Leading Heel Turns

Man leading heel turn:

• It is very common for the lady to feel like the man is knocking her over. This is because he is turning his body too soon.
• If he is pulling her down on the third step, it is because he did not brush his feet and collect his weight before taking his next step.
• The man has to step around the lady, who has finite radius, before he turns her.
• Early rise: some coaches say Man leads heel turn by rising early - though the ISTD Ballroom Technique has no mention of early rise. It is still "rise e/o 1".
• More consistent with ISTD Ballroom technique, and recommended by other coaches, the man leads the heel turn by leading the lady to put her weight on her heels.

When dancing, think about actions, rather than figures, such as Natural Spin Turn action, or Feather action, as the figures are composed of actions, and the actions should feel similar across the different figures that use them.

More about Standard Technique.

Newcomer Samba and Foxtrot

Some points of Foxtrot technique:

• We've become accustomed to trying to fix our frame into position. Actually, the frame has to be flexible. The most important thing is that the body contact is good, so if the man moves his arm out of good frame, for example, it doesn't cause the lady to lose contact, and thus the lead. There are some ladies who get into a beautiful frame at the start, wide elbows, shaping left. But then, as the dance progresses, they can't make adjustments as needed during the dance, so that when things start to go wrong, they just keep getting worse. On the other side, there are ladies who are able to adjust, sometimes the feet are not doing the right thing at times, such as passing the feet when she should be locking, but it doesn't matter, it could still feed very good to dance with the lady, because the connection is always there and is always good. If the frame and the connection look good, the audience could hardly tell what's wrong.
• When the lady steps out of a heel turn, the rise and fall should be gradual. She rises as she steps forward, and lowers as she completes the step.
• When a man makes a heel turn, he does not rise until the end of the second step, in contrast to most figures in waltz and foxtrot where the rise begins at the end of the first step.

Samba practice routine:
It includes an "alternative side basic" step: start on the right foot, step in place on right foot on 1, step side left with partial weight on 'a', replace weight on RF on 2.

Natural phrasing of Samba is 8 beats, indicated with (8) below.

1. 2 complete reverse basics (8)
2. Side basic to left and to right
3. Whisk to left and right (8)
4. Whisk to left
5. Lady's left turn to PP
6. Two samba walks in PP (8)
7. Forward Samba Walk in PP
8. Side Samba Walk
9. Turn to face partner for Two Stationary Samba Walks (8)
10. 2 Alternate Side Basics
11. 2 Boto Fogos, hand to hand (8)
12. Boto Fogo, man stepping with left foot first
13. Five Voltas to mans' left, with Boto Fogo ending. (8)
14. Two complete natural basics, a quarter turn on each, to complete a half turn. (8)
15. Alternate Side Basic
16. One Boto Fogo
17. Five Volta's to man's right, with Boto Fogo Ending. (8)
18. Alternate Side Basic
19. One full reverse basic, turning 1/4
20. Forward Half of reverse basic, turning 1/8 (8)
21. Back Half of reverse basic, turn 1/8
22. Samba bounce in place to complete count of (8)

Interestingly, both of coaches talked about Phyllis Haylor, who apparently had a large part in creating modern ballroom dance. As a little bit of history, our coach mentioned that all turns were to the right, and the standard dances were all fairly linear down the floor. Phyllis Haylor introduced the idea of dancing diagonally across the floor in the 1920's, and introduced turns to the left, or reverse turns. Other patterns, such as the Telemark and Telespin, were introduced when Haylor's partner made a mistake, such as overturning. The resulting mistake was attractive, and so was done intentionally after that. Our instructor says that she and her partner are one of the few couples that do the Telespin as originally done by mistake, and it has become one of their trademarks.

Newcomer Samba and Foxtrot

Break down the samba walk in great detail:

• Start with feet together.
• Straighten the legs on 'and'. 
• Step back with the right foot. 
• Keep weight forward. On 'a', land with split weight, heel does not touch the floor.
• On 2, in order for the weight to be returned completely to the left foot, the left foot needs to slip a little so that the left knee can bend.
• Do this very slow. To help understand the motion, watch Joanna Leunis do a slow motion stationary samba walk in an exhibition. I found examples of it here and here. In particular, notice that the hip starts moving before the leg, because the bounce action precedes the foot movement.

On the basics, natural and reverse stepping forward, and on side basic, the trailing foot has the instep facing front, line of ankle bent, pushing off on ball of foot.

Some technical details on the balance and body position for the latin dances.

• Rumba: weight is low, below the navel, and the body is pretty straight up and down.
• Chacha, weight is held above the navel, same balance as rumba.
• Samba, weight is held at the sternum, body leans forward, heels just "kiss" the ground.
• Jive, weight is held high, in the chest, body leans forward until just short of the point where you fall forward. Then the hips go back to restore balance.
• Paso, the weight is held up in the base of the neck, and the balance is far enough back so that you can lift your toes off the ground.

Our instructor also broke down the feet, for the purpose of dance, into the heel, the arch, the ball, the platform, and the toe. The platforn is what one is standing on in releve in ballet. The instructor said you could tell which Latin dance was to be performed just from the posture of the dancer, based on these principles.

In foxtrot reverse turn, the way a heel turn is led is that the man steps on a practically straight knee. This stops movement forward. This is what is meant by early rise.

How to walk and do heel turn

Today's class focuses on walking forward and back and how to do heel turn in international style standard dances. This would be the same for American style dances as well.

Walking: it's pretty much the same as walking normally, but make it bigger. But somehow, when people starts dancing, everything changes, they don't walk normally anymore. Learn how to walk forward and back again. Key points: Move center, keep body alignment, release toe (for walking back), track under body.

Heel turn: initiate by turning hips, leave upper body to partner, turn on moving/support foot, foot rise, push forward.

Lesson on International Standard Technique

This is mostly focused on what Ladies should do.

• Always remember to keep upper body to left throughout figures, leave right side to the Man. It's especially important to stay left for turning figures, otherwise Lady will end in front of Man and block him.
• Elongate front of body (crunch back muscle), shoulder roll back down, head up (don't break neck) to left.
• At end of each step "settle" - hips underneath, free to move again.
• sway: always sway forward, the upper body goes with the forward sway motion, do not bend upper body back to create sway look - that's "broken sway", which will make Lady block Man. (Broken sway is  used in some higher level figures)

Now applying these principles to some Waltz figures.

• Natural Turn:
• step 2, Lady RF point LOD, leave upper body to left, open up hip to let Man go through, then body catch up.
• hips sway from underneath forward.
• then settle to normal position "sit", then move again.
• Reverse Turn
• sway: remember to go forward, don't do broken sway which gets Lady in front of Man.
• Keep shoulder, head position all the same, relative to the spine. Spine sways. In Reverse Turn, step 2, it will appear that left elbow is aiming upward, be careful not to raise shoulder.
• Closed Impetus:
• After side step, stay left, leave the right side to the Man, brush and then out.
• Natural Spin Turn
• Do not anticipate spin turn and start shifting body to right and block Man. Stay left. RF forward, spin, L leg trailing, and then LF does a back and slightly side step.
• Brush RF to LF and collect R hip, so Man can pass over. Keep R side to Man.
• Double Reverse Spin
• Timing: do 1 2 &3. 
• Man's early rise signals Lady should do heel turn. Lady does RF "back", L heel closes to R heel, turn, rise and "forward", then RF "out" to side (after turning) and "cross", stay on left.
• Progressive Chasse to Right: stay left, same as Quickstep
• Back Lock: outside partner, stay with partner, don't open up.

Lesson on Waltz and Foxtrot

Heel Turns
Do not lean into turns which throws off the balance of the partnership. Basically, it will knock the lady over. Secondly, soften legs, and roll across the feet. To review, using the closed impetus as an example,

1. Man: step straight back with left foot. 
2. Man: draw right foot back even with LF
3. Man: turn on left heel, with weight distributed so that the ball of the foot still brushes the ground, a half turn.
4. As Man rises on his right toe, Man corkscrew up, for up to another 3/8, before stepping back on his left foot, for a total of up to 7/8 of a turn

On the heel pull, Man needs to step the turn on 3 after 1/4 of a turn, and rolling onto the inside edge of the ball of the left foot, push off onto the right foot.

Foxtrot versus Waltz
A difference between waltz and foxtrot. In foxtrot, we only drive on the first step, and swing the leg on the second step. In waltz, we drive on the first and second step, and the swing is what brings our feet together to settle at the end of the third step. When practicing the difference in a waltz natural turn versus foxtrot, in the waltz, after the first step, Man puts his left foot forward on the ground, without weight, pointing it, and then pushes off the right foot. In foxtrot, after the first step, Man turns his body, bringing his left foot under me, before then swinging the left foot back. This is part of the difference between leading the lady to pass her feet or do a heel turn, respectively.


Turns
The mechanics of partnership and the axis of rotation on turns. There are three possible axes Man could be rotating around when he is on the outside of a turn. These are the lady's sternum, her outside shoulder (outside of the turn) and her elbow. The first two apply, respectively, to foxtrot natural turn, and a waltz natural turn, for example. The elbow would apply for turning into promenade position, for example. Paying attention to having the right axis of rotation for our turns. When Man is on the outside of the turn, he does not turn around his center, his body should swing like a door.


Footwork
An exercise to practice: move from foot to foot, side to side, and forward and back, rolling across the foot, inside edge to flat, flat to inside edge, heel to toe, and toe to heel. Within this, when you bring your feet together, practice lowering the heels with different timings. Use this exercise to warm up and get a feel for using the whole foot on the floor.


Turns
Sway is a consequence of movement, it is not done for its own sake. It would be technically correct to dance with little or no sway at all, there is a school of thought that promotes this, but it would be most suited for very tall couples that could still travel effectively down the floor with, what is for them, small steps. But movement is required to be noticed by the judges in a competition, so for most couples they will be taking big enough steps to require sway.

Frame
Our coach's philosophy is that the lady's elbows are the determinant of proper frame. The man's role is more practical, and the point is to display the lady, so the man's frame should be such to allow the lady's elbows to be even with the shoulders. As a point of reference, when I practice by myself, I should hold my right arm so that if I close my right hand to me, it would come to the center of my chest for the swing dances, and to my sternum for tango. Practice holding one of those hourglass shaped carwash sponges between right hand and chest to simulate having a lady there and keeping my right side frame in the right place.

Lesson on Waltz

Waltz technique, frame, and heel turns.

Frame

Each partner is responsible for the frame's topline on their left side. I had always heard before that the man needs to keep his right elbow high enough to make topline look right. The man's left arm and the lady's left arm should make a straight horizontal line across the top. The man's right arm cannot participate in that line, it needs to go down a bit so that the man can place his hand on the lady's back. The instructor stated that the lady keeps her own elbow high enough to make the line, and the man lifts his right elbow as necessary and appropriate to provide the points of contact for the lead. He also talked about the motion of the head. When the lady moves between promenade and closed position, her head should "go over the moon", i.e., the nose describes an upward arc, to prevent the chin from going down. To a lesser extent, this applies to the man as well, the main point being that the chin should stay up.

Heel turns

First, we talked about leading the lady into a heel turn, in the context of a double reverse spin. This pattern calls for a rise at the end of the first step. In particular, the instructor emphasized that the man should rise and wait until the lady's feet come together before moving into the next step. When the man is executing a heel turn, as he draws his trailing foot in, both legs should straighten, providing the rise for this step.The rise is also late in the step, as a result, as too early a rise will prevent the lady from getting past the man with her step.

Timing

The instructor emphasized that the settling on step 3 should occur at the end of the step, and should smoothly go into the next step. He demonstrated by lowering right on 3, which looked sort of like just plopping down on the step. The contrast was changing the count to 3&, where he would be up on 3, and not lower until the &.

Lesson on Foxtrot

A Foxtrot practice routine:

1. Preparation step, facing DC
2. Feather Step  (SQQS)  
3. Reverse Turn  (SQQ SQQS)  
4. Three Step  (QQS)  
5. Natural Turn  (SQQ SSS)  
6. Repeat

The way we maintain connection is that our bodies never stop moving, at most they change speed and direction. If I carry through smoothly without stopping my body, it is easier for my partner to stay with me. From the followers side, the followers body should be moving out beyond her feet before she steps forward on her heel turns.

Regarding Foxtrot, waltz, and American versus International Styles: In International style foxtrot, the feet always pass each other, at least at the newcomer and bronze level, whereas waltz is characterized by the feet coming together and the weight settling. Because of that, foxtrot is characterized by a metronomic swing, and waltz by a pendulum swing. In other words, waltz has sway, while foxtrot emphasizes more leg swing. Contrasting American and International, our coach characterized American Slow Foxtrot as American Slow Waltz with Foxtrot timing. She also talked about a fundamental difference being that American Foxtrot allows for open holds. This came up in the context of Wrong Side Outside Partner Position, where my left foot is to the right of the lady's left foot. In American Foxtrot, in two-hand hold, it is possible to go directly from Outside Partner Position to Wrong Side Outside Partner Position. In closed hold, some intermediate positions are required.

The three step was described as feeling like tango in the first two steps. The footwork the coach gave me on the three step is H, HT, TH. This is different from the official syllabus, which says HT, TH, H. We stay flat through the beginning of the second step. The reason for this is that we need a right side lead to bring the lady back in line after a feather finish, which in turn prevents the leg swing that would naturally result in a rise. As we come out of that second step, with CBM for the third step. This understanding will probably have to evolve a bit. But needing to stay flat to bring the lady in line seems to make sense. My instructor says she hasn't yet gotten a satisfactory explanation from her coaches, but will keep asking.

Natural turn: the heel turn and the heel pull - just like on the heel turn, Man needs to turn on his left heel, and then step side with his right foot and settle weight on that foot.

Lesson in Foxtrot and Samba

In Foxtrot,

• Precision in footwork, it's something that one tends to forget. 
• Feet need to point in direction you are moving. Do not turn out the feet.
• Rule of 1/4. Feet shouldn't be turned out more than 90 degrees. 
• Collect my feet on the appropriate steps.
• Early rise when leading a heel turn. It is difficult for the lady to do a heel turn with bent knees, so Man needs to rise enough to allow her to have straight legs. In particular, this happens on the second step of the natural turn.
• One way to practice technique is to do Man and Lady's parts separately. Man would take his steps, and Lady takes her steps to judge where she needs to step. And vice versa. Similarly we could step at the end of the figure, and check our positions.
• Do CBM properly.
• Do not lean forward (for Man), or lean back (for Lady). Leave some room between Man and Lady's feet. If they are too close, we would be forced to either lean forward or back. The correction to this possible cause is making sure our relative foot positions are correct.

In Samba

• On stationary samba walks, should bring the feet together, the slip step is very small. When the foot steps back, the hip turns with it, and can be exagerated to enhance the action.
• Use the pendulum action of the hips.
• On going from side samba walk to criss-cross boto fogos, Man needs to keep the forward motion, and get his partner to keep moving, while Man holds back, without stepping back.