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 did in class.

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 react to the new space, deciding 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! Leading does not imply control. Rather, it means “Going First”. Following means “Going Next”.

Furthermore, Follows have a lot of power in the partnership. Leads cannot create more new space until the Follow has reacted to the existing new space. That is, Follows can make Leads wait.

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.

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

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. Next week we will begin 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).

Leads 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. Amoung other things, 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).

Remember 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 Three

Hello Dancers,

Can you believe it is only the third week of class? Everyone has already learned a lot!

However, everyone 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.

Onward to review…

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).

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 built a few more “negative space” moves, including what I called the Sliding Door. It starts with either person in a hammerlock – though we only did the version starting with the Follow in the hammerlock. The Lead moves 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!

Next Week…

• Regions of contact – what I refer to as Arm Level, Shoulder Level, and Waist Level
• Three general ways out of any move… just let go, go back the way you came, and use negative space
• Hammerlock-to-Cuddle (or Cuddle-to-Hammerlock) combinations for the Lead and Follow.
• Salsa – the rhythm, music, and basic step

Thank you to everyone who completed my Welcome Survey.

Week Four

We reviewed “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.

You 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.) You also did Cuddle-to-Cuddle and Hammerlock-to-Hammerlock for both the Lead and Follow.

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

This week we covered the contact-at-shoulder-level exercise for both the Lead and the Follow, as well as leading “deflections” and suggesting that the Follow bend at the waist. I was emphasizing the fact that Leads are able to influence where the Follow goes w/o using the Lead’s hands, and that when using the Lead’s hands, the movements are subtle and gentle.

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.

You 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.

A 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 Five

Taking advantage of the small class size this week, I presented what I call the Safety Dip. (See Photos above in this post.) Unlike the other material we have worked on so far in class, doing dips requires a different kind of connection to your partner. We were working on Shared Weight exercises to discover what it feels like to begin relying on your parter to greater degrees for providing a sense of stability, balance, and support.

We talked about some styling aspects (regarding placement of the arms for Leads and Follows), the posture Leads must maintain during dips, and the amount of work the Follows are doing in maintaining their own balance and connection to the floor. We also discussed the responsibility of not assuming your partner will know how to dip safely (whether you are Leading or Following).

We spent more time on the Salsa basic and Cuban action (hips), as well as on learning a new move – the Side Break (aka Second Position Break, aka The Cucaracha).

Next week I am looking forward to seeing everyone in class again – we are still early in the semester. You may have missed a class or two, but there is still plenty of time to catch up.

Week Six

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.

Week Seven

This week was a chance for everyone to review and catch up. You worked on sharp and stylized turns for the Lead and Follow.

In Salsa, you did a Chase Turn, which is a done with a Visual Lead (no physical connection between the Lead and Follow). Both partners get to be the turning person. The turning person begins turning on the forward-moving part of the basic.

You turned the Chase Turn into a Follow’s Hammerlock and right side pass.

You learned the Cross Body Lead (CBL) in the Salsa. The CBL is a very important and versatile move. It is a specific way to change places taking two measures of music. You then applied your sharp and stylized turns – the Follow doing them in the second measure of the CBL. Follows could do a hand-across-the-face turn (inside turn / 1.5 turn) or a hand-away-from-the-face turn (outside turn / 0.5 turn).

After this, we reviewed Rumba (see the Class Note from last week). You practiced a four-measure sequence that involved half-a-box, side basic, side basic, side basic. That is a common way to construct “moves” in Rumba.

The specific move you then did was the Opening Break and Under Arm Turn (UAT). It is a very common move in every Latin dance. Remember, 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).

We will come back to this sequence again and again in several dances. Learning it in a slower dance (like Rumba) will help to do it in faster dances (like Salsa).

Next week, you will do the Cross Body Lead in both Rumba and Salsa. With any luck, I will introduce another dance, the Cha Cha. All three are related to each other, so we will be able to do many of the same kinds of moves in each.

Week Eight

This week was devoted mainly to the Opening Break (OB) and Underarm Turn (UAT). The OB & UAT appears in just about every dance I can think of. It happens in all of the dances we think of as Latin dances, as well as the Smooth dances.

You were working in Rumba, doing a four-measure sequence involving half-a-box and three side basics. From this, the OB & UAT evolves.

The same move can happen in Salsa and in other dances you will learn this semester.

The Opening Break always happens with the Lead breaking backward on the Left foot while the Follow breaks backward on the Right foot.

I neglected to review a very important move (from Salsa) that we covered last week – the Cross Body Lead.

Next week, you can count on…

• reviewing the CBL in Salsa
• learning how the CBL works in Rumba
• reviewing the OB & UAT in Rumba and Salsa
• learning Cha Cha and applying the OB & UAT

See you next week!

Week Nine

After reviewing the Chase Turn and the Cross Body Lead (CBL) in Salsa (see previous class notes), we switched gears into Cha Cha. I was drawing a bit of a history of the Cha Cha movement and relating it to Salsa/Mambo. At one point in the evolution of Cha Cha, it was called the Triple Mambo. Cha Cha is danced to slower music than Mambo/Salsa, so there was more time for dancers to do more weight changes.

I started everyone with a preparation step to the side on the “One” count of the measure, followed by a break (either forward or backward, depending on the foot that is free – more in a bit), followed by a replace, followed by “Cha Cha” or “Four And”. When starting on the “One” count like this, the rhythm for Cha Cha is Slow-Slow-Slow-Quick-Quick (SSSQQ), or “One Two Three Four And”, or “Quarter Note, Quarter Note, Quarter Note, Eighth Note, Eighth Note”.

That rhythm then repeats on the “other side” – ie, if your “One” count was to the Right the first time, it will to the Left the next time.

Tiny Steps are Important! It’s hard to do five weight changes in one measure of music unless your steps are very small.

Cha Cha Always Breaks On Two! Anyone telling you any different is just doing sloppy Cha Cha. A Break, in a general sense, is a movement goes in one direction, abruptly stops, then goes back in the direction you started. For instance, the Salsa/Mambo basic consists of a Forward Break and a Back Break.

The Cha Cha basic also has a Forward Break and a Back Break, and those breaks (as well as other kinds of breaks that you will soon learn), happen on the second beat of the measure (ie, the “Two” count, as in Cha Cha Always Breaks On Two).

In the Cha Cha basic, just as in the Salsa/Mambo basic, the Forward Break happens on the Left foot, and the Back Break happens on the Right Foot. Above in this Class Note where I described the timing of the Cha Cha basic, I said the the preparation step to the side on the “One” count is followed by a Break (either forward or backward depending on the foot you have free).

If your Left foot is free after the preparation step, you do a Forward Break on the Two count. If your Right foot is free after the preparation step, you do a Back Break on the Two count. It is just as common for the dancers to start with the preparation step to the Leads Right as it is to start with the preparation step to the Leads Left. There is no one “correct” way – both are correct.

It is important in the Cha Cha basic, however, to do Forward Breaks with the Left foot and Back Breaks with the Right foot, and that Cha Cha Always Breaks On Two. I cannot be emphatic enough about that fact.

No class next week. However, consider attending on of our Workshops held during the same time as our regular classes.

Week Ten

Can you believe it is already week ten of dance class. We are nearing the end of the semester, and I can tell all the hard work everyone is putting into their dancing.

This week we reviewed some of the basic concepts from the first week of class, including cuddles and hammerlocks. We spent some time on the Merengue and particularly the move I call The Sliding Door, doing the both-hands-down-lead-duck-under variation.

We switched gears into Salsa and the chase turn, emphasizing the opportunity to put some personality into your turns.

We spent most of the rest of our class time on Cha Cha, always starting with a preparation step on the “One” count of the music to the Lead’s left/Follow’s right, then a break on the “Two” count of the music. Cha Cha always breaks on Two.

You did the Basic step, which you can think of as moving sideways (or along the East-West line across an imaginary map). You also did Forward Locks and Back Locks, which move forwards/backwards (or along the North-South line on an imaginary map).

Cha Cha is an excellent dance for showing playfulness, power, and personality. In the weeks that remain, we will work on moves that you can do in Salsa, Cha Cha, and Rumba.

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.

Sarah 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 Eleven

The Cross Body Lead in Salsa is a very versatile and important move. We worked on how to lead CBL’s in the way that gives Follows time to add personality to their turns. It is important for Leads to get the timing just right.

It is important for Follows to commit 100% of their body weight to each foot, and to completely pass the Lead before beginning to turn. All of your turns began after landing on your right foot on the Slow (bahhhhh) syllable of the second measure of the CBL.

In Cha Cha, you did a form of the Chase Turn. Remember, Cha Cha always breaks on Two. The turning part of the chase turn takes the place of the Forward Break.

Next week, two moves in three dances.

Week Twelve

This week, my professional dance partner Sarah Calhoun was kind enough to help with class.

Regardless of the particular dance you are dancing, a person still only has a left and right foot, and still can only turn left or right. That means, learning to recognize how to fit the moves you already know into the music of other dances is an incredible way to learn more dances!

You started with the familiar Opening Break and Under Arm Turn (OB & UAT) in Rumba. You also learned a new moved called Cross Over Breaks aka New Yorkers (or Titanic Breaks *grin*).

Each one started with half-a-box (in Rumba) then a step to the side on the next Slow (to the Lead’s right / Follow’s left). For the Opening Break, the Lead and Follow step away from each other. For the Crossover Break, each person turns a quarter of a turn and steps forward in the same direction using the inside foot (the one closest to your partner).

When doing those moves in Salsa, you started with a complete CBL, then doing the same moves.

In Cha Cha, you started with half a basic (to the Lead’s left / Follow’s right) – Slow Slow Slow Quick Quick (guzzzh guzzzh guzzzh ding ding). The next Slow (to Lead’s right / Follow’s left) is analogous to the step to the side out of half-a-box in the Rumba (see above). After that, you can do the Opening Break or the Cross Over Break.

With all of the practice time (and with Sarah’s generous help), everyone was looking very good by the end of class.

Next week, we will review and possibly add a new dance or two (Bolero, Swing, Hustle, Night Club Two Step). All of your hard works so far this semester will continue to allow you learn new dances very quickly.

Remember, Sarah’s Swing 101 is still enrolling participants! Join her on Thursday night.

Week Thirteen

We are near the end of the semester. Many thanks to my professional dance partner, Sarah Calhoun for helping with class today. Sarah and I worked with couples in a manner similar to what you can expect in Private Lessons.

Remember, next week Thursday, 06 May 2010 is our class outing to the Cardinal Bar for Salsa night. Sarah and I will arrive between 9:00-9:15pm (we are teaching classes up until then). See you out dancing!

Week Fourteen

Can you believe the semester is over already?

Today, again with the help of my professional dance partner, Sarah Calhoun we worked with more individual focus, similar to what you can expect in Private Lessons.

We worked some more on two moves in Cha Cha – the Opening Break and Under Arm Turn (OB & UAT) as well as Crossover Breaks and UAT. (Both moves can be done in Salsa and in Rumba as well.) For some people we added the Cross Body Lead (CBL) in Cha Cha (which involves Follows doing a Forward Lock when passing the Lead). We also added an Inside Chaine Turn for Follows after the CBL (happening on the 4-&-1 or cha-cha-one) part of the measure.

Finally, we learned a new dance – the Nightclub Two Step. This dance, a recent invention dating to the late 70’s or early 80’s, is a derivative of Swing. 1-&-2, 3-&-4 or QQS, QQS, or Rock-Step-Side, Rock-Step-Side. The OB & UAT also works well in this dance.

Remember, this Thursday, 06 May 2010 is our class outing to the Cardinal Bar for Salsa night. Sarah and I will arrive between 9:00-9:15pm (we are teaching classes up until then). See you out dancing!