not too soft), and how to do an Open dance position and a Closed dance position in an expected and appropriate way.

We covered two different forms of the “basic” step. The Box Basic and the Side Basic. Rumba uses a Slow-Quick-Quick (SQQ) basic. Our “moves” in Rumba come out of the Side Basic. You learned a common Latin dance move called the Opening Break and Under Arm Turn. This move shows up in every Latin dance, and many Smooth dances as well.

First, you practiced a four-measure sequence that involves half-a-box, side basic, side basic, side basic. That is a common way to construct “moves” in Rumba. Remember, each “Slow” in the rhythm is followed by two “Quicks”.

You quickly turned that four-measure sequence into the Opening Break and Under Arm Turn (UAT).

A Break (in a general sense) is an abrupt change of direction. In the Opening Break, the Lead steps back with the Left foot while the Follow steps back with the Right foot, which results in a separating (opening) action – thus the “Opening” break.

The Opening Break is a common way to create some additional space so that you can then do an Under Arm Turn (UAT).

In the Ballroom Dance world there are two very broad categories of dance – International Style and American Style. International Style encompasses what we call Latin and Standard, and American Style encompasses what we call Rhythm and Smooth.

To be completely accurate, in class Sarah and I teach American Style dances. In American Style the dances commonly referred to as “Latin” (in a colloquial sense) are called “Rhythm” dances. So, you are learning American Style Rumba (a Rhythm dance), which is different than International Style Rumba (a Latin dance). Much information is available online (see Wikipedia) regarding the American vs International styles, and I encourage you to read up on the differences.