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.

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!

Since everyone in class has now been dancing for awhile, we quickly reviewed the core concepts that you will use throughout this class.

When you were doing the “patty cakes” exercise, you were continuing to develop 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 used simple notions like up, down, across, away, and circle to quickly work though a system for creating Cuddles and Hammerlocks. When the Leads take the “up” hand in a circle, this leads the Follow to turn. When the Leads do not create a circle, the Leads can turn themselves.

I was insisting on several things in class in order for the Leads to develop greater calmness in their dancing. The biggest was to turn (or lead turns) only when the turning person’s left foot is read to move.

Everyone can now do Cuddles and Hammerlocks for both the lead and the follow. The last exercise in class, the Lead’s Cuddle to Tunnel to Two-Hand-Up Turn for the Follow, introduced several important concepts…

• The tunnel requires a special isolation for the Lead – being able to bend at the hips w/o moving the arms in space.
• The tunnel also requires a good understanding of Negative Space – we will cover this more in the weeks to come
• The two-hand up turn for the Follow requires the Lead to lead consistently and accurately w/o being forceful in any way.

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

The people in our class are…
Deb, Nicole, Jo, Larry, Bettie-Jo, Roger, Ina, Jing, Yasin, Torrey, Dan, Matt, Marie, Megan, Jordan, Adi, Samantha, Carolyn, and Chris.

Week Two

Hello Dancers,

This week we added a few more peope to the class. Everyone’s first names appear in the Week One class note.

The material this week was designed to emphasize two very important things…

• Leads can and should turn
• Being patient about turning makes turning easier

Follows, this week I spent most of the time working on spacing/timing for the Leads. This is important so we can develop more interesting things for the Follows to do – making sure that the Leads don’t rush you through your cool moves.

I always want to emphasize how important it is for both people to keep time. Usually, the problems with timing involve going too fast. Usually, when there is a problem with timing, it is the Lead who is rushing/going too fast (not always, but usually). Developing a sense of calmness while dancing is very important for both dancers, but this week I was drawing that fact out for the Leads.

Leads, you were inititally doing Hammerlocks in order to get a sense of how it feels to turn yourself at a specific time – when your left foot is about to move (ie, the odd-numbered measures of music – more about musicality in next week’s class). Turn-bump-bahh, wait-bump-bahh, unwind-bumb-bahh, wait-bump-baah.

You switched to a Handshake Hand-Hold for the remainder of the class. You were first doing the Spin around and duck under your own arm backwards move, staying in front of your partner the whole time. However, it is easy to clobber your partner unless we add some more movement to it.

So, we did a Cross Body Lead (CBL) from a Handshake Hand-Hold, adding the spin-around-and-duck-under-your-own-arm-backwards move at the end. This was to introduce the fact that giving yourself more space (by leading the follow to pass you in the CBL) provides the Leads with a greater margin of error for turning. It also emphasized how important it is to tuck into a small ball while spinning around under your own arm.

We finished with a move that the class has affectionately dubbed the Double D. It is fitting, since you are using part of a move previously dubbed the Double Secret Agent to to the Double D.

Next week, more about space and timing. Also, we will talk about musicality and how to dance to phrases in the music. We will also cover another dance, Swing, which uses a lot of what you already know from Salsa/Merengue.

Week Three

Hello Dancers,

The main point I was making in class this week is that dancing on-time to music is incredibly important. In fact, dancing on-time is critical to dancing well.

The music is the only element of your dancing that both partners have excatly in common. You may differ in your skills, strength, balance, flexibility, creativitiy, ability to improvize, etc. The only thing you can count on (no pun intended) is the music. It is the music, of course, that determines the timing.

In order to drive this point home, I had you work on five different basic rhythms for dancing the Salsa. Realize that the “pattern” of each of the basics is exactly the same. Your feet go to the same places in each. The thing that makes them different, then, is the timing (or the rhythm, if you prefer).

I talked about Phrases in music, several ways to identify where phrases begin, and the imporance of starting at the beginning of a phrase (also referred to as “top” of a phrase). By convention, Leads start with the forward-moving part of the basic, and Follows start with the backward-moving part of the basic.

I discussed a specific instrument, the Clave, and a specific rhythm it produces in Salsa music. The Clave Rhythm Page on Wikipedia provides history and a variety of permutations of the clave rhythm. (Note, most of the examples in the Wikipedia entry denote the clave rhythm with the three-clap measure before the two-clap measure, which they call “3:2 clave”. In class – and in the music we were using in class – the two-clap meaure is at the top of the phrase, followed by the three-clap measure. This would be called “2:3 clave” on the Wikipedia page.)

By knowing how to recognize where you are in the music allows each dancer opportunities for improvisation. For instance, the Lead may take an arbitrary number of measures to duck under his arm and spin around. As long as both dancers have a sense of keeping time, this is not a problem. In fact, it allows both dancers more opportunities for creativity and expressiveness.

A point that I did not verbalize, but that you saw with Sarah’s examples, is that you do not need to move your feet in order to keep the rhythm. Regardless of the number of measures it takes, you can find where you are in the present phrase, or wait for the top of the new phrase, to pick up the basic pattern again.

You do not need to be a musician to dance to music. However, knowing that there is structure in music that other dancers will be identifying, again, drives the point that dancing on-time is critical. Learning to identify the structure in the music will help you to keep time better.

During class, some of you commented to me that some songs “feel” more like they should be danced “on one”, and other songs “feel” moke like they should be danced “on two”. (Remember that two of the basics you danced in class were “on two” – the Mambo and the Nuevo Style/New York Style.) Good observation! Trust your instincts and do the rhythm that “feels” like it fits.

The distinction “on one” vs “on two” (or even “on three”) refer to the specific count in a measure of music where the Break Step happens. For our purposes, the Break Step is the forward-most part of the pattern, and the backward-most part of the pattern. All of the basics have the Forward Break with the left foot, and the Backward Break with the right food. While the Lead is doing a Forward Break, the Follow does the Backward Break, and vise versa.

We ended class with some variations on the Double D. One I called the Infinite Loop (the one that goes back to the starting position over and over again), and the other was the Jack in the Box (where the Lead pops up through the Follow’s arms – Leads, remember to drop you bottom closer to the ground before trying to stand up).

Next week, I want to see really good timing. We will work on another dance as well – Swing!

Week Four

In class this week, you used the various versions of the Double D combination to explore how you can keep the timing w/o necessarily moving your feet or changing weight from foot to foot.

There are plently of opportunities in the Double D sequence for both the Lead and the Follow to use an arbitrary number of measures to get though sections of the move. For instance, the Lead can take several measures to duck under the Lead’s arm. The Follow can do any kind of “flair” (isolations, subtle hip / arm / head / or even just eye movements.) Even when the Lead is done, the Follow can take more measures to finish doing the flair.

The Lead can also add flair while ducking under the Lead’s arm – exaggerated lunges (space permitting), delayed spinning, body roll, etc.

I bring all of this up to challenge you to (1) Keep The Timing, and (2) Have Fun with it! It is dancing after all. You should always be free to add your own personality to it.

I also introduced a new dance – Swing. It is a six-count rhythm that happens to 4/4 music. Slow Slow Quick Quick (SSQQ) or Side Side Rock-Step or One(hold two) Three(hold four) Five Six.

For the many musicians in class, counting repeating patterns of six to 4/4 music is counter-intiutive and downright challenging. However, realize that two-times through the pattern is twelve beats, which is three measures. If it helps to think of the rhythm as a single 12-count pattern (vs two six-count patterns), that’s fine.

I will attemted to use the limited ability of text to convey musical notation…

| half half | quarter quarter half | half quarter quarter |

You started with Alternating Right Side Passes and then moved to the unique-to-Swing closed dance position. Finally, you quickly transitioned from Closed Dance Position (Closed) to the familiar Open Facing Double Hand Hold Dance Position (Open) so you could do the Alternating Right Side Passes.

Week Five

This week, the Salsa portion of class-time was devoted to…

• Timing – it is critical to be on-time to the music
• Self Control – as in your movements, your space, your balance, your posture
• Leads – providing enough space in advance for the Follow to turn
• Follows – turning by advancing forward in the room (as is done for cross-body-leads and right-side-passes)

To do these things, I had you work on a combination, maintaining a double-handhold-connection the whole time. A Cross Body Lead (CBL), followed by a Right Side Pass with Follow’s Left Turn, followed by another Right Side Pass with Follow’s Left Turn. We didn’t do any turns during the CBL, but realize that you could.

In the first Right Side Pass, the follow does half a turn. In the second Right Side Pass, the follow does one-and-a-half turns. If you got a little dizzy, you are in good company!

In order for the Leads to more effectively provide space for the Follows to turn in these Right Side Passes, I introduced the Opening Break. As the name implies, this opens up more space. The Leads can get enough out of the way in time to avoid clobbering the Follows while the Follows are turning.

The Swing portion of class took a break from all of the spinning. You worked on Left-Rotating Basics and Right-Rotating Basics, first doing Single-Time Swing Timing (side, side, rock-step) and then doing Tripple-Step Swing Timing. You did an exercise to begin to condition you to take a tiny first step in place. We turned that exercise into Tripple-Step Swing Timing.

Good work, everyone!

Week Six

In order to do something different – like a new move or a new dance – you need to be able to perceive something different. For Leads, you become more aware of the signals you are producing. For Follows, you become more aware of the various signals the Leads are producing.

However, Leads, you need to be able to produce new signals and to perceive how your partner is responding to you. No matter how you look at it, both dancers must percieve something new.

This week the main point of class was to feel and respond to rotation. You did an exercise in Salsa that produces the move I called Toe-Heel-Cross. That same sense of rotation is used for producing stylized hip movements, rotation in traveling and spot dances (like Swing), and adds great three-dimensionality to your dancing.

In Swing, we worked on our Left-Rotating and Right-Rotating basic in closed dance position with Triple Step Timing. I was emphasizing the importance of using small-sized steps for your triples, and always taking the first triple in place (vs out to the side). This gives you not only more control of your own movements, but gives you more time to do important details like hip movements and stylized knee action. (More next week on those topics.)

Finally, we ended class with Alternating Right Side Passes emphasizing the change-of-place happens during the first triple, and that the second triple is taken together with your partner starting with a very small first step in the second triple. (Much easier to just do it instead of trying to write it.)

Next week, review of Salsa timing (as it relates to dancing to the music together and allowing arbitrary numbers of measures for showing moves).

We will also introduce another dance – Rumba.

Thank You

Week Seven

Spinning! When I asked you what you wanted to work on today, “Spinning” was your enthusiastic reply.

You did several drills just to get you used to spinning pretty much in place, but still using both feet. Our first drill involved steping forward with the left foot (on the “1″ count), then using your right foot (on the “&” counts) to paddle/rudder yourself numerous times in eight counts of music. You could conceivably spin around four or more times, depending not on the tempo of the music, but rather on the amount of rotation you can produce each time you paddle with your right foot.

We then switched the direction of your rotation. Still stepping forward with the left foot on “one”, you paddle around with your right foot on the “&” counts until you get to “4″, then step forward on the right foot an paddle around with your left foot on the “&” counts until you get to “7″. The whole assembly resembles either a turning Volta (from the dance Samba) or a May Pole (also from Samba).

We covered how to lead and follow multiple spins (the above spins were all free spins and did not require contact with your partner). This required a special kind of hand connection (more like a cupped hand for the Follow, and a straight pair of downward-pointing fingers for the Lead).

When we switched gears into Swing, I was very happy with everyone’s tripple-steps. You were doing great in keeping the first and second movements of each tripple very very small. This is very useful when doing tight and controlled turns (as opposed to wild and flailing arm-yanking turns), like the alternating right side passes.

Finally, we ended with a move called The Pretzel. It starts with a Lead’s hammerlock under the Lead’s left arm, followed by things that resemble other moves you already know how to do in Salsa / Merengue. It is far too difficult to write it all out here, but I am happy to review it next week in class.

We will, of course, begin to cover Rumba in class next week, as well as review the various things we have already done in Salsa / Swing.

My Salsa 103 class starts in two weeks. It will be similar in format to this class, covering not only Salsa, but two additional dances (Cha Cha and Bolero).

In two weeks, Sarah will begin a four-week Rumba 101 class, designed for people who have never danced Rumba before.

See you next week!

Week Eight

Hello Dancers,

I am glad that so many of you were excited about going out dancing at the Cardinal last Thursday. We did have a great time! Thank you everyone!

During our class time, we covered a new dance – Rumba. Rumba is a sultry dance that has its roots in the same dance as Salsa. 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. The dance Nightclub Two Step derives from Swing/Salsa and is a 1980’s invention.

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.

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 I am teaching 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, which is different than International Style Rumba. Much information is available online (see Wikipedia) regarding the American vs International styles, and I encourage you to read up on the differences.

You expanded the Opening Break and Under Arm Turn into the Alternating Under Arm Turn. After mastering this in the Rumba, you then did the same move in the Salsa. It felt much faster, as it should, but it drives home the fact that Rumba and Salsa are related dances.

I hope to see everyone in Salsa/Latin 103!