Ballroom Beginner Fast track week 4 & Beginners Practice

October 29, 2005

Waltz
Right corner turn (same as last week except additional detail in bold)
1 R foot forward (body but not feet starts turning clockwise)
2 turn 1/4 clockwise and step to new L with L foot
3 R foot together
1 L foot backward (body starts turning clockwise)
2 turn 1/4 clockwise and step to new R with R foot
3 L foot together

Often, I break above turn move into two halves with long basics in between (with leader going backwards). I'm guessing that this is allowed although I'm not completely certain. Also carrying out three right corner turn in a row along a long straight space makes for a nice detour if there is space available.

Quickstep
Steps that inevitably gets you into a corner that you cannot get out of
1 R foot diagonal forward L (slow)
2-4 chasse
- L foot diagonal forward L (quick)
- R foot cross behind L foot (quick)
- L foot diagonal forward L (slow)
5 R foot diagonal forward (slow)
6-8 chasse
- L foot diagonal forward L (quick)
- R foot cross behind L foot (quick)
- L foot diagonal forward L (slow)

Once this diagonal move is initiated, apparently it must be carried through to beat 8 of the music. Sans no turning move, this usually ends in a dead end. Even with smaller number of people, traffic management becomes a bit of nightmare with this new step added. I'll need some sort of turning manuever if I were to enjoy Quickstep.

Cha Cha Cha
New Yorker ending with turn [This should be doable with Rumba as well]
2 let go R-L (possibly as early as 1) and point to L with L foot
3 weight on R foot
4,5 chasse reconnect L-R and let go R-L
6 point to R with R foot
7 weight on L foot
8,1 chasse (if continuing with New Yorker – let go L-R and reconnect R-L)
The way to initiate turn is to let go L-R on 2 and turn clockwise and get back into open position on 3,4,5 followed by back basic on 6 OR to let go R-L on 6 and turn counterclockwise and get back into open position on 7,8,1 [Note: Followers turn opposite direction leaders are turning]

Right now, Cha Cha Cha is my personal favorite among the Ballroom dances – enough familiarity with music, being able to anticipate changes in music and match it with simple changes in the dance, knowing some extra simple moves, and nice moderate speed of the dance probably all contribute to this sentiment. Then again, I was called for being off time once again by the timing police; I think I might have been dancing on-1 instead of on-2. Despite this, dancing Cha Cha Cha today has to rank as the dancing highlight of this week for me.

[Note: Rumba is danced on-2 as well. I'm going to have to go back to my old notes and make corrections when I have time.]

Jive
leading follower to clockwise turn
just lift L-R high (gradually) as chassis is initiated

Jive also is fun but also is very energy consuming. If I dance one Jive, then sometimes I need to take a break for next 2 songs. I also want a better written-out description of relationship between the beat of the music and steps involved in dancing jive.

I found soles of my dance shoe covered with wax, varnish and all sorts of junk when I arrived. It was a good thing that I arrived early enough to clean the soles, but it still was not a good thing to see.

Cambridge is a small town. I’m just going to say that it’s amazing how often I see same people in different unrelated places and how easy it is to meet new people with overlapping set of acquaintances.

Apparently there will be a CDC committee meeting tomorrow. Maybe I’ll hear from them soon.