Lesson Notes - Draft

General Technique Notes

• Posture:

  • Stretch and lift the middle part  from lower center to top of ribcage, keep it very long, stretched, in lifted position all the time. The lifting created the flat space that connects with partner. Project the ribs to Man, but not the hips.

  • Hips "hanging down", natural arch in lower back (try sitting in a chair).  Especially when shaping head (Weave etc.) do not lift the hip to Man to try to extend head, lift ribcage/chest to Man.

  • Volume is created with both depth and width

    • Depth: lift and frontal curve

    • Width:  Right hip slightly forward to Man. Diagonal. Right hip slightly higher. 

    • If trying to create volume from wrong place (e.g. from hip), hips are locked and impossible to move.

  • Shoulder blade open, do not squeeze together. 

  • Giving Man hips by moving whole body toward front of foot. Do not just put hips forward and lock hips. 

  • Do not "hold" the position which will appear to be stiff. When keeping the posture, the whole body can still move, apply softness. Body can sway "smiley face" but side doesn't drop.  When one side is up, the other is also up(!)

  • Hip has to under/released in order to freely rotate the body (e.g. Tango Chasse)

  • Extend, stretch, but not with tension which feels stuck.

  • Two parts of the body - upper center (rib, chest), and lower center (hip) - they go different direction. 

  • When trying to release hips back, make sure not to pitch forward. All front muscle in middle must elongate. 

  • Do not mix posture/position vs over-balance.

    • lady "moving away" - this is balance/over-balance, regardless of position.

  • Lady's RH - Man needs to feel it without grabbing tension. 

  • Lady's LH - provide structure, do not slide around Man's arm. Fixed solid position.

  • Man: imagine there is a cup on a big round tray. Man has to keep the tray in place with cup on it.

• Body breathe, don't hold  (body rise is gradual, not jerky), allow the movements/shaping Man suggests. "Allow" and do not "force" movement, which will appear stiff.

• Arm: too stiff, need to allow arm to go down (while the other side stretch), do not resist. think about chest back (but shoulder blade is still stretch open), "Holding" shoulder blade makes arm stiff. and movement limited.  When stretching (left side, for example), the relative position of arm to shoulder/body doesn't change, but body follows, so R arm goes down.

• Hand: Left hand needs to be a stable structure point for both swing dances and Tango. It does NOT move.

  • Going to PP: needs to do body work and NOT let LH slide. When torso is rigid, the hand moves. 

  • Tango: L forearm and LH - connected, but not tension. Keep stable.

  • Structural points don't have to be strong, it could be light, but has to be solidly there.

• When moving forward, use joint absorption, cushion, before doing the next step so one can glide.  (e.g. Weave) 

  • Use Knee, hip, ankle.  Looseness in hip joint (don't lock hip joint which limits movement). 

  • Not bending down, but release, sending knee forward.

  • When Man is moving back, he is inviting, if not using joints, will gap with Man.

  • There is always something happening in body, joint moving, no stopping (even when foot is not moving).

  • When joint is loose/absorbing, Lady can sense how big Man will step and what timing he will use. When locked, movement is fixed

• When moving backward:

  • more projection of top center to Man. Move lower center (hip) and head back, but keeping upper center very projected to Man (so Man doesn't feel being pulled off his foot, or Lady "leaving" Man, or loosing connection.)

  • inviting Man with lower center (hips), not moving upper body away too fast. Hip needs to release earlier. Not lower for too long, too much, make sure to release hips as lowering.  

  • when taking hips and head weight back, do not take chest away from Man.

  • Using standing leg - lowering body weight and moving center back about same time. 

  • "Prepping the leg" - means releasing hip and foot, but do not stick leg straight back.

  • "Moving all the time, non stop" - it's the hips that never stop releasing. Hips bent, flexible.  Hips are constantly traveling across the feet.

  • If bottom/hips are locked, it usually affects the top, making top locked/rigid. 

    • Body needs to be in the right space as well to make it not locked. Do not rely on upper body doing all the movement. Bottom has to do the work.

  • When body parts are moving well in coordinated fashion, it uses the least energy to produce big movement and topline.

• Movement: 3D + 1 (rise and fall or up and down)

  • when over-balancing, up/down should be clear, smooth and not abrupt

  • Changing height (up/down) should not interrupt the over-balancing movement.  (e.g. not up/down first and then over balance forward and back, should be smooth together) 

  • Up and down is circling. There is "heavier" part and "lighter" part as body is doing over balancing.  Over balancing is always continuous.

• Feather step/Feather finish

  • Think about L side stretch even more forward.

  • Feather finish: don't over turn. Stretch L side. Upper body stays with Man, 2 step (Q), RF after stepping, turn the foot, footwork is TH. When placing down the foot, it's time to release/relax/bend R hip, R hip moving back. moving to back heel.  Foot has to turn and be straight with movement direction, not turned out. Body turns less. Release the hip, not the leg, Do not move leg too fast. 

  • "rubber band" pulling opposite direction to stay in balance - R hip pulling back, L side stretch fwd. Create hovering slowing down effect. 

• Body decides how much to bend the legs, it's not legs deciding. If body is exploring upper space, legs stretch; if body is exploring lower space,, legs/hips bend.

• When body is more balanced, body is more relaxed and can move more freely. Relax upper body and "let weight hang/fall".

• Flexibility:

  • Flexibility - much of it is about coordination. Not a "brick" kind of coordination. Different center of the body exploring different space.

• Set up frame: 

  • walk to Man with "full length" and then relax the knees.

  • R elbow downward., arms in front of body (3D). think about being wider.  

• Walking back: 

  • think about octopus - octopus under the frame/posture.

  • wider legs, more balanced and create space for Man.

  • Lady's chest project forward, lifted, entire time. Chest keeps the connection with partner.

• Head change does not change frame. Head is the last thing to change.

• Shallow position (American style):

• Think of it as Lady's running finish and then open right turn.

• Coming out of PP: don't go "down", go "across". 

Foxtrot

• Everything is extremely gliding, smooth movement, full, range is bigger, foot does not leave floor, glide.

• Preparation is a "figure" on its own, don't cut the movement "short".

  • RF to "side" - but never straight to the side, it's more "forward" and side. always more "diagonal". Do not stop, cut short, extension continues till it changes direction.

  • The last step, Lady's RF back - is like "rise, fall, drive" all in one step, like the last step of a previous figure. It flows, other it could feel "heavy, static, hitting a wall". The preparation step needs to be "inviting".

• Avoid: moving "too fast" "too early"

  • Going backward: Leave chest/body to Man, prepare leg, head back to counter, so Man doesn't feel Lady is too early, running away.

  • When going forawrd, Lady has to drive and be active and not wait.

  • Transition: after heel turn, don't wait, immediately drive, cuz it's going forward.

  • The preparing leg/hip part is the part that gives Man the "inviting" feeling. Leaving chest with Man gives the feeling of "not running away".

• Three step: LF back is wider step, especially in curved 3 step.

• Top Spin: on toes

• After heel turn, be active going forward, so not stuck 

• Open impetus,  felt stuck,  try go forward actively . Shoulder less open, but hip more open

• Natural weave from PP: head L first, then R. Weave ending, LF fwd diagonally left

• Natural twist turn: after heel turn, be active to run fast fwd

• Reverse wave, under turn at first, then catch up, after that, follow man squarely, not turning away, taking one side away for the extended wave part

• Backward step, Feather, heel turn, delay, step on 2nd half of beat; except when it's QQs (e.g. Fallaway, reverse weave.) to give the clear Foxtrot feeling.

Studio Routine:

• Feather Step  (SQQ)

• Bounce Fallaway with Weave Ending  (S&QQQQQQ)

• Reverse Wave  (SQQ SQQ SQQ SQQ) extended, at corner

  • Heel turn, delay, upper body stay with Man, not too fast with 1st S.

  • Wave part: both sides to Man.

• Open Impetus  (SQQ) at corner

• Natural Weave  (S QQ QQ QQ QQ)

  • Q: Lady RF forward, move Man to R, that's when head changes.

• Three Step  (SQQ)

  • Delay.

• Natural Twist Turn  (SQ&QSS)

• Natural Zig-Zag from PP  (SQQQQ) at corner

• Change Of Direction  (SSS)

  • Change head to R. Continuing to Feather step, do not turn head back to L too soon.

• Feather Step  (SQQ)

  • Till last Q, slowly change head to L.

• Open Telemark (SQQ)

  • Heel turn, delay, upper body stay with Man, not too fast with 1st S.

  • Head: depends on Man's shaping

    • Lady keeps her head L till last second if Man keeps flat and change shape to his L, 

    • or "head stays and body turns underneath". 

    • or, in middle, delay head a little bit and then change to R - all depends on when Man shapes.

• Open Natural (SQQ)

• Outside Swivel  (SS)

  • Slow down. 1: prep, 2: step, 3: swivel, 4: head.

• Feather Step from PP (SQQ) back to long side

  • Shift of the beat, can step on the 2nd half of S

Repeat from Bounce Fallaway.

Tango

• Sometimes body is stronger toned, sometimes it's looser (Outside change, Slow Spanish Drag)

• Avoid: too much tension in upper body. When body too active, neck is trying stabilize the body, neck is stuck. When body is stabilized, neck/head can flick on the top. Isolate head from body.  

• Cobra: keep frame and posture, do not get ahead of Man.

• Tango: weight more on back of foot (compared to swing dances)

• PP: IE of ball of foot, not IE of toe. 

• Contra check: start less than 50% and when extended, it gets to 50% split weight.

• Rocks: when Lady does RF fwd, it's more side ways. LF fwd is across in CBMP.

• Stalking walk from PP: RF fwd is more toward Man, not to side. 

• Posture: body should be very lengthened, just like swing dances. And keep it lengthened, e.g. during Cobra.

• Steps are too big, including walk.

• Walk: 

  • think about RF toward left shoulder, LF toward left elbow, wider legs, creates space for Man. Wider legs. not about "bigger steps"

  • pick up foot/thign and place. do not drectly think about pushing on standing foot.

• Progressive link: small step

• 
  

• Chase, move arm to right, it helps man, keep head same position, it will end left, body turn underneath, seamless,  place LF under body, after moving arm, very small step

• Fallaway, just keep walking back, good lead, it should happen,

•  Closed position from PP, be more left, more closed.

• In Tango, just go forward and backward, no sideways. Man takes care turns.

• More compat: more cross on higher thighs.

Studio Routine:

• Walk  (SS)

• Progressive Link  (QQ)

• Chase  (SQQ QQ Q&Q QQ) finished with progress link to PP

• Promenade Link  (SQQ)

• Fallaway Reverse and Slip Pivot  (QQQQ)

• Basic Reverse Turn  (QQ&QQS)

• Contra Check  (SS)

• Natural Promenade Turn  (S QQ QQ S)

• Back Open Promenade  (SQQS)

• Five Step  (QQQQS)

• Closed Promenade  (SQQ)

• Oversway  (QQSS Q&Q S &S) - chasse, whisk, step and point 

• Closed Promenade  (SQQS)

• Fallaway Four Step  (QQQQ)

Repeat from Chasse

Waltz

• Wing: PP on the wrong side, think about top stays, move bottom/hip to the other side. Fwd, Fwd steps

• Left whisk: flat, move and go into the empty space. If rise up, it would be hinge.

• Hover Corte: stay left side, head has to stay on left. 

Quickstep 

• Has swing, rise and fall range is smaller, has to recover from swing faster.  SQQ Natural Turn: at end of Q, sway is gone and ready to take off again. 

• Body light, flight. feet do the work. Higher center. Feels like arms are floating. 

• Lock step: RF step back. Then Man leads Lady to just shift her weight to her R, which becomes a lock step. Do not focus on side lead, twisting body.