Hands on and behind your shoulders, now cross 'em over - Sergio Intermediate

May 12, 2005

open hold
1,2,3 cross body lead start
5,6,7 lead partner to a full counterclockwise turn with L hand high and R hand low to wrap partner
1,2,3 twist partner further counterclockwise on 1 and return to normal on 2,3 with both hands high
5,6,7 lead partner to a 1 1/2 clockwise turn with both hands high and on 7 turn self counterclockwise 180 with L hand over my L shoulder and R hand over my R shoulder (my hands are crossed behind my neck with R over L)
1,2,3 R hand goes over my head to my L and lowered to my waist and the connection is released, then L hand goes over my head to my R to form an arch as I turn slightly to my right to get to a cross body position
5,6,7 lead partner to a simple clockwise 180 (reverse) turn
1,2,3 perform a 3 o’clock turn to get to another cross body position and switch to R-R on 2 and toss R hand forward (don’t have to release though) on 3/4 to open up partner and catch partner’s L hand with my L hand
5,6,7 use L hand to lead partner to a free 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 catch up with partner to initiate and complete simple cross body lead

alternate start (easier or more conventional or the way I'm more used to right now) [added January 5, 2006]

I took another look at the original version above and couldn't figure it out for some time, so I wrote another version here. Writing this latter version made me realize that the original version works just fine and is quite interesting. Even now, I haven't incorporated many stuff from Sergio's lessons and what little I have were incorporated much later after I looked through the notes few more times.

1,2,3,5,6,7 starting from open hold, lead a cross body lead with traveling full counterclockwise turn with all connections intact (L-R is raised briefly while R-L is kept low throughout) to end in wrap of follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare follower (a slight counterclockwise twist and back) and lead follower to stationary 1 1/2 clockwise turn with both hands high - finish with leader turning half counterclockwise with hands going over leader's head - leader's hands are crossed in front of his neck with R-L over L-R and with R-L going over leader's L shoulder and L-R going over leader's R shoulder) - leader and follower are facing the same direction with leader in front on 8
1,2,3 R-L goes over leader's head and to leader's R side down to waist level (release if a clockwise traveling turn will be led next) while L-R kept high - meanwhile get into cross body lead position