Ballroom Improver 5

November 7, 2007

No Paul. Substitute was the guy from 2 weeks ago. There were two excess leads.

Tango

It was review of the three moves tried all term long. Tango is considered Modern rather than Latin.

L forw, R forw, L forw, R side R into promenade
L forw promenade, R forw promenade, L forw and turn face to face, R together

L forw, R forw, L forw, R forw and turn as unit 1/4 counterclockwise
L cross behind R, R slight back and turn 1/2 counterclockwise, L to L, R together
(moving same direction throughout)

L forw, R forw, L forw, R side R into promenade
L forw promenade, R forw promenade, L overtake follower turning 1/4 clockwise, weight on R
rock back on L, rock forw on R, rock back on L
R back, L side L, R together

Waltz

Repeat of last week once again.

R forw, L forw and turn clockwise as unit, R together
L back, R together and turn as unit 1/2 clockwise, L forw in promenade
R forw, L forw, R forw and turning 1/4 counterclockwise
L back, R cross behind L turning 1/2 counterclockwise as unit, L together
R forw, L forw and turn clockwise as unit, R together

Whisk was not a part of the class. I tried practicing it by myself.

Jive

Same thing as last week except I understand it better now.

Basic footwork = L cross behind R, chassis to L, chassis to R (and repeat)

Lead for follower to go under happens at the end of the first part of the chassis

L cross behind R, chassis to L and start to lead follower under L-R and chassis to R

For stop-and-go

L cross behind R, start to bring follower back under L-R as chassis to L, stop follower with R on follower’s back (possibly all the way to her side) while stepping across with R foot, chassis to R as follower goes back
American turn (better with R-R)

L cross behind, chassis to L with R-R turned around (both fingers pointing upwards), turn (optional for lead) is follower immediately by chassis to R

Samba

basic
L forw, syncopated R together and L in place
R back, syncopated L together and R in place

whisk
L side L, syncopated R cross behind L and L in place
R side L, syncopated L cross behind R and R in place

promenade (Government walk?)
L forw in promenade, syncopated R with slight backwards movement (but overall forw from the start) and L in place
R forw in promenade, syncopated L with slight backwards movement (as above) and R in place

One thing I noticed is that these CDC classes seem to be considerably less popular than they were two years ago, which apparently was an unusually popular year for CDC. Tonight’s beginner class before my improver class was smaller than my class – I think the lack of popularity was mainly due to lack of interest from the new crop of students. Not sure if this is a general trend for all CDC classes.