The 7th salsa class turned into a private class: Only Robert and Gissela, and Eidi & I.
Everyone was rested and had worked on their tans over the Christmas holidays - it has its advantages being south of the equator in December!
Our students had practiced their sequence over the holidays, so there wasn't much to fix there. We jumped right into the fourth and last part of our sequence. A bit longer, but our students had no problem picking it up.
16) Follower's Right Turn, cross hold
17) Cross Body Lead, joined hands
18) Butterfly
19) Follower's Right Turn
20) Procession
21) Cross Body Lead with Right Turn, shuffle, pincer grip
22) Periscope and a big hug - end of sequence!
Breaking each step down into some detail:
16) Follower's Right Turn, cross hold: A normal follower's right turn on 5-7, led with leader's right hand. We use this as a nice way to change grip into a cross hold, left hand above.
17) Cross Body Lead, joined hands: A cross body lead in cross hold, left above. Never let go of the hands. 1-2-3 is a normal CBL, and on 5 the leader has to tug on the follower's both arms to indicate the move and turn direction (left turn, as usual). A detail here is that the two hands should be held close together joined at the wrists, and raised on 6-7. Then we halt the follower with her back to the leader. So the follower has made a total of 1 turn, not 1.5 which is normal in a CBL. This is in preparation for the next move; this and the next flow into one another as a whole.
18) Butterfly: Leader does two cuban steps ("south-east", "south-west"), follower does two inverted cuban steps (foot forward instead of backward; "north-west", "north-east"). Hands held high on 1 fan out to the sides and down on 2 as leader gently indicates direction of follower's step on 2. Arms raised back up on 3, held there on 4-5, then lowered again on 6, then up again on 7. This "flapping of wings" movement with the arms is why it's called Butterfly. In general, Butterfly position is whenever the follower has her back to the leader with a right-right, left-left hand hold. It takes some practice to get this movement to look fluid, and it can feel as it goes a bit fast coming into it from the previous cross body lead. The follower can add styling if she wants; for example doing a body roll during the butterfly looks nice.
19) Follower's Right Turn: Starts with a half Butterfly on 1-3. On 2-3, the leader moves his left hand to the follower's left shoulder. On 4, the leader dips the right hands, indicating a turn will come. On 5, the leader raises the right hands and gives a gentle shoulder push with his left hand, indicating the direction of the turn. The follower turns 1.5 right turns on 6-7, ending up facing the leader. On 7-8, leader should offer his left hand to get back into crossed hold, left hand above, to be ready for the next move.
20) Procession: Starts with an Open Break. On 2-3, the leader pulls the follower towards him, a bit similar to a Copa, but places his right hand on the follower's right shoulder and lets her complete the turn so they are both facing in the same direction on 3. This should be done firmly but gently, to clearly indicate that this is not a Copa, but take care not to push the follower's left arm awkwardly. Then on 5-6-7, both take small steps backwards, maintaining the pose.
21) Cross Body Lead with Right Turn, shuffle, pincer grip: Starts with a Shuffle on 1-3, which is a partner styling step: On 1, both extend the left leg and tap the floor with the toes of the left foot. On 2, the feet remain in this position. On 3, the left foot returns to the side of the right foot. Then on 5, a Cross Body Lead is initiated, using both the leader's hands to indicate the direction (right) of the turn. On 6, the leader joins the follower's two hands in mid-turn. On 6-7, the leader graps both the follower's hands in his right hand, palm towards palm and thumb pincing the back of the follower's hands. The thumb pincer grip is necessary to be able to do this. On 7, the right turn is completed, and the leader now holds the follower's two hands in his right hand. In this move, the two most complicated parts are: a) The Shuffle steps deviates from the principle of "feet always alternate", which makes it sometimes easy to lose the pace. The left foot moves on both 1, 3 and 5 in this move, and b) The pincer grip only works if the leader joins and then grasps the follower's hands in the right way. Takes some practice, but it's not that difficult.
22) Periscope with a big hug: Normal basic step on 1-3, but the leader "ducks" his head into the leader's arms, using his right hand to place her hands (pincer grip still) around his neck. The way the leader's head "pops up" inside the follower's embrace is why we call it Periscope. On 5-7, give each other a big hug: The sequence is completed!
We ended the class by repeating the entire four-class sequence to Guantanamera.
Starting the new year armed with a complete line-style salsa sequence of a total of 22 moves isn't bad at all! Now go out and practice it "live", and try to skip the in-between basics to make it look smoother.
Well done students, and next week we'll start out with an all-new sequence!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Thursday, December 17, 2009
7th salsa class: Lima, 2009-12-13
The 7th salsa class turned into a private class: Only Robert and Gissela, and Eidi & I.
We repeated the first and second parts of our sequence, fixing the feet in Remolino (leader must step "inside" on 7 with right foot), doing well in the first class without basicos! In the second part, we're still doing it with basicos in between the moves, to give the poor guy a chance the think. :)
After fine-tuning some details, including the hand-toss leads in La Cruz, we started on part 3 of the sequence. Gisela asked for some solo moves, known as shines, so we focused on that, and introduced two new solo steps, useful for solo shines:
- Mambo step. This is simple: You tap with your toes forwards on 1, 3, 5, 7: Left, Right, Left, Right (followers: Reverse foot order). No weight is shifted onto the tapping foot. The mambo step is for solo dancing. It looks even better with some armwork added.
- Bicicleta: This is all about placing your feet in line. Left foot in front of the right on 1, then on 2-3 the feet move backwards so you stay on the same spot. Repeat on 5-7 with the other foot first (followers: Reverse foot order). It's important that the feet really are exactly one in front of the other, that's what gives this step its character. Looks good combined with a body roll or some wavy armwork.
Using the new steps, the entire part three of the sequence is solo dancing:
For the leader:
9-11) Stand still, feet apart, clap 3-2 clave with macho attitude.
12) Mambo Cross: Do mambo step front and right, two taps in each direction. Rotation towards the right. First tap is with left foot.
13) Do mambo step back and left, two taps in each direction. Rotation towards the right.
14) Return to the line. Basic step, move in close to the follower. Hand on her back on 8.
15 Pick up the follower, nice and easy into closed hold on 1-3, and on 5-7 Cross Body Lead.
For the follower:
9) Right turn with styling: Right arm spiraling up, close to body, above head in the turn into holding an egg. Arm moves like a corkscrew, hand always points up. Fingers end in a crest-like spread. Palm faces right when finished.
10) 1-3 Basico, 5-7 Bicicleta
11) Bicicleta
12) Mambo Cross: Do mambo step front and right, two taps in each direction. Rotation towards the right. First tap is with right foot.
13) Do mambo step back and left, two taps in each direction. Rotation towards the right.
14) Return to the line. Rumba step.
15) Cross Body Lead.
So at the end of 15), we're back in closed hold, ready for part four of the sequence. Keep practicing!
And for all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 2010 will be a monster year for salsa dancing! Big hugs to everyone.
We repeated the first and second parts of our sequence, fixing the feet in Remolino (leader must step "inside" on 7 with right foot), doing well in the first class without basicos! In the second part, we're still doing it with basicos in between the moves, to give the poor guy a chance the think. :)
After fine-tuning some details, including the hand-toss leads in La Cruz, we started on part 3 of the sequence. Gisela asked for some solo moves, known as shines, so we focused on that, and introduced two new solo steps, useful for solo shines:
- Mambo step. This is simple: You tap with your toes forwards on 1, 3, 5, 7: Left, Right, Left, Right (followers: Reverse foot order). No weight is shifted onto the tapping foot. The mambo step is for solo dancing. It looks even better with some armwork added.
- Bicicleta: This is all about placing your feet in line. Left foot in front of the right on 1, then on 2-3 the feet move backwards so you stay on the same spot. Repeat on 5-7 with the other foot first (followers: Reverse foot order). It's important that the feet really are exactly one in front of the other, that's what gives this step its character. Looks good combined with a body roll or some wavy armwork.
Using the new steps, the entire part three of the sequence is solo dancing:
For the leader:
9-11) Stand still, feet apart, clap 3-2 clave with macho attitude.
12) Mambo Cross: Do mambo step front and right, two taps in each direction. Rotation towards the right. First tap is with left foot.
13) Do mambo step back and left, two taps in each direction. Rotation towards the right.
14) Return to the line. Basic step, move in close to the follower. Hand on her back on 8.
15 Pick up the follower, nice and easy into closed hold on 1-3, and on 5-7 Cross Body Lead.
For the follower:
9) Right turn with styling: Right arm spiraling up, close to body, above head in the turn into holding an egg. Arm moves like a corkscrew, hand always points up. Fingers end in a crest-like spread. Palm faces right when finished.
10) 1-3 Basico, 5-7 Bicicleta
11) Bicicleta
12) Mambo Cross: Do mambo step front and right, two taps in each direction. Rotation towards the right. First tap is with right foot.
13) Do mambo step back and left, two taps in each direction. Rotation towards the right.
14) Return to the line. Rumba step.
15) Cross Body Lead.
So at the end of 15), we're back in closed hold, ready for part four of the sequence. Keep practicing!
And for all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 2010 will be a monster year for salsa dancing! Big hugs to everyone.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
6th salsa class: Lima, 2009-12-07
The 6th salsa class had the core members gathered: Juan-Carlos and Melanie, Robert and Gissela, and Eidi & I.
By now we're getting into a routine, things are feeling more familiar. After four classes, of short sequences, in the fifth class we'll put those four sequences together and dance the whole sequence from class 1 to 4.
In today's footwork, we showed how to do a left turn, a simple, slow turn which uses an entire beat. You just step through the entire turn, there's no spinning on the foot at any point. In general, the footwork is looking very good!
We repeated last week's sequence:
1) Cross Body Lead,
2) Right turns for leader/follower,
3) La Copa,
4) Sombrero.
It took some time to polish the details, and it really does make a big difference if you practice at home between classes or not! :)
Worth mentioning the detail of how to lead Sombrero - if you lead it right, it will be obvious to the follower to which side she should turn, by blocking her with your left hand on her hip, so her own arm, in front of her body, forces her to turn to the right. We also mentioned the estetics of the Sombrero, that the arms first rise, then fall, like a fan opening up.
Then, we got into the new sequence for the day, a continuation of the previous one:
5) Cross Body Lead, Arc Walk
6) Remolino
7) Follower's Right Turn, double hold
8) La Cruz
Breaking each step down into some detail:
5) Cross Body Lead, Arc Walk: A cross body lead, but the leader raises his hand so the follower walks beneath it, which makes her half-turn to the right instead of the left on 7. It is important that the leader guides the follower with his right hand on 5, so she knows to move straight forward. Like any other cross body lead without turns, this move looks best if the follower does her half-turn on 7, not earlier. For some ladies' styling, the follower can put her free left hand on her hip while walking beneath the arc.
6) Remolino: Starts with an Open Break, then the lead steps forward and puts his right arm on the follower's back, arm above her shoulder, like a wing. Then the two step a full turn to the right on 5-6-7, walking around a common center of gravity. The most difficult thing here was how to step for the lead: The right foot walks "inside" the left foot on 7.
7) Follower's Right Turn, double hold: Basic step on 1-2-3, then a simple follower's right turn on 5-6-7, with both hands held. Ends into a double-crossed hold, left hand above right hand. This is just a preparation for the next move, really. It helps to use the thumb as a leader to maintain the grip in the turn.
8) La Cruz (also known as Jesu Cristo): Today's most difficult move. Gets its name from the pose on 3, where the partners stand back to back with arms outstretched like a cross. The follower's steps are actually identical to those of La Copa, but the armwork is quite different. Begins on 1 with an Open Break. On 2, the leader must pull with his left hand on the follower's right hand so she understands that she should move into a La Copa position. The leader steps forward with his right foot, facing left (back to back with the follower). The leader raises the hands which are still coupled. On 3, the arms are lowered, one to each side, forming "La Cruz". The arms should not be fully extended. Then on 5, the leader "tosses" the follower's right hand backwards, while the leader's right hand is still holding her and indicating the direction of her half-turn. This tells her to return to the spot she came from. On 6, the leader's right hand releases her, completely letting go. On 7, both make a half-turn to face each other, without any contact. The most difficult thing here is that 1-2-3 goes very fast - the pull on 2 must be obvious, and it is very important to put the weight of the leader's left foot on 3. And here, just like in Sombrero, the esthetics we're looking for is that the arms rise (though not very high) on 2, and fall down and out like a fan on 3. The trick is to make it look slow even though it's quite fast.
The first three didn't present any real problems, but the fourth one will require some work. We'll repeat the 5-8 moves in the next class, but do remember to practice! Taking a video is an excellent way to help the memory.
That was all we did in this class. Come back for more next Sunday, and don't forget to practice!
By now we're getting into a routine, things are feeling more familiar. After four classes, of short sequences, in the fifth class we'll put those four sequences together and dance the whole sequence from class 1 to 4.
In today's footwork, we showed how to do a left turn, a simple, slow turn which uses an entire beat. You just step through the entire turn, there's no spinning on the foot at any point. In general, the footwork is looking very good!
We repeated last week's sequence:
1) Cross Body Lead,
2) Right turns for leader/follower,
3) La Copa,
4) Sombrero.
It took some time to polish the details, and it really does make a big difference if you practice at home between classes or not! :)
Worth mentioning the detail of how to lead Sombrero - if you lead it right, it will be obvious to the follower to which side she should turn, by blocking her with your left hand on her hip, so her own arm, in front of her body, forces her to turn to the right. We also mentioned the estetics of the Sombrero, that the arms first rise, then fall, like a fan opening up.
Then, we got into the new sequence for the day, a continuation of the previous one:
5) Cross Body Lead, Arc Walk
6) Remolino
7) Follower's Right Turn, double hold
8) La Cruz
Breaking each step down into some detail:
5) Cross Body Lead, Arc Walk: A cross body lead, but the leader raises his hand so the follower walks beneath it, which makes her half-turn to the right instead of the left on 7. It is important that the leader guides the follower with his right hand on 5, so she knows to move straight forward. Like any other cross body lead without turns, this move looks best if the follower does her half-turn on 7, not earlier. For some ladies' styling, the follower can put her free left hand on her hip while walking beneath the arc.
6) Remolino: Starts with an Open Break, then the lead steps forward and puts his right arm on the follower's back, arm above her shoulder, like a wing. Then the two step a full turn to the right on 5-6-7, walking around a common center of gravity. The most difficult thing here was how to step for the lead: The right foot walks "inside" the left foot on 7.
7) Follower's Right Turn, double hold: Basic step on 1-2-3, then a simple follower's right turn on 5-6-7, with both hands held. Ends into a double-crossed hold, left hand above right hand. This is just a preparation for the next move, really. It helps to use the thumb as a leader to maintain the grip in the turn.
8) La Cruz (also known as Jesu Cristo): Today's most difficult move. Gets its name from the pose on 3, where the partners stand back to back with arms outstretched like a cross. The follower's steps are actually identical to those of La Copa, but the armwork is quite different. Begins on 1 with an Open Break. On 2, the leader must pull with his left hand on the follower's right hand so she understands that she should move into a La Copa position. The leader steps forward with his right foot, facing left (back to back with the follower). The leader raises the hands which are still coupled. On 3, the arms are lowered, one to each side, forming "La Cruz". The arms should not be fully extended. Then on 5, the leader "tosses" the follower's right hand backwards, while the leader's right hand is still holding her and indicating the direction of her half-turn. This tells her to return to the spot she came from. On 6, the leader's right hand releases her, completely letting go. On 7, both make a half-turn to face each other, without any contact. The most difficult thing here is that 1-2-3 goes very fast - the pull on 2 must be obvious, and it is very important to put the weight of the leader's left foot on 3. And here, just like in Sombrero, the esthetics we're looking for is that the arms rise (though not very high) on 2, and fall down and out like a fan on 3. The trick is to make it look slow even though it's quite fast.
The first three didn't present any real problems, but the fourth one will require some work. We'll repeat the 5-8 moves in the next class, but do remember to practice! Taking a video is an excellent way to help the memory.
That was all we did in this class. Come back for more next Sunday, and don't forget to practice!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Fifth salsa class: Lima, 2009-11-29
The fifth salsa class had the core members gathered: Juan-Carlos and Melanie, Robert and Gissela, and Eidi & I.
Since everyone had already learned the basics ("level 1"), it was time to move on to "level 2" (La Isla-style classification!). The classes will from now on always begin with some footwork to warm up and learn some solo moves - also called "shines" - and then the rest will be partnerwork where we combine various moves into a sequence, cheerfully known as La Sequencia. We will repeat the sequence from the previous class rapidly before moving on to a new one.
* First of all, let's introduce some very useful terms, on holds:
- Closed hold: When the partners form the "frame".
- Open hold: When the partners hold one or both hands. There is no frame.
- Straight hold: Open hold where leader's left hand holds follower's right hand and vice versa. Can be with both hands, or just one or the other.
- Crossed hold: Open hold where leader's left hand holds follower's left hand and vice versa. Can be with left hand above or right hand above, or just one hand or the other.
- Double crossed hold: The result of a straight hold after doing a turn. Can be with left hand above or right hand above. Always held with both hands.
* A word about why it's called "Line style": A key difference between line style and cuban style is the concept of the line. The follower always moves along a line. This means that as a follower, you're always doing one of two things:
1) Dancing in place where you are. You're not moving in any direction.
2) Moving in one direction along the line. All your steps are taken in that direction until the lead indicates you should either stop and start dancing in place where you are, or reverse your direction, or the next eight begins.
As a leader, you can be stepping around in many different directions to get out of the way of the follower as she moves along the line, but you are always leading in one of two ways:
1) Letting the follower dance in place where she is (stepping, turning, whatever).
2) Leading the follower in one direction along the line (stepping, turning, whatever). You must clearly indicate to the follower in which direction to step, when to start moving, and when to stop moving. If turning, you must also clearly indicate to the follower in which direction to turn.
* In the footwork, we introduced a new step: Susie Q. You cross your legs to one side on 1-2-3, and to the other side on 5-6-7, the crossing leg in front of the other one. Useful for solo dancing when waiting to pair up again. The rest of the footwork was a mix of the four steps we've learned.
* Today's partnerwork sequence consisted of some known and some new moves. The sequence was:
- Basic, start in closed hold
- Cross Body Lead, end in open hold
- Basic
- Right Turn for both partners, low hands, hand swap, end in crossed hold left hand over
- Basic
- Open Break, La Copa, end in crossed hold right hand over
- Basic
- Open Break, Sombrero
- Cross Body Lead
* We showed a new way to do a leader's right turn today: By lowering the hand and swapping hands during the turn. This is the "same" as a normal right turn beneath the leader's arm, but is especially useful (easier) if the leader is tall and the follower short. It is also a nice way to swap handhold from straight to crossed. The follower can help out here by maintaining her hand in contact with the follower's body during the turn.
* We repeated the Open Break: This is not a move in itself, it is just a preparation for a move. It consists of the leader taking a step backwards on 1, instead of forwards. This creates a tension in the arms - think rubber band - which gives momentum for whatever comes next. Note that the arms should never be fully outstretched; partially because it can hurt and partially because it doesn't look as nice.
* We introduced the step La Copa: It begins with an Open Break, hands crossed left above, the leader pulls with his right hand on 2 and stops the follower on 3 by placing his right hand on her right hip - at this point both are looking sideways, compared to the line. On 5-6-7 the lead guides the follower to return to her original position, similar to a cross body lead. It is called "la copa" because when done right, on 3 the lead leans to the left and the follower leans to the right, forming a "cup" or a "Y" with their upper bodies.
* We introduced the step Sombrero: It begins with an Open Break, hands crossed right above, the leader pulls with his right hand on 3 and raises it preparing the turn. On 5 the follower steps forward, on 6-7 the lead guides the actual turn - which is a left turn - both hands held high, and on 7-8 the lead's right arm falls below the follower's neck and vice versa. The follower steps in a similar way as in a Cross Body Lead with right turn, which we learned in the third class. The difference is that the leader is on her other side, so the turn is in the other direction: In Sombrero, the follower does 1.5 left turn (and of course the armwork is different). The next eight was finished with a Cross Body Lead, but leading with the right hand above the follower's arm instead of below it.
* Some difficulties noted during the class which we managed to fix:
- Difficult for leaders to remember the sequence: Yes, it is. There's no shortcut. It gets better with practice, it's as simple as that.
- The followers sometimes wanted to "help", since they knew the sequence, by moving before the leader has indicated the move. Avoid this, since it ruins the flow of the dance. The most important thing for the follower is to learn to listen to the leader's signals and follow them.
- In La Copa, the leader must clearly indicate on 2 that the follower must step forward on 3, and clearly brake her on 3. The follower must put down her foot on 3 - it was easy to be a bit late here as a follower.
- Leading Sombrero is much easier if the leader's right hand stays up during the whole turn (3-7).
- In the Sombrero, the line style version, all the follower's steps are taken in the same direction in order to maintain the line and momentum. Just as the Cross Body Lead with right turn, but the turn is to the left in Sombrero. In Cuban style salsa, the steps are different and usually done more "in place".
- On the 5-6-7 of the Sombrero, the leader steps a bit to the right, sort of a rumba step, in order to stay at the follower's side.
- On the first 1 after the Sombrero, doing a Shuffle step feels natural. We'll go through that step next class. Promise... :)
* We ended the class by skipping all the Basic steps between the different moves, which complicated things a bit but looks much nicer. And everyone got it right in the end! Now we're doing some real salsa dancing! You guys already know more than the average latino/latina, and from now on it'll just get better and better! :)
That's all we did in the fifth class. Great job, keep practicing!
Since everyone had already learned the basics ("level 1"), it was time to move on to "level 2" (La Isla-style classification!). The classes will from now on always begin with some footwork to warm up and learn some solo moves - also called "shines" - and then the rest will be partnerwork where we combine various moves into a sequence, cheerfully known as La Sequencia. We will repeat the sequence from the previous class rapidly before moving on to a new one.
* First of all, let's introduce some very useful terms, on holds:
- Closed hold: When the partners form the "frame".
- Open hold: When the partners hold one or both hands. There is no frame.
- Straight hold: Open hold where leader's left hand holds follower's right hand and vice versa. Can be with both hands, or just one or the other.
- Crossed hold: Open hold where leader's left hand holds follower's left hand and vice versa. Can be with left hand above or right hand above, or just one hand or the other.
- Double crossed hold: The result of a straight hold after doing a turn. Can be with left hand above or right hand above. Always held with both hands.
* A word about why it's called "Line style": A key difference between line style and cuban style is the concept of the line. The follower always moves along a line. This means that as a follower, you're always doing one of two things:
1) Dancing in place where you are. You're not moving in any direction.
2) Moving in one direction along the line. All your steps are taken in that direction until the lead indicates you should either stop and start dancing in place where you are, or reverse your direction, or the next eight begins.
As a leader, you can be stepping around in many different directions to get out of the way of the follower as she moves along the line, but you are always leading in one of two ways:
1) Letting the follower dance in place where she is (stepping, turning, whatever).
2) Leading the follower in one direction along the line (stepping, turning, whatever). You must clearly indicate to the follower in which direction to step, when to start moving, and when to stop moving. If turning, you must also clearly indicate to the follower in which direction to turn.
* In the footwork, we introduced a new step: Susie Q. You cross your legs to one side on 1-2-3, and to the other side on 5-6-7, the crossing leg in front of the other one. Useful for solo dancing when waiting to pair up again. The rest of the footwork was a mix of the four steps we've learned.
* Today's partnerwork sequence consisted of some known and some new moves. The sequence was:
- Basic, start in closed hold
- Cross Body Lead, end in open hold
- Basic
- Right Turn for both partners, low hands, hand swap, end in crossed hold left hand over
- Basic
- Open Break, La Copa, end in crossed hold right hand over
- Basic
- Open Break, Sombrero
- Cross Body Lead
* We showed a new way to do a leader's right turn today: By lowering the hand and swapping hands during the turn. This is the "same" as a normal right turn beneath the leader's arm, but is especially useful (easier) if the leader is tall and the follower short. It is also a nice way to swap handhold from straight to crossed. The follower can help out here by maintaining her hand in contact with the follower's body during the turn.
* We repeated the Open Break: This is not a move in itself, it is just a preparation for a move. It consists of the leader taking a step backwards on 1, instead of forwards. This creates a tension in the arms - think rubber band - which gives momentum for whatever comes next. Note that the arms should never be fully outstretched; partially because it can hurt and partially because it doesn't look as nice.
* We introduced the step La Copa: It begins with an Open Break, hands crossed left above, the leader pulls with his right hand on 2 and stops the follower on 3 by placing his right hand on her right hip - at this point both are looking sideways, compared to the line. On 5-6-7 the lead guides the follower to return to her original position, similar to a cross body lead. It is called "la copa" because when done right, on 3 the lead leans to the left and the follower leans to the right, forming a "cup" or a "Y" with their upper bodies.
* We introduced the step Sombrero: It begins with an Open Break, hands crossed right above, the leader pulls with his right hand on 3 and raises it preparing the turn. On 5 the follower steps forward, on 6-7 the lead guides the actual turn - which is a left turn - both hands held high, and on 7-8 the lead's right arm falls below the follower's neck and vice versa. The follower steps in a similar way as in a Cross Body Lead with right turn, which we learned in the third class. The difference is that the leader is on her other side, so the turn is in the other direction: In Sombrero, the follower does 1.5 left turn (and of course the armwork is different). The next eight was finished with a Cross Body Lead, but leading with the right hand above the follower's arm instead of below it.
* Some difficulties noted during the class which we managed to fix:
- Difficult for leaders to remember the sequence: Yes, it is. There's no shortcut. It gets better with practice, it's as simple as that.
- The followers sometimes wanted to "help", since they knew the sequence, by moving before the leader has indicated the move. Avoid this, since it ruins the flow of the dance. The most important thing for the follower is to learn to listen to the leader's signals and follow them.
- In La Copa, the leader must clearly indicate on 2 that the follower must step forward on 3, and clearly brake her on 3. The follower must put down her foot on 3 - it was easy to be a bit late here as a follower.
- Leading Sombrero is much easier if the leader's right hand stays up during the whole turn (3-7).
- In the Sombrero, the line style version, all the follower's steps are taken in the same direction in order to maintain the line and momentum. Just as the Cross Body Lead with right turn, but the turn is to the left in Sombrero. In Cuban style salsa, the steps are different and usually done more "in place".
- On the 5-6-7 of the Sombrero, the leader steps a bit to the right, sort of a rumba step, in order to stay at the follower's side.
- On the first 1 after the Sombrero, doing a Shuffle step feels natural. We'll go through that step next class. Promise... :)
* We ended the class by skipping all the Basic steps between the different moves, which complicated things a bit but looks much nicer. And everyone got it right in the end! Now we're doing some real salsa dancing! You guys already know more than the average latino/latina, and from now on it'll just get better and better! :)
That's all we did in the fifth class. Great job, keep practicing!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Fourth salsa class: Lima, 2009-11-22
The fourth salsa class saw more attendants: Juan-Carlos and Melanie, Robert, and newcomers Gissela and Johnny participated. With Eidi & I, of course.
Since we had newcomers, this class was purely repetition of the third class.
* One thing with which all the leaders had problems was how to do a leader's right turn on 1-2-3. The difficulty turned out to be that they didn't step well on 2, and therefore had to push very hard on 3. When this was explained the turns looked much better!
* We did some fine-tuning of the leader's left hand grip when leading a turn: twist the palm inside the follower's hooked fingers, and gently grip the back of the follower's hand with the thumb for a steadier lead.
* The leaders also had some problems with the move cross body lead, which turned out to be that they didn't step well on 5-6-7. Clearly counting and stepping solved the problem.
That's all we did in the fourth class - repetition. Can't ever repeat too much. Keep practicing!
Since we had newcomers, this class was purely repetition of the third class.
* One thing with which all the leaders had problems was how to do a leader's right turn on 1-2-3. The difficulty turned out to be that they didn't step well on 2, and therefore had to push very hard on 3. When this was explained the turns looked much better!
* We did some fine-tuning of the leader's left hand grip when leading a turn: twist the palm inside the follower's hooked fingers, and gently grip the back of the follower's hand with the thumb for a steadier lead.
* The leaders also had some problems with the move cross body lead, which turned out to be that they didn't step well on 5-6-7. Clearly counting and stepping solved the problem.
That's all we did in the fourth class - repetition. Can't ever repeat too much. Keep practicing!
Third salsa class: Lima, 2009-11-08
The third salsa class was very private: Only Juan-Carlos and Melanie showed up.
We did a quick retake of the basics from the first class, basic partner work, leading, right turn. Then we started practicing the "cross body lead". Important things to remember from this class are:
* Line style salsa is called "line style" for a reason: The follower is always maintaining a line, moving backwards or forwards, facing "north" or "south". When changing place or doing turns, the lead moves out of the way so the follower can move along the line.* The simplest way to change place is a move called cross body lead. The leader opens up on 1-2-3, moving to the right side of the line. The follower does a normal basic step on 1-2-3. Then the leader pushes forward with his right hand on 4-5, indicating that the follower shouldn't complete a normal basic step but instead step forward on 5-6, making half a turn on 7 to face the lead. This move is very similar to the "Dile que no" move in cuban salsa. This move is often used to start or end a sequence of moves.
* A variation on cross body lead is cross body lead with right turn. It starts the same, but the leader raises his left hand to indicate a turn on 4. The follower initiates the turn on 6 and always steps along the line, facing left on 6, right on 7 and turning 270 degrees on 7-8, keeping the right foot in the air until the next 1, then moving into a normal basic step. This "5-6-7" turn takes some practice. The follower always moves in the same direction throughout the move, and always steps on the line. The leader must remember to be steady in the spin, using the shoulder to guide, not the wrist. The leader's left hand moves down on 7-8, indicating the end of the turn.
That was all we covered in the third class. Keep practicing!
Second salsa class: Lima, 2009-11-01
Since the first class left the participants hungry for more, the second class took place the following Sunday and so a tradition of Sunday evening salsa class was established.
Attendants: Juan-Carlos & Melanie, Robert, Eidi & I.
We did a quick retake of the basics from the first class. Then we continued with some new things and started on basic partner work. Important things to remember from this class are:
* In closed hold, most of the leading is done with the right hand (on the follower's shoulder blade).
* The follower must maintain a resistance in her arms. If not, the leader will not be able to lead correctly. If the leader pushes the follower's arm backward, the follower should step backward. If the leader pulls the follower forward, she should step forward. She should never let her arm be pushed behind her shoulder like a boiled strand of spaghetti, nor should her arm ever be fully extended. Think rubber band.
* To lead the basic step, the leader uses both left and right hand to indicate that the follower move backwards. This is how changing into the basic step is indicated.
* To lead the rumba step, the leader uses the right hand to indicate that the follower move to the lead's left. This is how changing into the rumba step is indicated.
* To lead the cuban step, the leader uses mainly the left hand, pushing down and to the leader's right, to indicate that the follower move backwards and to the leader's right. This is how changing into the cuban step is indicated. The right hand is also used to some extent.
* It is possible to lead all three steps with just one hand, putting the other hand on one's back. This is a great exercise in order to really understand how the leader signals the different steps, and transitions between them, to the follower.
* Another great exercise is for the follower to close her eyes and let the leader switch between the three steps randomly. It should be obvious for the follower which step is coming on the next eight. This exercise also highlights the fact that the lead must come slightly before beat 1 (on the previous 8, approximately) - if not, the follower won't have time to react to the change of step.
* Line style salsa is led using the long and ring finger - "hard rock salsa". This grip is different from the cuban style's way of gripping the lead's thumb. The follower never grips the leader's thumb in line style salsa.
* When doing turns, one usually starts from an open hold: Leader's right hand in follower's left hand, leader's left hand in follower's right hand.
* Right turn is done on 1-2-3 for the leader and 5-6-7 for the follower. On 1: Step forward like a normal basic step but angle the left foot slightly to the right. On 2: Step in place with the right foot, but point the toes backwards. On 3: Push gently with the left foot to spin to the right in place. The spin is on the right foot. One spins on the ball of the foot, never on the heel. For the follower, this is exactly the same but on 5-6-7.
* Leading a right turn is done by: Leader lifts left hand on 3-4, palm upwards like a waiter. Leader twists palm inside follower's hooked fingers in order to be able to gently pinch follower's back of hand with his thumb. The actual turn is indicated by a small push backwards just above and left of the follower's head. The follower does the rest of the right turn herself without the lead giving any force. The leader's "hard rock" fingers point downwards and form a "grip" for the follower in the turn, for extra balance.
* All turns are led using the shoulder and elbow. No turns are led by whisking around the wrist.
* If the leader does the right turn, the steps are: Leader lifts left hand on 7-8, palm upwards like a waiter. Leader forms an "arch" with the two arms, which is ready on 8, and on 1 "steps through the arch" doing the right turn.
That was all we covered in the second class. Keep practicing!
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