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Making Your Figures Flow
By Brent & Judy Moore
Developing
flow in your dancing, connecting one figure to the next with a
seamless action, is not an easy thing to accomplish and takes a great
deal of attention to some fine details. The better we understand
those details and, more important, the better we incorporate them
into our dancing, the smoother we dance together. Here, we deal with
those details as they apply to the standard (smooth) dances -- waltz,
foxtrot, quickstep, Viennese waltz, and, to a lesser degree, tango.
The
first item is always how we relate to our partner -- our poise and
frame. Basically, the man and lady have the same basic poise. That
is, the head weight is carried over the left hip with the partner
offset to the right side with a feel of shaping the left side to the
partner. The shoulders should be rolled down and back instead of
being elevated. One tip that helps is to think of being very flat and
wide across the back. The elbows should be at the same level and
parallel with the floor. Lead hands should be at the shortest
partner’s eye level, which basically establishes the elbow height.
Keep both sides strong -- you may think of side stretching or side
strengthening, but never allow a side to compress or collapse. In
closed position, think of a gentle spiral to the right from the
ankles up -- that gives the couple a dynamic counter balance that
should carry through all figures.
There
are five points of contact in the smooth dances. They are, in order
of importance, the man’s right wrist to just behind the lady’s
left armpit, lead hands, the lady’s left hand on the man’s right
arm, the man’s right hand on the lady’s back, and body contact --
think from slightly above the right rib cage depending on the match
in the couple's height. Two critical goals in smooth dancing are to
maintain the offset (the centerline relationship or having the
feeling of the partner being on your right front) and the counter
balance established in the initial assumption of closed position.
The
critical action comes next -- moving while maintaining all of the
above details. One central idea is that movement comes from the use
of gravity -- lowering (except tango). Relax the standing knee to
allow gravity to move the body. We can amplify gravity’s action by
pushing off from the standing foot rather than reaching with the
moving foot. The moving foot only receives weight and is not used to
pull weight onto it. So much of our early training is about stepping
direction, a concept which we must abandon as we move to the idea of
body movement placing
the foot.
We
in round dancing have exacerbated the problem by traditionally
confusing stepping direction with footwork; they are not the same.
Direction addresses the direction that the moving foot is traveling
or its ending position relative to its starting position. Footwork is
that portion of the foot that is in contact with the floor at any
moment in time. This is a subject we rarely teach but we need to
stress more to achieve smoothness in our dancing -- improper footwork
inhibits the smooth transition from one figure to the next. Examples
of direction: forward, back, side, side and forward, etc. Examples of
footwork: heel, heel to toe, toe, toe to heel, inside edge, whole
foot, ball, etc. There is a big difference, and it makes a big
difference in how figures flow.
Good
footwork creates the characteristic rise & fall of the smooth
dances (except tango). For instance, in foxtrot, the heel to toe step
action of the first weight change indicates early rise; you are up on
the second weight change (toe) and up on the third, with a lowering
to the heel (toe heel). In waltz, the heel lead on step one indicates
a normal walking step with a commence to rise; on step two, you
continue to rise and are up on step three, lowering to the heel at
the end of step three. Getting the heel down earlier on the final
step in most figures helps in control and leads to better movement
into the next figure.
The
next complication to smooth flow from one figure to the next is how
we turn. Turns are challenging because whoever is on the outside of
the turn always has farther to go. The biggest idea to master is that
all turns occur between beats, on the “and” counts. Basic turns
follow the rule of turning the body on the standing foot then taking
weight on the moving foot. There is another basic guide that says
that turns to the left are always late, and turns to the right are
always early. At this point, clarification is needed on what is meant
by turning using these ideas. Turn is the angle created by a change
of facing (pointing) position of the moving foot as it takes weight.
If the foot changes alignment, there is turn; if it stays in the same
direction, there is no turn. This applies even if there is body turn
before the step. This is where it gets tricky and where swing comes
into play (except tango). We prepare a turn by creating the shape for
the turn between the last step of the previous figure and the
receiving of weight on the first step of the figure being executed.
The shape leads to swing, which places the second weight change, and
shape helps complete the action into the third weight change.
Some
examples are needed to clarify this. To turn left, the forward moving
person creates a slight turning action in the body to the left and
then steps forward to the partner’s right elbow (the back mover
steps back to his/her right elbow) without foot turn. As weight comes
onto the ball of the foot (heel of the back mover), a strong shape is
generated that leads to a swing of the right side forward, which in
turn creates a foot and body turn resulting in the moving foot
landing to the side. The shape is then held and the turn is completed
(including foot turn) on the third weight change by stepping back
(reverse turn in foxtrot) or closed (left turn in waltz, quickstep)
or forward in semi or banjo (telemarks). The shape of the turn is
lost as weight comes onto the foot and the heel is lowered to the
floor. For turns to the right, all the above applies, but with a
critical exception. Before the first step there is the “commencement
of turn” on the standing foot; then the moving foot steps in the
direction indicated by the turn of the body -- thus early turn.
Movements
in semi-closed position are a difficult proposition, and for most for
a very good reason -- semi is mainly for display and does not lend
itself easily to moving. It is challenging to display the tightness
of the promenade (semi) position (still dancing partner off your
front, keeping the left side to the partner) but opening the hips to
allow movement and maintaining the shape on the thru step. The great
tendency is to allow the left side to turn away from the partner. A
good tip here is to keep your nose over your left shoulder (really --
you are keeping the left side to the partner) and your toes pointed
where you are going -- nose and toes go the same direction in most
figures, especially in semi! And don’t try to win a race in semi.
Stay under control and get the expression of the movement in the rise
and fall actions.
The
next big thought in getting figures to work smoothly is that the lady
dances on time and the man varies his timing slightly, on occasion,
by waiting fractions of a beat. The main occasions where the man has
to wait for the lady is when she is making a transition from forward
to back or back to forward movement. Three big examples of this are
in any heel turn for the lady, in the chasse to banjo from semi, and
in the feather from semi in foxtrot. When the lady does a heel turn
figure, the figure goes much more smoothly if the man waits for a
fraction of a beat before taking his second weight change, to allow
the lady time to get fully onto her heel. If he doesn’t, the lady
is frequently pulled off her heel turn, and the couple’s balance is
compromised. In the chasse to banjo, the man should allow the lady a
little time to make the turn from semi to banjo (again the second
weight change). The same slight hesitation occurs on a feather action
from semi. In both cases, if the man doesn’t wait, the lady’s
foot does not complete the needed swivel action to be in good
alignment for her next step. There are many other figures where the
man’s delay is helpful in allowing the lady to do what she needs to
do to make the figures work cleanly (and it is not always on the
second weight change).
In
summary, making dancing flow is based on sound technique. Attention
to the details is what paves the road to smooth dancing. A capsule of
these ideas are:
maintain
good poise and position,
understand
that the moving body places the moving foot,
use
correct footwork and know the difference between footwork and
stepping direction,
develop
an understanding of shape and swing and how it facilitates turning
action,
understand
the subtle difference in turns to the left (late) and to the right
(early),
incorporate
the idea that you turn and then step or step and then turn but not
both at the same time,
gain
a body awareness that allows both partners to maintain connection in
semi-closed, banjo, and sidecar positions, and
develop
a feel for where the man can appropriately wait for the lady (dance
a little late).
Good
luck and smooth dancing!
This
article is based on clinic notes published for the Roundalab annual
convention, 2006; published in the Dixie Round Dance Council (DRDC) Newsletter, March 2011.
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