Author Archives: Diane

by Joseph Baker

Dancing in correct time to the music is essential. Several vendors sell music CD’s that explain and demonstrate how to count the step timing in correct time to the music. It’s best to play ballroom music often enough in your home or in your car so that correct timing becomes second nature. An interesting point is that, in dancing, we are split weight and moving onto a step at the corresponding beat of the music. Another key point is that the follower’s movement is a response to the leader’s lead and must never precede the lead. In other words, the leading action will slightly precede the follower’s response action. A mistake is for the follower to step before the lead.

by Joseph Baker

Most folks have slow danced long before becoming involved in ballroom dancing. The slow dance hold, where the partners have their heads together, is the opposite of what is required for ballroom dancing.

In ballroom dancing, a very large space is created between the heads of the partners and this is necessary for effecting turning patterns such as pivot turns. In ballroom smooth dancing, to help create this space, the follower must stay positioned against the leader’s right hand by stretching upward, outward and leftward into the leader’s right hand. Again, this ice cream cone shaped paring – or big top – is necessary for effecting turning figures such as pivoting actions.

by Joseph Baker

In swing dancing and in many Latin Dance figures, the connection is often with a single handhold. this connection needs to have rock solid integrity. The follower should cup her/his hand so as to provide a strong, full-hand connection versus trying to effect connection only at her/his fingertips. In competition dancing, a momentary loss of connection can spell disaster.

Competitive west coast swing dancers know the importance of this connection very well, as their dance requires an exceptional sense of connection and timing. In fact, it’s miraculous that their ability to communicate so much through a single handhold connection.

Although it SHOULD go without saying, I will say it here: when taking lessons (group classes, workshops and/or private lessons), one should practice what is taught/learned. For all of the time that I have been part of the dance community, I have been told (and I repeat to my students) that one should practice a minimum of 10 minutes a day, every day – which is much better than practicing for an hour, twice a week. Unlike going to the gym, the purpose is not to build muscles, but to build and develop muscle/motor memory.

BUT. . .what constitutes practice? Ideally, if you have a regular dance partner (and especially if you are working on a competition or showcase dance), the couple should practice/dance with each other. However, for the “average” person with a busy life – and/or for those without a regular partner – this means practicing by oneself. This can mean going through the moves with music or even without music. This can mean going over and over one particular segment. This can mean just listening to the music and tapping one’s fingers to the beat. Truly, “practice” means whatever an individual defines it to be, whatever an individual finds necessary and, in real life, whatever the individual can accomplish – what is important is that practice happens regularly.

by Ron Montez

As a couple seeks to express themselves in the intimate language of rumba, they need to pay attention to frame, posture and the Cuban motion – especially the Cuban motion.

Like in all social dances, a couple needs to learn the basic rhythm and timing of the dance and the basic patterns – but, to really learn rumba and be part of that dance, the Cuban motion is essential. This is because this motion is what gives rumba its characteristics and flavor, and is probably one of the hardest aspects of rumba.

There is a tendency to think that dancing is about movement – the steps, the footwork, the connection, the rise and fall, the turns, the connection between partners and more – and, well, it is. . .sort of. When the focus is on how the dancers are connected to the music/rhythm, often, the magic happens when the progressive movement stops – i.e., the sways (and oversways), the stretches, the head/arm/hand extensions, the hesitations, the pauses. Some instructors refer to these pieces as what finishes a move, but I believe that it is much more. I believe that it is these pieces that MAKE the moves. This is where the energy gathers and that progressive movement is the release of that energy – but the magic is in the gathering of (and, sometimes, the completion of) the energy.

In waltz, it’s often referred to as “ooze the twos,” but’s it’s actually the twos (one-TWO-three) and the fives (four-FIVE-six). What happens is that the twos and the fives are held infinitesimally longer, with the subsequent three/six being that much faster. It just gives the visual impression – and, to those who are dancing those steps, the FEEL – of “oozing.” Truly, when a partner dances this way with me, it greatly enhances the feeling of the waltz – i.e., it just feels right. In tango, the timing is SSQQS. However, if a couple dances the first slow slightly faster, this allows the second slow to be a little slower; this further allows a bit of a “drag” between the second quick and the final slow [of eight counts], which just adds to the “snappy” feeling of the tango.

In cha-cha, it’s two, three, four-AND-one. In “on 1” salsa, the “and” happens on the silent counts 4 and 8 (in “on 2” salsa, it’s on counts 5 and 1). In hustle, the direction (side, back or forward) of the “and” prior to one directs where the follower moves on count one.

In the sugar push step of west coast swing, the “and” count between 3 and 4 is when the follower’s momentum is absorbed and redirected from forward to backward. More importantly in this dance (and similarly in lindy and some other swing dances), the “and-a” before count 1 is where the stretch, the breath and much of the overall energy of the dance occurs.

It’s important to note that movement does NOT happen on a numbered count. Think about it. If you are walking and count each step as your foot hits the floor and freeze on the count, you are not moving [at that moment]! If you clap your hands to a beat, each time that your hands are together (on a numbered count), they are not moving. In relation to counting along with beats of music or a regular rhythm, ALL movement occurs between the counts. Note, too, that movement is not just steps (in any direction), it is also turns.

Therefore, the correct way to count when to execute a one-footed turn is not “step-turn,” which would require taking a step and then turning on the count, but “turn-step,” so that you are turning/MOVING between the counts and then “hitting” the step on the numbered count.

Disco America 2018 (see video clip) is now one for the books – this 20th annual Philadelphia-area competition/workshop event took place, last weekend, in Essington, PA (just past Philadelphia International Airport).

The good news is that this event will be held again in 2019. In addition, the Philadelphia area is host to many similar events: two yearly west coast swing weekends (fall and winter), a combination hustle and west coast swing event (in the fall), one annual Argentine tango weekend (Memorial Day weekend) and a variety of ballroom competitions.

Be sure to check our Special Events page to plan your schedule NOW.