Legs ... cramping up

May 1, 2006

Two hour session with Joe Davids – Improver/Intermediate level (as opposed to beginner/improver level taught by Russell)

partner work 1st hour
1,2,3,5,6,7 high cross pass ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 into CBL position while leading follower forward immediately so that follower is either even or overtakes by 3 and lead windmill 1 1/2 clockwise traveling turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 R-R open break into Copa (leader turns 1/2 counterclockwise and get L hand on follower’s R hip on 3) and free 1 1/2 counterclockwise Copa turn for follower
1,2,3,5,6,7 etc for shine (hook step for leader followed by rumba. cross-walk and suzy Q (?) for follower)

Thanks to J for jogging my memory to help me remember the first hour’s routine.

I suspect that it might be easier to start R-R Copa with a simpler version with and without aid of L-L midway connection. Start with open break and bring R-R down a little and roll it 1/2 counterclockwise (so that leader’s palm ends facing down) and get R hand on follower’s R hip to help lead follower to do a free Copa turn. Get this to work reliably first, then try doing a slightly more complicated version shown above. This R-R Copa could be used for another Copa fake as well – I remember one ending taught in Sally’s class as well as another possible modification using something from Johnny & Serap.

partner work 2nd hour
1,2,3,5,6,7 CBL, low cross pass or high cross pass ending with R-R
1,2,3,5,6,7 open break to get follower moving forward by 2 as leader turns 1/4 counterclockwise while moving to right of follower’s lane (thus facing away from the line) and at the same time R-R goes over follower’s head (on her L side) and back down like windmill – switch to L-R is made at back of leader’s waist on 5 and L-R is led up and around to complete follower’s 1 1/2 counterclockwise traveling turn – in this move, follower actually starts turning on 3
1,2,3,5,6,7 couple of options here – both involves leader turning 3/4 turn counterclockwise and getting into CBL position with L-L hat. This could be done in 1 1/2 measure or 1/2 measure followed by normal CBL finish for L-R hold finish
1,2,3,5,6,7 New Yorker (like Cha Cha Cha) and finishing with free turn for both (using a quick R hand on follower’s R wrist for a turn signal … leader turns counterclockwise while follower turns clockwise)

My understanding was that they hoped to get three instructors for tonight, but Dawn was ill. I’m not sure what their plan is for next week.

I tried to do as much of the lesson moving on toes (or not flat-footed). This included warm-ups and pre-warm ups. I tried to keep this up as long as possible for club hours afterwards as well – until I became too tired to keep it up. Towards the end, I tried going back to being on the balls of my feet again before stopping because I felt signs of oncoming cramps. In a change of pace, couple of people dragged me to the dance floor as I was mildly complaining of being tired. Perhaps it will be easier once I get the technique perfected and become more used to the new method, but for now it’s not obvious that less energy would be expended by adapting Sergio’s basic footwork – at least not at this transitional state. Part of the reason could be that I end up doing more footwork (as opposed to standing still) with the modified method. Broken left turn seems somewhat easier with modified basic though. As more and more improvements are made, perfection or the final end product seems to move further out of reach. S concurs.