BALLROOM DANCING IN OUR AREA:

Learning:

Although there is still a great deal that is not yet known about the human brain, it is clear that dance steps are first communicated to us verbally and visually. The verbal part involves our understanding of what is being said, and together with the movements that we see, we attempt to translate this information into motions of our own (sometimes not very successfully!).

Initially, therefore, we have to talk to ourselves, both during the lesson and while practicing. This self-talk and comprehension involves the speech areas (on the left side of the head) and the reasoning area (the frontal lobe) of the head. But after we have practiced the steps for a while, the sequence of steps and movements become a motor routine. This allows us to perform the movements on "autopilot", simply by thinking briefly about what step you want to do, then letting the brain execute the sequence automatically, with little or no active thought during its execution. Those familiar with computer programming will note the similarity of this to calling a procedure or subroutine.

Motor routines are known to be stored in the cerebellum, (Restak, The Brain, pp. 87-91) which is located in the lower rear of the head. Encoding the verbal and visual information for a dance step in the cerebellum takes time - hours, days or weeks, depending upon how much you practice. As a result, when learning a new variation you must continue to talk to yourself about the steps throughout the programming process, and you should avoid social conversation or distracting thoughts until the steps become completely automatic and technically correct. Once you have done this, you can relax and really enjoy your dancing.


Finding the beat:

MEN: When starting a dance, first make sure you can distinctly hear the rhythm of the dance in the music which is being played; then start! Your partner will wait until you have done this. If the music contains a vocal part, try to avoid listening to the singers, who often deviate considerably from the beat of the music for the sake of their artistry, and instead listen to the accompaniment - the drums or double bass, if any - which, in a good piece of dance music, will provide a strong, steady beat throughout.

Dances like the Samba, Merengue and Paso Doble should start at the beginning of an eight-beat musical phrase. A musical phrase is difficult to explain in words, but it is like a poetic line in a song, with the final beat of a phrase usually unstated (as 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,(8),1,2,3,4,5,6,7,(8)), similar to a pause in speech. Using suitable pieces of music for these dances, try to divide its beat patterns into logical, even eight-beat groups, repeatedly counting to eight.

If you are having trouble keeping on the beat, it is probably a good idea to purchase a few CD's or tapes of approved ballroom dance music and to practice finding the strong beats in musical bars for each of the pieces, first clapping or tapping out the beats with a pencil, then executing the steps on the floor. I strongly recommend my Dance Beat CD, which uses a hypnotic-like technique for anchoring the dance beat in the brain. A secure knowledge of the beat patterns for each dance is absolutely essential, and I take the necessary time to emphasize these in my teaching.


Leading and following:

MEN: Although the ladies sometimes have more difficult and artistic steps than you do, your job is in many ways more difficult. You are the on-the-spot choreographer, determining at each moment of the dance which step to do next in order to make the dance as interesting as possible for your partner and yourself. I strongly recommend avoiding lengthy fixed routines, and believe that your dancing will be much more interesting if the order in which you put your steps is varied each time you dance. If you know approximately 15 steps of each dance, you will find that you will probably only be able to use each one of those steps once in a three-minute piece of music. If you know more than 15 steps, you will only be able to use part of your repertoire in any single piece of music, and if you are a good dancer, you will select a different group of those steps each time you dance.

At the same time you are attempting to be a good choreographer, you must keep a careful eye on traffic on the dance floor, and use whatever steps are necessary to avoid collisions with other couples or stationary objects. This is floorcraft, and, considering the number of collisions found on a dance floor on an average evening (and often caused by more experienced dancers), it probably needs to be taught more often in dance courses than it currently is!

To have proper control of your dancing you must learn to lead well. To do this, you must keep your arms firm and avoid moving the upper part of the body unnecessarily. Collapsed left arms and swaying of the upper body are common errors among inexperienced male dancers. Your movements, when made, are to serve as signals to the lady, and such movements as raising or lowering of arms or shifting torso position must be carefully observed and incorporated when learning a new step. You will not be able to lead well if you have not securely programmed your steps in your cerebellum (see Learning, above); insecurity leads to false movements, and these will cause your parter to misinterpret your actions.

LADIES: Following is not an easy task, either! You must know your dance steps well so that once a dance step has been initiated by your partner you can execute it properly to completion. There is unfortunately little you can do if your partner does not know how to lead: It is not possible to know what variation will be danced next unless you receive the proper cue(s), and you must avoid guessing or taking over the lead. But in order to follow properly, you absolutely must know the standard cues for each step, remain alert to these cues, and also, in many cases, keep a firm right arm.


Cuban Movement:

Many of the Latin dances (e.g., the Rumba, Cha-Cha and Mambo) have Afro-Cuban origins. Steps in these dances are never initiated with the heel! Instead, we employ a stepping technique known as "Cuban Movement". It uses a delayed shift of body weight, executed by first moving the ball of a foot to its next position (forward, backward, to the side or in place) with a bent knee, then later transferring the body weight to that foot, bringing the heel down and straightening the knee. While transferring the weight to this foot, we typically bend the other knee and lift the other heel from the floor in preparation for the next step. Thus we have an alternate bending and straightening of the knees, somewhat similar to "marking time" when marching, or walking down a flight of stairs.


Posture:

Dances vary considerably from one another in their character. This includes posture. Surely, a Swing or Jive, with its abandon and free expression, does not require as upright a posture as should be applied to the elegant Slow Waltz and Viennese Waltz. A too upright posture in Swing would appear stiff and unnatural, and in the Argentine Tango (but not in the standard Tango) the norm is to look downward with an intense, absorbed facial expression. Students must be taught at an early stage about the distinct characteristics of each dance they learn, and must be corrected when they attempt to apply techniques of one dance inappropriately to another.


Spot turns:

I have found that many beginners - particularly ladies - have difficulty with the spot turn, which is introduced to them when learning the Cha-Cha-Cha in Level 1. Perhaps the reason that men tend to have less difficuly with this turn is that it is used in military marching (although to their right instead of their left), and is actually called a "military turn" by some dance teachers. This turn is extremely important in the Latin dances, as it is used extensively in the Cha-Cha-Cha, Rumba, Mambo, Samba, Bolero and Salsa, both as an underarm turn for the lady and as simultaneous spot turns for both partners.

Before attempting the spot turn in the Cha-Cha-Cha, the beginner is introduced to the forward crossovers (international: the "New York"). Dancers turn on these to their left or right, hand-in-hand, and execute a forward rock step in place on Counts 2 and 3. Beginners usually do not have much trouble with these. The lady, when executing a spot turn, begins exactly as she would for a forward crossover to her right, turning right on Count 1 and stepping forward for Count 2. On Count 2, using the ball of her left foot, she swivels 1/2 turn to her right, transferring her weight to her right foot, which must be kept in place. By now bringing her left foot forward and turning further to her right, she faces her partner once again, and the left foot steps down for Count 1, which is the first step of the three-step chassé ("cha-cha-cha"). The man, turning to his left, does the exact opposite, swiveling on his right foot, then transferring his weight to his left foot, which is kept in place. The errors that beginners typically make are failing to keep the unweighted (lady's right or man's left) foot in place while turning and not transferring weight to that foot during the half-turn swivel.


Pass to the Right (Triple Swing):

A Pass is a Swing variation in which the partners usually exchange places. There are several kinds of Passes in Swing, and they are a very prominent feature of the dance. The first of theses Passes, the Pass to the Right, is taught in our beginners' course immediately after student has learned the basic step of the Triple Swing. It uses the same rhythm and steps as the basic step, i.e., back rock: 1,2; chassé: 1-a-2; chassé: 1-a-2, but turns 90° (a quarter-turn) on each of the two chassés - the man to his right, the lady to her left.


As shown in the above diagram, the man raises his left arm on the back rock to signal his intention to pass the lady. After the man has turned 1/4 to his right and the lady has turned 1/4 to her left on the first chassé, the lady will have her back to the man's chest, and he will have his arm raised over her head to allow her to pass under. Then, moving her left foot back and to the left, the lady again turns 1/4 to her left for her second chassé, moving strongly to her left side to directly face the man. At the same time, the man steps back and to the right with his right foot, turning 1/4 right for his second chassé and lowering his arm.