Ballroom Improver 8

November 28, 2007

I was about fifteen minutes late. I might as well have been fifty minutes late to save myself some torture.

Rumba

Start with that same old stupid sequence of moves. Then basic followed by back spot turn (clockwise together) and continue into next 1/2 measure (continuing clockwise) followed by leading follower to 12 o’clock or 3 o’clock turn.

It’s a slow dance with heavy emphasis on sound technique. It works best if both partners have a vague idea about what is meant by competence.

Jive

I’m not competent enough with Jive to compensate for really bad partners. Heck, I would struggle even with half decent partners. Don’t get me started on people who don’t know the definition of the word following – it does not mean being able to replicate choreography and it does not mean backleading. I’m not even going to bother with the description of the long new routine. It won’t have enough description to properly practice it later, and I really don’t have any desire to dance Jive.

Samba

Whisk. Walk. Bota Fogos. Volta. Whatever. I don’t feel there’s a big need to add to previous descriptions.

Cha Cha

Nothing new here either. Same old sequence. I might be able to improve it if I were to get a private lesson and/or have tons of practice.

Some party dance

The only reason to be interested in this is if I were to go to a Ballroom party and one particular song is being played. I’m not going.

Waltz

Same old again. At least I got my favorite Waltz partner in the class for it - She understands the concept of following. I don’t need perfection – knowing what it means to try to follow is rare enough.

One new material I gathered happened because of a private question. It was about the Whisk. At the end of Whisk, if the feet ends apart, lead would start with R foot to the outside of follower (to left). If feet ends close together, lead would start with L foot inside.

So there was no Foxtrot after all. I learned that CDC or at least Paul does not teach much Foxtrot in the beginner or improver classes. Good to know. It means there’s zero chance I’ll repeat this class – not that there was any chance of that to begin with. Looking at future Ballroom options, I realize that I have little interest in most of the Latin dances. I don’t care about Ballroom Cha Cha or Rumba. I dislike Jive. I’m only mildly interested in Samba. If I want some real exposure to Foxtrot, the way to go might be Dancesport Intermediate A for Modern dances only. It would seem Foxtrot would be a new dance for everyone in that class anyway. I like Waltz. I could deal with Tango not being Argentine for the moment. I’m not a big fan of Quickstep, but it’s better than Jive and I thought I disliked it less at the end of the term compared to the start of the term (I also think it might have been that I disliked dancing Quickstep with any of the people in the class). Or I could simply abandon the whole thing again – give it a rest for another couple of years. Who knows?