Excellent first class – Sally Intermediate

October 6, 2005

1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead ending with open hold
1,2,3,5,6,7 prepare follower on 1,2,3 and lead follower to a double clockwise turn (turns start on 4 = standard LA style convention) with R-L high (I place it just at or slightly above follower's forehead)
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead start followed by leading follower to a two-handed (keep both hands together)1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn
1,2,3,5,6,7 cross body lead start followed by leading follower to a two-handed 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn
1,2,3 pivot turn for leader with hands going over leader’s head and splitting hands so that R hand goes to L shoulder and L hand goes to R shoulder first and then to about elbow level
5,6,7 release hand connections at chest level and reconnect switching hands to establish R-R and L-L holds – eventually both hands should be lowered down to about waist level
1,2,3 open break on 1 – release L-L and move R-R over follower’s head and beyond (watch out for follower’s head to avoid collision!) and reconnect L-L while moving to follower’s R side – the position that you end with on 4 is similar to Titanic
5,6,7 follower gets to move forward on 5 (as is normal in cross body lead with turn) and then follower is lead to a 1 1/2 counterclockwise turn (so essentially a normal traveling turn after a cross body lead start except with a different entry point) – during the turn R-R is released and turn is led with L-L high
1,2,3 pivot turn and leave follower’s L hand by leader’s R neck
5,6,7 basic steps as leader ducks underneath follower’s L hand (bending his neck) and reconnect L-L (I reconnected at neck level but others might have reconnected at a lower elevation)
1,2,3,5,6,7 Standard Copa (a.k.a in-and-out) – R hand resting on follower’s R hips on 3/4 and follower going back with L-L to lead 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn for follower
1,2,3 pivot turn for leader as follower’s L hand is flicked up and get into cross body lead position (open cross body position probably works best here)
5,6,7 catch follower’s L hand coming down from up in the air on 4 (do this at level with leader’s position rather than reaching back) and lead follower to a free 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn – follow the follower to catch her at the end of her turn – followers were given tips for a double-flourish of a styling using both their hands and arms

When Sally came around while making her rounds near the end of the class to make adjustments for student leaders, she pointed out to me as I started my first cross body lead that my basic closed position posture need some adjustments. Specifically, she told me that instead of keeping my L arm hanging limp straight down from my shoulders, it should be raised slightly and that there should be some distance between my side/waist and the point of L-R connection. Note this is not exactly her statement but rather my interpretation of her comment. It's possible that other teachers mentioned this to me but that I didn't pay attention before. Another interesting thing (probably only to me) is that I realize that Mariella (the Argentinean instructor) has been trying to teach me to do exactly the same thing last few weeks. Unfortunately because Mariella does not speak English well, she never managed to communicate to me why she was purposefully raising my L arm to the "proper" position [quotation there to denote my past ignorance]. Instead, I mistakenly had taken it to be something like a follower trying to lead the leader, which I found distracting at the time. I also remember observing this posture in use by some other good leaders in Cambridge. Again, it goes to show that there are many faults I need to correct and that miscommunications lead to misunderstanding, which if left to fester could lead to conflict. Now, what is the benefit of keeping my L arm slightly raised and keeping L-R further away from my body? One guess is that this can give leaders a better control in his leads and better support for follower's turns during cross body lead, etc. Just as important may be that this starting position allows clearer communication between the leader and follower in conveying whether the lead is going to be simply cross body lead, cross body lead with counterclockwise turn, cross body lead with clockwise turn, etc.

Thanks to Sally for her permission for me to publish my reconstruction of the routine taught in her class tonight.