BE GENTLE

Dancing certainly is a contact sport. But it is not wrestling, football, or boxing. Let’s not use full body throws, body slams, tackles, or left jabs (unless they’re cued, of course ). We are dancing with a partner, not an opponent. So we should try to be gentle.

I wonder if we are writing mostly to the men, here? Is the roughness that we sometimes see on the dance floor some kind of primal caveman or he-man urge, one of those Y-chromosome things? Mostly, but maybe not entirely. Anyone can be over-enthusiastic, intense, rushed, or pushy. In round dancing, we focus so strongly on the steps, the figures, the whole choreography — we focus so strongly on our feet — that the “details” like gentle execution can be overshadowed and forgotten.

Moderation —

One way to cultivate a gentle style is to make our movements and steps soft and smooth—not sharp, not sudden, not jerky. Well, some dance steps should have some abruptness to them. An Alemana Surprise Check or a Surprise Whip should have a surprise in it, but a gentle surprise. A Contra Check or a Right Lunge in tango should get out there and then stop, but not roughly or brutally. Let’s not try to make business for the chiropractor. As in most aspects of life, we want moderation—some sharpness when called for, but not too much.

For instance, we know that long, gliding steps often look good. Some seasoned round dancers sweep past the beginners, on the inside of the curve. Maybe we have watched competition ballroom dancers soar from one end of the floor to the other. But sometimes, in striving to reach an imagined goal, we go too far, and a gracefully reaching step becomes a sudden leap or lunge. Then, the resulting momentum is hard to resist, so recovery must be muscular and crudely jerky in its turn.

Pay attention to whether you are on the inside or the outside of any curve. On the inside, take smaller steps so she doesn't have to hustle. And stay tight in; again, she'll have a shorter arc to navigate. The same goes for her when you curve or turn the other way.

We strive for rise and fall in most of the smooth rhythms, but it too should be gentle. There should be no hint of a jack-in-the-box. Don’t pop up to the tippy-toes and then thump down onto the heels. No deep knee bends. No abrupt extensions. We strive for sway and change of sway, but don’t jerk or shove your partner. We try to use side lead and contra action. Ease into these upper body rotations. Don’t throw that side forward like a race driver jerking the wheel of his hotrod.

Much of our dancing involves turning—moving from one side of our partner to the other. If you try to go around your partner, sometimes it is a long way and you will have to rush or leap. Instead, go through your partner. For instance, in an Open Telemark, the man’s first step is forward with his left foot. Now, make the second step straight forward with the right; not side, not around her, but straight through her left side. She will turn ever so neatly, like a revolving door, and you are through to the other side—smoothly, gently.

Often, choreographers will ask for arm- or legwork that is not a part of the standard figure. We are taught to dance a Fence Line “with arms.” That particular dance is popular, we dance it often, and we get into a rut and begin to dance all Fence Lines with arms. She is asked to recover from the Fence Line and kick to a Same Foot Lunge Line. Maybe the music has a nice flourish right there, one that calls for that kick. But humans like to develop habits—habits cut down on the number of decisions we have to make. So we begin to kick our way from every Hinge into a Same Foot. If the musical flourish isn’t there, then it looks busy, maybe frantic. If the tempo is a little faster, then the extra piece of business might appear rushed. If the music is more dreamy, then a flick might appear out of place. Don’t let such ruts trap you. Don’t do every Open Break with a big, vertical arm thrust. Don’t dance every Cross Body with a twirl. Don’t struggle to turn every Lariat into a Rope Spin. Don’t struggle at all—be gentle.

Think Ahead —

We are told to “develop” or “extend” a picture figure. Usually, this means to add a little more to what you have already done to get into that shape. Turn your bodies a little farther, lean back a little more, or extend a free arm to follow the line of the body. Well, again, in a waltz or a foxtrot at least, don’t just throw yourself out there and then stand there in a static pose. That’s going to look rough. Maybe the most valuable skill, to make dancing smooth and gentle, is to use all the time that is available. Arch back slowly. Extend the arm smoothly, over the whole measure. Do you have two measures? Use every beat.

Another smoothing strategy is to anticipate the next figure, even as you are dancing the current figure. You can think of this as preparing or “prepping” for each figure as it approaches. For instance, if you are dancing a Three Step and then a Natural Weave, you will hear the second cue as you dance the Three Step. As you hear that next cue, adjust the last step of the current figure. Turn it a little to the right, and you will flow so much more gently into the weave. If you’re doing hip rocks to a spot turn, on the last hip rock, turn your foot out to allow the spot turn to flow. As a matter of fact, listen for that word “to” in the cueing. “Open break to a Natural Top.” The “to” warns you that you especially need to prep, in this case, to turn the end of the Open Break to the right so that the Natural Top will flow smoothly. In essence, you have begun the Natural Top at the end of the Open Break. You are overlapping the figures. No, we don’t want to be sloppy, but if we can consciously transition from each figure to the next, with a small action or maybe only with a mental readiness, then we will have one smooth dance, rather than lots of separate, isolated, and choppy figures.

As much as anything, familiarity with the figures lets you “gentle” the movements. If you don’t know the figure well, you spend part of the beat hearing the cue, recognizing the name, putting the name to the actions, and finally getting the nerve impulses started on their way to the appropriate muscles. By that time, the beat is almost spent, and of course you have to jump into it. After you’ve done a figure or a dance 20 times, all that “thinking” happens a lot more quickly, leaving more time for gentle execution. Ah yes—here comes a blinding flash of insight. Are you ready? If your dancing feels rough, then practice can help smooth out the flow.

Lead But Don’t Force —

Men, your job is to lead your partner. Is “leading” the same thing as “making her go where you want her to go?” Do you ever find yourself dragging her across during a Wing? Don’t do the caveman thing. Be gentle. Guide, suggest, invite, but don’t force it. Open the door for her in a gentlemanly fashion, but don’t push her through. If she doesn’t get quite as far as you thought she should, let it be. A smaller move will certainly look better (and feel better) than a forced “correct” move.

A good dancer is not an individual but very much a part of a couple. He must give her time to execute her moves. He must know what she has to do, lead her to do it, help her to do it or at least allow her to do it, and only then move to the next step or figure. Don’t do what the music tells you to do, regardless of what else is happening in your partnership or on the floor nearby. Adjust. Dance not only to the music, but to the total environment. You look good only if you both look good. At the end of the dance, let’s not hear her say, “You danced as though I wasn’t even there. You danced for yourself.” And don’t you reply, with great authority, “Follow! Just follow!”

We talk casually about “lead and follow,” as though the information flows only from the man to the woman, from a captain to his crew, but it is really a conversation. He offers a lead, she responds, he reads that response and uses that information to fine-tune his next lead. A caveman lead is rough and awkward. A conversational lead is smooth and gentle.

Thank Your Partner —

And finally, at the end of the dance, you have one more opportunity to be gentle. Since even the hardest working, most practiced, and most highly polished dancer is still human, you might be tempted to question those blunders that will occur. This question could be as harsh as, “What kind of STUPID move was that?” The question could be less emotional—“Why did you do a Reverse Turn when the cue was Reverse Wave?” or “Why won’t you keep your arms up and give me something to work off of?”

If you can ask this sort of thing with a bit of a smile or twinkle in the eye, then it can be fun. You can laugh at yourselves and still feel as though you’re partners. But if there is a feeling of irritation, frustration, or anger in your tone, then you are not together, not a couple, and a lot of the fun disappears — poof — it hurts and deflates what might have been a pretty party balloon.

There are only three emotional combinations: When both are happy with the performance, then it is easy to be gentle and easy-going in your relationship. When both are unhappy, then a little grousing might not do too much damage. You can wallow in the mud of frustration together. But if only one is unhappy, then you need to take care. One has enjoyed the dance and feels good; the other feels short-changed and slighted. He didn’t do his part, or she didn’t do hers—didn’t measure up. But what percentage of the dance did these shortcomings really occupy?

Now, at the end of the dance, is the time to think of the good parts. Now is the time for, “Thank you.” “That felt good.” If it didn’t feel good, at least the music was sweet. Smile. Be gentle.

This article was published in the
Dixie Round Dance Council (DRDC) Newsletter, February, 2007;
reprinted in Footnotes In the Round, LRDTA, 27-2:8–9, 2/2007,
and again 27-12:7–10, 12/2007;
excerpted in the Dallas Harvest Holiday 2007, 47-3:1–2, 3/2007;
reprinted in the Roundalab Journal, 31:3, p.19–20, winter 2007/08;
and an edited version was published in Round Notes, CRDA, p.6, April/May 2008

DON'T FIGHT

I have a nagging fear that I have put this article too late in my sequence. Should it be Lesson # 1? For it is a basic and fundamental rule of dance: don't criticize your partner.

First of all, this is recreation. It's supposed to be fun. Take it easy and be forgiving. For some couples, dancing might be the one activity outside the home that they share. He has his job, and she has hers. He plays golf, and she plays bridge. But on Tuesday evenings, they round dance — they do this one thing together. They hold each other in their arms; romantic music is playing. Now especially is no time for criticism, condescension, impatience, disgust, anger, irate blows, shouting tantrums . . .

Second, just because the man is the "leader" doesn't make him the boss. He doesn't have the right to order his partner around, to lecture, to reprimand, or to do any other "boss/subordinate" or "superior/inferior" thing. And just because she is the "queen of the ball" doesn't give her royal privileges. Dancing is a partnership. We are working (playing?) together. If there is any activity that calls for cooperation, it is round dancing or ballroom dancing. Even the idea of a partnership doesn't quite give us the feel of what is required, because dancing is more like a warm courtship than a cold business deal. Dancing is refined and stylized, but you are courting your partner out there. Even if you are not otherwise a couple — even if you have only just now met your partner and asked her to dance — the smooth moves apart and together, the soft gliding down the hall, make up a gentle love-making. No, this is not an efficient partnership trying to manufacture widgets. It is an affectionate courtship. Keep it sweet.

Third, just as a practical matter, if something does go wrong on the dance floor, it is probably the man's fault. So he has no right to criticize her, and she has no need to criticize him. We already know he messed up. He is the leader, and although this doesn't give him much in the way of authority, it does give him a lot of responsibility for the success of the couple. If she doesn't go the right way or doesn't dance smoothly, then the man probably didn't lead clearly. He didn't indicate what to do or when to do it, or he didn't position himself so that she could do it. Certainly, the woman has responsibility, too, and she can screw things up through unresponsive following, but I think it is generally agreed that leading is harder than following. If a couple begins to learn together, the man will probably learn more slowly than the woman; he'll be behind, and at any given time will be more likely to fail than she will. Another way to look at this aspect of dancing is to realize that a good male dancer can take almost any female, and they both will dance well together. A good female dancer can help a beginning male a little, but this second couple will not look as good as the first.

Many of us have been in round dance classes where the male teacher has taken a female student and led her through a new figure. Her face brightens: "Oh, is that how it goes? That was so easy." But now we need some real self-control on her part. She must not go on to say, "Harold, why can't you lead like that?"

Gentlemen, don't say things like,

• I'm leading; she's just not paying attention.
• Hey, what are you doing back there? You're supposed to be on my right hip.
• Why are you going that way?
• We're supposed to be turning this direction.
• You're blocking me; holding me back; dragging me down . . .

Ladies, don't tell him,

• I can follow if I just get good lead.
• You're doing that all wrong.
• Don't just clump along; c'mon, dance.
• What was that supposed to be?
• That felt awful!

Don't stamp your foot, smack him or her on the shoulder, and walk off the floor in a huff.

And don't go over to a friend after a given tip and sadly confide, with a shake of the head, that he/she just doesn't know what he/she is doing.

You will say that you just want to catch the mistakes so you can learn to dance better. If you don't tell him when it's not working, how will he improve? If you don’t tell her about her errors, how will she correct them? Part of the answer lies in the sheer number of "mistakes." If you are dancing something that you have danced well many times, then you can probably honestly say, "There was one little spot in there that felt rough. How does that go?" or "Let's walk through that one part again." But in the dances that you are learning now, the dances that are making you reach, that are stretching your envelope, there are probably uncountable rough spots. You can't tackle them all. It makes me think of the advice given to parents: pick your battles. I don't like to use the metaphor of a battle here, but the wise strategy with your 14-year-old and with your dance partner is to let most of those little problems go. It wasn't perfect, but it was a fun dance. Leave it at that. At most, pick one figure to work on a little more. Yes, this is a dance class. We are here to have fun and to learn.

The other part of the answer to this question of how we correct our mistakes is simply to do it diplomatically, with sympathy, and with a smile. There is just no need to say, "You didn't do that right." even if that was exactly and truthfully the case. Instead, say, "Let's try that one sequence again. How is it supposed to go? What exactly is our second step?"

See? We're learning together. It's not you versus me. We're a team. I've seen a few couples who end every dance with a kiss. I don't know if that is a conscious strategy on the part of one to shut up or disarm the other, or if it is truly and simply an affectionate thank-you for a lovely dance, but it certainly looks better than criticism and recrimination.

a version of this article was published in the
Dixie Round Dance Council (DRDC)
Newsletter, February 2005;
and reprinted in Around Rounds,
RDAV, Australia, April-June 2008 and July-Sept. 2008.

Dance Right Through Her

Sometimes, we men are just too polite. We don’t want to seem forward or pushy. We do want to be gentle and to give our partners their space. But such diffidence can lead us astray. For instance, in dancing the Foxtrot Reverse Turn or Open Telemark, we need to forge ahead and dance right through her.

For a Reverse Turn, we might begin in closed position facing diagonal line and center. The man steps forward on his left foot with right-side lead. Of course the woman steps back right. The woman draws her left foot to her right and puts her heels together as the man pivots on his left and steps to the side past her Heel Turn, maintaining connection at the hips but letting the top line grow and separate. Opening the top line creates a little more centrifugal force to get you around. The man has led her Heel Turn by lowering, leading with the hips, stepping through her with right side lead, and by stepping across the line of dance. She rotates on her right heel and gradually changes weight by beat 3. The man’s third step is back left to closed position facing reverse. Finish a Full Reverse Turn with a step back right turning left, side and forward left, and forward right to Contra Banjo facing line and wall (sqq; sqq).

The common error is for the man to dance down the line of dance and to think that he has to dance "around" his lady. If you do this, she will be led to progress, will not be able to do the Heel Turn, and you will end in Banjo at the end of the first measure instead of Closed. Instead, take your first two steps directly toward diagonal line and center, turning your body as you move through her left side. Dance a straight line, not a curved path around her.

The secret to a clean Open Telemark is much the same. Begin in closed position facing diagonal line and center. Step forward left. The woman steps back right, draws left to right and puts her heels together as the man pivots on his left and steps side and back across the line of dance to face diagonal reverse and wall. She rotates on her right heel and changes weight. Ideally, the man and woman have precisely changed places by the end of beat 3, so the amount of turn is actually a little more than in a Reverse Turn Half. On beat 4, simply use a little right side stretch to open to semi-closed position, and step side and forward on the lead feet toward diagonal line and wall.

It may seem a bit inelegant to push through your partner as through a revolving door, but with good right-side lead and a firm step into her left side, you can make tight turns smoothly and comfortably—even a Double Reverse Spin. Just go through, not around.

This article was published in the
Colorado Round Dance Association (CRDA)
Round Notes Newsletter, April/May, 2007;
excerpted in the Dallas Harvest Holiday 2007, 47-6:1–2, 6/2007;
and reprinted in the DRDC Newsletter, 47-7:12, 7/2008

Smile — Dancing Is About the Relationship

When we first learn a new figure, a new amalgamation, a new dance, it is natural to focus on the steps and the figures? But if we want to feel good and look good, we need to go beyond technical accuracy and incorporate into our dancing a relationship with our partner. Without a relationship, the dance is just steps, just exercise, just earnest, unsmiling locomotion. But if the dance contains emotion and communication, then we have something more than exercise. We have art.

Of course, we need to execute the steps, but the steps only make up the foundation of a dance. Built on top of the steps, we need to feel the fun, the story that the dance might be telling, or the picture that it’s painting. If we can show that we enjoy our partner, if we can play off our partner and respond emotionally to the music and to the movements of the dance, then we can achieve a richness that goes well beyond the dance routine.

Fred and Ginger —

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made ten movies in all, nine between 1933 and 1939 and then a tenth, in 1949, almost by accident (Judy Garland was originally cast for the part). Of course, Fred and Ginger dance beautifully, but the beauty emerges especially because those dances are more than their steps. Many are wonderfully fun. Some are serious and dramatic, and some are even tragic. Their dances are physically and emotionally rich. Each dance embodies a human relationship.

One of the lightest Fred-and-Ginger dances, from Follow the Fleet, 1936, is "I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket," a goofy, clowning, clumsy, and silly dance. But they are having fun, and they show it. They smile at the pleasure of their own movements. They make eye contact. They laugh. They aren’t just working through a sequence. They aren’t working at all. They aren’t mechanical in their movements. They are relating to each other with body language, facial expression, and gesture. They’re doing it to the music, but there is life, relationship, and emotion in every move.

Another fun dance is "I’ll Be Hard To Handle," from Roberta, 1935. This one is a flirtatious meeting between old friends. He pokes some fun and teases, she raises her fists as if to strike back, he grabs her wrists, and they laugh and begin to move. They pivot, feint, and spar — challenge and reply. They watch each other carefully, keep up with each other, match step for step, and are obviously excited to be able to do it — having a great time. There are sweeping dips, slides, and rapid pivots, with delight and satisfaction in their every gesture.

In "Pick Yourself Up," from Swing Time, 1936, he pretends to be a clumsy non-dancer. Then, to save her job as a dance instructor, he must show that she has taught him well. He tosses off a machine-gun tap riff, and her expression is one of delighted amazement. The tune is joyful, and she dances with gaiety and wonder. The dance, their bodies, and their movements are full of exhilaration, pride, and fun.

"Night and Day," from Gay Divorcee, 1934, is a little more serious — it is three full minutes of dramatic seduction, and Ginger certainly succumbs. At the start, he approaches, and she dodges and shies. He follows and cuts her off. He takes her hand and she turns to him. He dances a flourish, and she is intrigued. He draws her to him. They look deep into each other’s eyes, she reluctant, he intense. She submits, intensity increasing, cheek to cheek, greater abandon, rapid pivots. Finally, slowing, together, pivot 1, 2, 3, and he gently lowers her to an upholstered bench. She is motionless, smitten, eyes wide in wordless awe. Gazing up, aglow, she has been courted and won. They smile, perhaps a bit shyly. He offers her a cigarette.

"Never Gonna Dance," from Swing Time, is a dance of parting. They cannot be together. He cannot dance with her, so he feels that he will never dance again. Their expressions are tragic, eyes cast down, movements slow. There is wistful yearning. They sway like grasses in a soft breeze. She turns and walks away, head down. The tempo picks up a little and he snatches her arm and turns her. They gaze at each other intently. There is a rock-4 with great pleading, and then explosive but bittersweet exuberance, and they part.

Fred danced with many, many partners in a dancing career that spanned more than 60 years, but no one was better than Ginger. She wasn’t the most highly trained, technically proficient, agile, or athletic, but she was the most human, charming, and responsive. She showed that she loved dancing with Fred. In the thirties, they were top box office draws, and then and long after, thousands, maybe millions, wanted to dance like them. Why? Not because they were skilled, though they certainly were. Not because the dances were complex and the steps tricky, though they were. Not even because the music was beautiful, though it certainly was. We love their dancing because they love their dancing and the passion shows. Women would dream of dancing with Fred because Ginger made it clear that there was no experience that was better. Men would dream of dancing like Fred because they wanted women to feel about them as Ginger obviously felt about Fred.

Other Astaire partners were more highly trained, but maybe for that reason, their dances were more about the steps. Ginger’s dancing was about the relationship. The familiar joke is that Ginger did everything that Fred did but backwards and in high heels. She did that, but her greater contribution to their dancing was her response to Fred. They responded to each other, and those relationships make their dances thrilling.

We can do it too. We can work to get the steps right, but we can also think about developing emotional responses that are complementary to the music and to the dance. We can think about communicating those emotions through posture and expression. We can create a relationship with our partner. We can at least smile.

A version of this article was published in American Dancer, 13:16-17, 7,8/2008
and reprinted in the Dixie Round Dance Council Newsletter, February 2009
. "Pick Yourself Up" photo from Fred Astaire by Roy Pickard;
"I'll Be Hard to Handle" from Astaire and Rogers by Edward Gallafent.

Three Gentle Reminders

Recently, three different teachers have taken us aside and urged us to change our ways, and we thought you might enjoy thinking about these features of your own dancing. If you had been there, would they have chided you, too? These are not terribly complex or sophisticated features of dance styling, but that doesn't mean that they are easy to master, especially if they have been cemented into habit over time.

Don't scuff your feet.

In different dances, we are asked to glide, brush, drag, pull, limp, scoot, and maybe to do a "floor" ronde, but we are not really supposed to scrape or shuffle our feet along the surface of the floor. If those in the seats can hear the "shoosh, shoosh" of our passing, especially if it goes so far as to interrupt their quiet conversation, then we need to pick up our feet. Am I so hard of hearing that I can't hear these scrapings? Am I weak or lazy and unable to pick them up? Probably I just can't think of too many different things at the same time. Skim just above the surface of the floor, but not on the floor.

Don't look at your partner.

It's ironic. Here, we have our partners in our arms, the music is sweet, the lights are low, the mood is romantic—and we can't gaze into their eyes. We really do need to keep our heads up and our eyes left, most of the time. It is a question of our individual balance and our counterbalance relative to our partner. If we look at our partner, whether it is adoringly or questioningly, we shift our own balance toward her. Both of our positions are disturbed. She will feel pushed. Our frame loosens, and she won't feel a clear lead or will feel the wrong lead. Men, you may worship your partner, but do it a bit from afar.

Don't grimace or scowl.

The casual view of dancing is one of lightness and joy. It is the carefree flitting of the butterfly among soft, meadow breezes. But we dancers have a more complete picture. Some of those routines are demonic, requiring hard work and concentration. So what do you do as you listen to the cues, furiously struggle to turn those sometimes meaningless words into coordinated action, think about what your partner is doing and what you might do to facilitate and mesh with all that, and maybe keep an eye on nearby dancers with a view to avoiding collisions? Do you frown? Squint with the effort and purse or twist your lips in concentration? Do you emit little grunts or squeals of pain and frustration? Well, don't do that. This is fun; it's your recreation—smile.

Round dancing is not a simple activity. There are over 20 different rhythms and hundreds of different figures. Choreographers and cuers throw these steps at us faster than we can think. On top of what they tell us to do, we need to layer extras like lead and follow, rise and fall, footwork, maybe sway and slice, a little Latin hip here, some contra-body over there. The old joke is about how hard it is to do two things at one time (walk & chew gum). Round dancing certainly gives us more than two. And on top of all of this, I need to lift my feet, look left, and smile.

This article was published in the
Washington Area Square Dancers Cooperative Association (WASCA)
Calls 'n' Cues, 49-7:9, 3/2009

Cast Your Eyes Upward

Round dancing can be an intense activity, particularly when we are dancing a new routine, one we have only just learned or are still learning. Round dancers can develop facial expressions of intense concentration—the furrowed brow, pursed lips, little grimaces of annoyance when things don't quite work. Sometimes it seems that you just can't get that figure to work unless you hold your tongue in just the right place, poked firmly into your left cheek. Sometimes guests will watch a roomful of round dancers and ask, "Aren't they having fun? No one is smiling."

Well, yes, we're having fun, but sometimes it's not the loose and jolly kind. It's more the intent and focused kind of fun. It's fun to hit a fastball out of the park, to make a hole-in-one, maybe to execute a perfect jackknife dive, but you probably won't be sporting an easy grin while you're doing it. Afterward, maybe.

Our story got a little sidetracked there. We don't really want to think about the smiling but about the intensity. You might think that intensity and focus would help your dancing, but intense concentration can lead to some uncomfortable habits, too.

For instance, some dancers listen hard to the cues and focus inwardly, intently searching their brains for what those cues mean, and they dance with their eyes cast down in concentration—staring blindly at the floor. Other dancers don't stare blindly, but they too look down, watching their feet, to make sure they put them where they should go. Don't do it. Don't look down.

Over here is a couple who know not to watch their feet, but they too are intently focused on the cueing and the music, and they are turned inward in their attention. They have settled on their partner's right shoulder as a conveniently nearby focal point, and they are stiffly staring there. Not only are their heads down a little, but their shoulders are tensely forward. All this arises from our intense concentration on what we're doing. We have allowed our whole upper body to curve in and down, like a rush-hour driver hunched over the steering wheel.

The effect of this downward and forward concentration is to push into your partner, maybe come over on top of her or him, like a vulture over a piece of road kill. You push on each other and become off-balance and jerky.

So, get your eyes up, your head back and to the left, your shoulders back. Let your toplines "grow" and blossom in a spreading, vase-shape kind of way. Try to look at a point high on whatever wall you happen to be facing. Depending on the size of the ballroom, you might focus on the juncture between the wall and ceiling.

By getting your eyes off the floor, off your feet, and off your partner, you get your whole upper body off and away, and both of you will feel much less oppressed. There will be less pushing and more freedom of smooth movement. Let's note that you do still have contact at the hips and lower rib cage. Helpful lead and follow occurs here, close to our centers of gravity. But any contact or pressure higher up is not lead and follow; it's just shoving. It pushes us off balance.

So, expand your view as you dance, take in the wider world—get your eyes up.

This article was published in the
Washington Area Square Dancers Cooperative Association (WASCA)
Calls 'n' Cues, 49-2:9, 10/2008

Smooth Dancing — If Fred and Ginger Can Do It, Why Can't You?

by Ralph & Joan Collipi

Basically, there are two main styles of dancing: Smooth and Rhythm. In the Smooth style (Foxtrot, Waltz, and Tango), the couple will start and then dance “smoothly” around the dance floor, moving in a counter-clockwise direction. While in the Rhythm style (Swing, Cha Cha, Rumba, Mambo), the dancers stay in the same general area in which they started.

The Hold —

The hold requires the maintenance of 5 points of contact between the partners while they are dancing.

These consist of 3 hand contacts:

• The man’s left hand holding the lady’s right hand.
• The lady’s left hand resting on the top of the man’s right upper arm (behind the arm in Tango).
• The man’s right hand placed on the left shoulder blade on the back of the lady.

In addition to these 3 hand contacts, there are 2 more areas of contact:

• The lady’s left elbow rests on the man’s right elbow.
• The right area of the chest of each partner touches that of the other.

Ideally, in this hold, the lady’s upper arms are both held horizontal by a suitable placement of the man’s arms and hands. This not only makes it comfortable for the lady to follow the man’s lead but also gives the couple a deportment of regal appearance.

Position —

Dance Position or Stance is an important consideration. In this brief essay, we are using the Closed Hold stance. A good understanding of this position will really help both the leader and follower to maintain their balance and get off to a good start.

• Stand Facing Each Other.

For the Smooth dances, stand approximately 6–8 inches apart, shoulders parallel. For the Rhythm dances, stand approximately 1–2 feet apart. Your body should be offset 1/2 body distance to your own left, so that your right foot is pointed in between your partner’s feet. This principle is known as “AIM.” NEVER dance toe-to-toe. You’ll end up stepping on each other’s feet.

• Men:

Your right arm (your partner’s main support) is placed just below the lady’s shoulder blade, fingers together and hand slightly cupped, allowing you to lead with fingers and heel of the hand. Your right arm is away from your body, elbow pointing slightly to the side.

• Women:

Your left arm is resting gently on the man’s upper arm with your fingers draped over his shoulder.

Your right hand rests in the palm of the man’s left hand, raised to eye level of the shorter partner. Note that the “free” hands are not used to push or pull a partner. Leading is done primarily through the man’s weight distribution and the pressure of the right hand on the woman’s back.

• Resistance:

Muscle tone is essential for a good dance team and may be defined as keeping the shoulder, wrist, and elbow firm. If the leader has a limp body or arm, the follower will not be able to sense the direction of movement.

Smooth Shaping —

Unless the pattern explicitly indicates otherwise, such as in an underarm turn, your frame is always pointing at your partner; i.e., your navel points at your partner. An “Outside Partner” pattern (Banjo, Sidecar) doesn’t mean you go down the floor shoulder to shoulder. It means you have to use Contra Body Movement (CBM), and take the legs through between you.

Arm position relates to shaping but also applies to turns, free spins, etc. Don’t let your elbow get behind your shoulder. The only time we have come across an exception is when you have an arm in a hammerlock position.

Here is a little exercise to get a sense of leading and following: A couple stands face-to-face in a 2-hand open hold. The follower closes her (or his) eyes, and the leader walks around. When you have a good connection, the leader and follower will move together around the room. If you don’t have a good connection, the leader will have to avoid stepping on his partner.

Using the Base To Turn —

One very common mistake is to use the wrong parts of the body to produce the driving force (also known as the impetus) for the turn. When the wrong parts of the body are used, the body is thrown out of its natural alignment, and is therefore pulled away from the axis of rotation.

The obvious question to ask then is, “What are the correct parts of the body to use?” The answer is: the lower half of the body, including the feet, legs, and hips. This is also known as your BASE.

Imagine for a second that your body is represented by a small table with a lamp on top. The lamp represents your upper body; the table with its legs represents your base. If we move the lamp, it will slide around on the table, but the table itself will remain in place. So, by pushing the lamp, we only move the lamp by itself. On the other hand, if we actually move the table, both the table and the lamp move around together as a single unit. When you attempt to turn by swinging your arms or hurling your upper body ahead of your base, you are in effect knocking the lamp right off the table. In other words the turn must be produced from the base.

With this wealth of information, you now can dance magnificently.

But our Motto is, have fun dancing: Dance Like Nobody’s Watching.

Fred and Ginger would be proud of you!

this article was published in the
Dixie Round Dance Council (DRDC)
Newsletter, November 2008

LITTLE USED POSITIONS & FIGURES

Round dancers are always clamoring for increased variety in their dancing. "Give me something new," they will say. "Something different; something exciting and challenging. Something with a thrill."

Well, here are just a few positions and picture figures that might be used more often. The position below might be called a Cantilever.

As round dancers, we want to try to imagine the choreography. What would be a good entry figure? Perhaps you have just done a Same Foot Lunge. The cuer tells us to rise and then lower to a Cantilever. He draws himself up, she changes weight, stepping against his supporting foot. She does a little leg crawl and he crosses left over right, taking her right ankle and retaining lead hand hold. They then lean back, away from each other, into the Cantilever.

What if the next cue is, "Extend?" Oh dear. It seems as though all our principles about "supporting our own weight" have gone out the window.

Well, let's rise to a Hover Telemark. He's certainly going to have to haul her up with a strong left arm, rotating a little left face (woman right face). I'm not as convinced that this was a good idea, after all.

Let's check out just a few more. What would be a good name for some of these picture figures? Shall we try to learn them?
Photos © A. Curths; A. Moore & E. Allen; E.Allen; F. Lepretre; P. Sosabowski; and V. Kanonikov; from Dancesport UK photo gallery.

WHEEL

The Wheel is a Waltz or Two-Step figure, but it is used in other rhythms as well. In any of a variety of positions or hand holds, such as banjo, right-right hands, bolero, or sombrero, the couple walks in a clock-wise circle around an imaginary spot between them. We might make one full turn in two measures of music, or we might be told to Wheel to a designated position and orientation. Choreography can also have us Wheel in a counter-clockwise circle. In waltz, the steps are forward turning to the right, forward, close; fwd, fwd, cl; In two-step, the steps are forward, close, forward; fwd, cl, fwd; Sometimes the Wheel is done with all forward steps and therefor more progression (and perhaps less rise and fall in waltz). A syncopated waltz wheel might be danced with a tempo of 1&2&3&;
The Wheel is a simple figure. We are just walking in a circle. Two measures of music is a fairly long period of time, so we have the opportunity to do more than just walk. We can always use such time to create little "mini-pictures" that are representative of the music and our moods at that moment. Sway slightly toward partner or away, and match body lines in a symmetrical shape. Turn your upper bodies toward each other so that shoulders are parallel and there is a connection and an awareness of each other. Extend the arms in a complementary way. In the DeFores' Lynn's Waltz, part C begins in butterfly banjo facing wall with a banjo wheel 6 to the right to sidecar;; and then a wheel to the left to face wall again;;—lots of time for shaping, expression, and a pretty picture.
Photos © F. Lepretre; P. Sosabowski; from Dancesport UK photo gallery.

THROWAWAY OVERSWAY

The "throwaway" is the movement of the woman's left leg, first under her body, and then well back to the point where the sole of her left foot is displayed to the world (we don't often show off this part of our costume). Of course, the throwaway oversway is an oversway. We step side on the lead and relax that knee, while stretching the man's left side and rotating left to a closed position. The man leads a throwaway by delaying the lowering action. Rotate LF first, and she will move her trail foot back. Then, begin to lower before she has a chance to change weight to that trail foot, and she can only keep moving it back, as you lower further. If you lower as you rotate, she cannot move her left leg, and you get a plain oversway.
Here are two pairs of photos that show the throwaway in the first of the pair and then extension of the figure in the second—just a little more rotation, separation in the top line, lowering, and movement of her left foot back.
Again, throwaway and extension. Notice the lady's extreme left head in the second photo and the full exposure of her left sole. She has truely been "thrown."
Photos © A. Miller; D. Drury; J. Lee; P. Suba; from Dancesport UK photo gallery.

STEPS

A dance consists of a sequence of dance figures, but each figure consists of a sequence of individual steps, actions, and poses. So, we walk forward or back. Here the man is stepping Forward and the woman Back on their lead feet. Someone once pointed out that Ginger did everything Fred did but backward and in high heels. But men dance backward too. We step to the Side. We step Across, step Through. We Hop, Skip, and Jump. We Point a toe. We Drag and Hook. In the glossary, I have a long list of indivdual steps and actions.
Here the man is stepping Forward and the woman Back on their trail feet.
Where a "step" involves changing our weight from one foot to the other, an "action" involves doing something with that foot but not putting weight on it. Pointing a foot is an action. Here, the cue might have been "Apart, Point." They stepped apart on their trail feet and then simply pointed their lead feet toward each other without taking weight. We can also say that they have "touched" with their lead feet (but not taken weight.)
Here we have an example of a Point with the same foot. Both Point left.
Look at the rest of these photos. Do they seem to illustrate actual steps (where there is a weight change) or only actions or movements? In an open position, both partners can step Forward, here on the lead foot. (Opposite footwork)	(click on any thumbnail for a larger view)
Forward on the left foot. (Same footwork; nothing touching)
Forward on the right foot. Notice the lunging action.
Lunge forward
Sometimes, we Walk; sometimes we Run, Strut, Hop, Skip, Jump.
A Press involves moving a foot forward, touching the ball of the foot to the floor, and putting partial weight onto that foot. The "pressed" foot is still regarded to be "free." You are "pressing" into the floor but not standing on that foot. Your body will have forward poise.
Knee
Kick
Flick
Point with the lead.
Point with the trail.
Cross in front and Point.
She Points, he helps?
Cross in front
Step through
Rock to the side
"Check" is a step taken in one direction and preparation to then move in the opposite direction. The cue to Check implies that you will take a step and change weight.
"Checking" is the process of stopping your movement in one direction and preparing to move in the opposite direction. Checking does not itself involve taking a step or changing weight.
Drag
The cue Hook can refer to several different steps or moves. One might simply cross one leg in front or behind the other and then "Unwind," for instance.
In other choreography, the woman will Hook one leg behind her partner's leg, to provide support for extension or for a Body Roll or Around the World.
Other times, a Hook just seems to provide a little extra drama.
Bow
Kiss
Photos © A. Curths; A. Gorczycki; A. Miller; A. Moore & E. Allen; D. Drury; E.Allen; F. Lepretre; J. Lee; P. Sosabowski; P. Suba; from Dancesport UK photo gallery.