Rumba Footwork

Keep pressing inside edge of ball of foot (IEBF) into floor. 

When taking a side step (to left, for example).

1. Left foot starts with IEBF pressing into floor, left heel brushing right ankle, left knee up and crossing in front of right leg.
2. Slide LF to side, keeping full weight on right leg, pressing IEBF into floor
3. When left leg is straight, still with full weight on right leg, place left heel on floor
4. With two straight legs, both heels on floor, pressure through IEBF on both feet, then press out of IEBF of RF to transfer weight to LF
5. Extend RF by continuing to press with IEBF of RF, so that line of ankle breaks, and instep (top of foot, shoelaces) faces forward.
6. Draw RF in, heel leads the rest of the foot, pressure of IEBF of RF on floor maintained, until right heel is brushing left ankle, right knee crossing in front of left leg.

While Cucarachas and Cuban Rocks are traditionally executed with both heels remaining on floor, it is now often seen in competitions, and acceptable, to create the line in step #5 above with the free foot.

Never begin to transfer weight until the stepping leg is straight, with heel on floor.

Beginning Cha Cha Technique Note

It is common mistake when doing basics or cha chas in place to do a press walk, and then actually commit weight. The problem with this is it becomes too easy to forget to fully change weight, and you may easily end up on the wrong foot relative to your partner. On each step, do a full weight change, and avoid this confusion.

Latin: ribcage isolation exercises

Keep hips still and only move ribcage. (To help to make sure hips don't move, the exercise can also be done when sitting on the edge of the chair.)

• arms:
• R arm reach to floor on the side (make sure chest don't collapse forward or bend backward)
• repeat for L arm
• R arm reach up above head on the side
• repeat for L arm
  
• ribcage: Left, Right (with arms extends to both sides)
  
• ribcage: Left with L shoulder diagonally up, Right with Right shoulder diagonally up
  
• ribcage: Front, Back
• ribcage: Front, stop middle, Back, stop middle, Front (repeat)
• ribcage: L, F, R, B - separate distinct positions first, then smooth circular movement
• ribcage: L, B, R, F - separate distinct positions first, then smooth circular movement

Keep upper body still and only move hips:

• Hip to left and right side: first slow, then faster
  
• Hip: Left, Front, Right, Back; then, Left Back, Right, Front; (first stop at distinct point, then try circular continuous movement)

Rumba Technique

Footwork

In Rumba, as in Cha Cha, always have your weight on one foot. Split weight happens only for a brief moment as you transfer weight from foot to foot. This is evidenced by always having at least one heel off the floor. As you transfer weight, you push off the inside edge of the ball of the foot you are leaving, maintaining pressure into the floor.

Settling

In International Rumba, we settle into the hips on beat 1, which matches the downbeat of the music. This settling is to the extent that you feel your center of mass lower.

Poise

Your balance is such that standing still you should feel the pressure from your weight primarily on the balls of your feet. Without any adjustment, this would make you look like you are pitched forward. So, once you have the right poise, you lift your chin so that you face forward, and you compress your core so that you don't have your ribs sticking out in front.

Basic Rumba Arm Styling: Cucarachas

When dancing Rumba, you want to keep the arms moving. This is some basic arm styling for Cucarachas and other side to side Rumba figures.

Starting with weight on left foot, settled on left hip, left arm is extended to side, left hand facing down and extended out, right hand is in front of chest, facing body, elbow down.

On beat 2

As you step to the right, the right elbow first extends straight to the side, followed by the arm from the forearm to the hand swinging down and out, the whole motion smooth, until the full extension of the right hand to the right, with the hand facing down, coincides with the settling of the right hip. As this is happening, the left hand turns up, accompanied by the bending of the left elbow down, the hand continues to rotate and the hand comes in, with the elbow going down, until the left hand is in front of and facing the chest, with the left elbow down. The end of this motion coincides with the full extension of the right arm.

On beat 3

As you return your weight to the left foot, the right hand comes in, turning up, elbow going down, and the left hand extends out, elbow first, then forearm swinging down and out, left hand ends facing down, fully extended to the left, at the same time as you settle on the left hip.

4-1

As you change weight to the right foot, and settle on the right hip, the right arm goes out to the right, and the left arm comes in.

2

Repeat the motions switching right for left. 

The image is of the two hands making circles, and the motion of the hands match and accentuate the motion of the hips, while the ribs are in opposition.

Breakdown of Rumba Switch Turns

Turning and settling in the Rumba Switch Turn
In the following, numbers are the whole beats, '&'  is the half beat, and 'a' is the 3/4 beat.
Breaking it down really slow...
1. RF step side
&. Draw LF to RF, turn 1/4 right
a. Settle into right hip
2. LF forward
&. Keeping feet in place, swiveling on balls of feet, turn 1/2 to right
a. Settle into left hip
3. Transfer weight to RF
&. Draw LF to RF, turn 1/4 to right
a. Settle into right hip.

After holding on 4, repeat, swapping left for right.

Rumba Practice Exercises

This is one of the two actions for in-place weight change on beats 4 and 1. Bringing the hips flat before using the twist of the hips to move the foot is needed to create the right action.

Start the exercise with right foot forward hips flat.
1) Twist back left hip to start pulling back right foot.
2) Settle left hip, and bring right foot with bent leg even with left foot
3) Keep head level, up on both toes,  rotate hips, straighten right leg, and transfer weight
4) Extend left foot forward.

Points to remember:

• Maintain pressure of inside edge of ball of foot with ground.
• On 2 and 3 create maximum forward separation between knees by rotating hips
• On 3, use core to lift hips to keep head level
• Keep shoulders flat, unrotated
• Use back muscles to create opposition between hips and shoulders

Alternate action for weight change:

Pull right foot in with straight leg, use hips and core to change weight, put left leg forward with knee straight.

The alternate action is slower, and emphasizes the hip action, while the other action emphasizes the leg. Different body types may look better doing one or the other action for in place weight changes, and what looks better may not be what feels better.

Rumba walks, in four parts:

Start with right foot back, 30% weight on ball of right foot with straight leg, feet turned out, hips flat. 

1) Turn left hip forward, this turns out right foot more

2) Settle left hip, bring right foot even with left foot, right knee bent, knees together

3) Push right foot forward, keeping weight on straight left leg

4) Push off from left foot to transfer weight to right foot.

Rumba walk back.

Start with RF forward, no weight

1) Left hip goes back, to the point of losing balance backwards

2) Right foot with bent knee quickly passes left foot

3) Catch falling weight on straight right leg back with weight on inside edge of ball of foot.

4) With straight legs, push of left ball of foot to transfer weight to right foot.

The size of a backwalk step is as big as the ball of foot can reach when the knees are together and moving leg's knee flex. If the step is too big, when settling the front foot will slide, which is not correct (except for some cases for styling).

Rumba Technique Practice Routine

Practice the Rumba routine below with a piece of paper under both feet. A couple of technique points to remember:

• Try to keep paper moving with feet at all times. It's difficult to do, but it trains the feet to be 'sticky' (have pressure) on the floor.
• Keep upper body 'lifted' at the same time.
• Use inside edge of feet, "break the ankle inward"

Practice Routine:

1. Start with LF in front, weight on RF.
2. '2': rotate left hip forward
3. '3': rotate right hip back
4. '4': point LF back, left toe behind right heel, hold position
5. '1' (half beat): hold position
6. '&' (half beat): put weight on LF
7. '2': move RF back, settle
8. '3': replace weight on LF,
9. '41: RF forward, settle
10. '2': Cucaracha, LF to left side
11. '3' (half beat): replace weight to RF
12. '&' (half beat): LF closes to RF
13. '41': RF to side, settle
14. '2341 (half beat)': Alemana
15. '&' (half beat): spiral to R (lift up, tighten inside muscle)
16. '2341': RF forward Rumba walk
17. '2': Rumba walk LF fwd
18. '3' (half beat): RF fwd, slightly cross LF
19. '&;': 1/2/ turn to L, ending LF in front
20. '41': LF back, settle
21. '2': RF closes to LF (like starting Hockey Stick step 4)
22. '3': LF forward
23. '41': RF forward
24. '2': LF forward walk
25. '3' (half beat): RF forward
26. '&' (half beat): full turn to R
27. '41(half beat)': LF forward (traveling same direction as before the full turn)
28. '&': 1/2 turn to R

Cha Cha Cha: Basics, Turns, Alemana, Hockey Stick

Back basic step on count "2": ack step on count '2': put body weight on LF and settle, which pulls the RF in and back to 'catch' the body.

Switch Turn (Left or Right): 1/4, 1/2, then 1/4 

Spot Turn (Left or Right): the difference from Switch Turn is all in the amount of turn.

• "2" - almost 3/8 turn to R, LF cross RF tight
• "3" - over 1/2 turn to R to almost face partner, feet positions are not changed. Think of pulling up the body, 2 thighs tight together
• "4&1" - side chasse to L side.

Underarm Turn (Left or Right): like Switch Turn, but done under Man's raised arm.

Alemana - turn to R. This is a 3-point turn. 1/8 to partner's side, then 1/2, brush RF to LF, away from partner, then LF brushes RF, 1/2 turn to R toward partner's R, LRL lock step.

Hockey Stick - turn to L. On count "3" put Man's hand on Lady's Left shoulder and then turn.

Shoulder to Shoulder - do not turn upper body much, just step foot behind the other.

Cha Cha Cha: Basic, Alemana, Closed Hip Twist

Cha Cha Basic Movement: when stepping back, the size of the step is just as big as what the ball of foot can reach when 2 knees are together. Then, straighten back leg first, before putting weight on it. (This is different from American style which is more like "pressed walk".) More technique on backward step in Latin dances.

In International style, the feet are a lot more "grounded" (constant pressure) than in American style. It's not good to see feet "loose" without tone under the knee.

Cha Cha Alemana to Closed Hip Twist: 

• Alemana
• step 8, count "4", Lady's LF fwd step, this is already facing Man.
• count "&", lock step (with ball of RF, not just toes, L leg should still be straight, a bit awkard feeling)
• count "1": LF fwd, small step - don't start turning to Man at this step yet, step fwd, not toward Man. 
• count "&": Wait for Man's signal to turn on count "&". 
• Turn should always be sharp (even when music is slow).
• Closed Hip Twist:
• count "4": This is pressed with RF fwd (it's really a fwd step, throw L hip back. hip should not be flat), knee bent.
• count "&": LF closed to RF, both knees bent.
• count "1": RF to side, slightly back, still facing Man at this moment.
• count "&": turn 1/2 to R.

Cha Cha  Closed Hip Twist to Alemana:

• Alemana step 3-5 is a lock step passing Man, then a sharp turn to do step 6, LF fwd to Man's L side.
• Lady's steps are the whether the follow is cHockey Stick or Alemana. The way Man can give hint it how his LH holds Lady's RH.

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.

Lesson on Samba and Foxtrot

Samba technique review:

• Feet stay in contact with the floor
• On the up part of the samba bounce, the bottom sticks out. This powers the slip step of the samba walk, and allows the back foot to pass around the front foot on Voltas.

Foxtrot practice routine:

1. Preparation step LF, S, slightly left of LOD
2. Feather Step   (SQQ)
3. Three Step   (SQQ)
4. Feather Step   (SQQ) 
5. Reverse Turn   (SQQ S) checked, end BDW
6. Basic Weave   (QQ  QQ QQ)
7. Three Step   (SQQ)
8. Natural Turn   (SQQ)
9. Closed Impetus and Feather Finish   (SQQ SQQ) - changing LOD
10. Three Step  (SQQ)  
11. Natural Turn  (SQQ SSS)  

• It's important to collect before a slow step. Slow steps are driving steps, we coast on the quick steps. 
• Three Step footwork is special: as the second step is taken Heel-Toe (in the chart, it's listed as first step, the first Q. The previous S is the last step of Feather Step.), rolling up onto the toe. 
• Caution on the Natural Turn: After a lady learns the Natural Weave, it is very easy to go outside partner after 1-3 of the Natural Turn, but she should be careful to do that only if it is lead. 
• Where the Waltz is like being on a swing, the Foxtrot is like a monkey swinging from vine to vine, including the turning of the frame from left to right. Another way of describing it is that it's like rowing a boat. The need to collect and drive on the slow gives the image of the stroke of the oars in the water propelling the boat, and while the oars are out of the water, preparing for the next stroke, the boat coasts. Similarly, all the power to move across the floor comes on the slow step in foxtrot, and one coasts on the quick steps, until it is time for the next slow to drive further down the floor.

Lesson on Rumba Technique (Bronze)

Timing and footwork:

To sharpen the look, one should wait to step until the last possible moment. The foot moves quickly. Without the appropriate accompanying movement in the body, this will look robotic, like stop motion filming, but it is a necessary foundation. This applies in Rumba, Cha Cha, Pasodoble, and Tango.

Lead and Follow for the Fan

 Starting from Open Basic, man facing LOD, the man turns 1/4 left between steps 2 and 3, allowing the lady to walk past him against LOD. As she walks past, even though she may feel some tension in the hand to walk diagonally toward the man, she continues straight, and may turn her ribs and shoulder 1/8 L, to avoid having her right arm tight against her body. Then, between step 5-6, the man lowers her right hand to lead her to turn on her feet. On step 6, the man steps diagonally forward, so that the couple form a V. This is the Fan shape.

Three endings for Alemana

 The Alemana, for the lady, consists of three steps. One toward the man, one way, and one back toward him. On each step, she brushes her feet with a half-circle motion of the stepping foot, which also aids in turning. The three endings are closed, open, and right side position. For the closed ending, the steps in front of the lady, forcing her to step side instead of forward. For open, on the last step, the man steps strongly forward with low right hand, forcing the lady to step back instead of forward. For right side position, he leads the lady to step forward on her last step, and he steps up so that she is on his right. This last is the only ending that allows the lady to complete a "true" alemana.

On the difference between Closed Hip Twist, Natural Opening Out, and Opening Out Left and Right

Man must remember to maintain a big frame, round arms. On closed hip twist, from closed position, the lady is lead to turn 1/2 to right and step back. The man needs to turn his frame, and allow his right hand to slide down the lady's arm a little to give her more room for the turn and step. First step of Natural Opening out is the same as the Closed Hip Twist. However, rather then stepping into press step on step 2, she will turn a quarter L on step 2, with feet underneath her, and then another quarter on step 3, to face the man again.

No open space between legs

The lady should strive to always keep her legs together. That means that in many steps that would call for a side step, the lady instead steps back, and turns her ribs and shoulder. This has a much more attractive look.

Frame

Strive to maintain a round, horizontal frame. Imagine having balloons under our arms. The big frame this creates will create space, particularly on a social dance floor, and make it easier to dance.

Lesson on Quickstep and Rumba

Quickstep:

• Do not lean into natural turns, or leaning into the lady in the Forward Lock. In the Forward Lock it may be a matter of how much CBM one can manage. 
• Sometimes there is a disparity in how much two partners settle which causes two people to rise and fall different amounts. I settle late, and continue to go down when I should have leveled off and started to rise. Power comes either from going down, or by flexing the joints and pushing off. The four joints are the ball of the foot, the ankle, the knee, and the hip.
• Lady: when stepping backward, step back as far as her body is moving. If her body weight is behind her feet, he would feel her weight leaning away. When he tries to adjust and close the gap, her feet are in the way. 
• Man: do not lift chin in an attempt to improve posture. Instead, lengthen the neck, and keep chin parallel with the floor.

Rumba:
In a backwards walk, we need to straighten the leg before it receives weight. The motion needs to be more. Cucarachas and cuban rocks are not two-dimensional, and they need to have rotational motion. On rumba walks, we should bend the knee of the moving leg, pressing up from the ball of the foot, and down from the hips.

Lesson on Quickstep Technique

As a side note, our coach said that she and her partner almost never do latin lessons with their coaches individually, i.e. partnership is much more critical in standard than in latin.

How to lead the difference between the Chassé Reverse Turn and to do a Heel Turn in Double Reverse Spin. The difference in footwork is that on a Reverse Turn, the swing step, step 2, should be in a line with Man's driving step, step 1. In other words, if Man starts the reverse turn DC, his second step should continue DC in a line from his first step. When leading the lady to do a Heel Turn, Man steps forward and diagonally across with his right foot, cutting off his lady's ability to step forward. Man steps around her.

The instructor talked about a "Standard dance principle": Do not turn the body (hips) until the end of a step.  Otherwise, it would feel like Man is leading the lady into a Heel Turn when he is trying to lead the Chassé Reverse Turn.

Zig-Zag is where the lead is especially important, since there is no rise as an additional clue to the lady. Man needs to make sure to maintain balance forward on the second step of the Zig-Zag. Some ladies change weight on their heel turn too early so Man's balance would not affect them, but with other ladies, having Man's weight on his back foot would cause the lady to step forward on her second step, instead of just changing weight to her right foot. Man also needs to keep his body turned to right side leading on that second step, or he will not be able to lead the lady outside partner on the third step.

Closed Impetus. Once again, the first step: Man needs to step straight backwards, not off to the side. Left toe can be slightly turned on the Heel Turn. Feet should not turn out, which makes the dancing look bow-legged.

On the Reverse Pivot and the Double Reverse Spin, here comes the next "standard dance principle", according to our coach: The man leads reverse turns with his head.  In other words, Man keeps his head left and back, leading the turn, body follows the head, to keep his balance. The other point of technique, for the Double Reverse Spin, is that on the second step, Man should turn on the ball of his right foot with the heel almost to the ground, and provide rise by stretching his right side.

Clarification point on Rumba Fan: in almost all the cases, the lady is lead to walk straight through step 5 of the fan, while the book has the lady turning to face the man on step 4.  The difference is in part a reflection in the change in technique over the past 50 years. Our instructor says what was taught in classes and lessons is used in open figures. For closed figures, the books alignments are still used, as it is not possible for the man to get sufficiently out of the lady's way in closed position.

Rumba Bronze Practice Routine

Rumba practice choreography:

1. Cucarachas: LF  (2341)  
2. Cucarachas: RF  (2341)  
3. Basic Movements: Closed  (2341 2341)  Turning basic 1/4 to L
4. New York LSP  (2341)  
5. Hand To Hand LSP  (2341)  
6. Hand To Hand RSP  (2341)  
7. Progressive Walks Forward in RSP  (2341 2341)  
8. Cuban Rocks RF  (2341)  
9. Spot Turn To R (Lady to L)  (2341)  
10. Underarm Turn To R  (2341) 
11. Closed Hip Twist  (2341 2341)  
12. Hockey Stick  (2341 2341)  
13. Shoulder To Shoulder Left Side  (2341)  
14. Shoulder To Shoulder Right Side  (2341)  
15. Side Step To Right commenced with LF  (2341)  
16. Side Step To Right commenced with RF  (2341)  
17. Side Step To Right commenced with LF  (2341)  
18. Cucarachas: RF  (2341)  
19. Fan  (2341 2341)  
20. Alemana  (2341 2341)  
21. Opening Out To Right And Left  (2341 2341)  
22. Closed Hip Twist  (2341 2341)  
23. Basic Movements: Open  (2341)
24. Progressive Walks Back  (2341 2341)  
25. Natural Top  (2341 2341 2341)  
26. Natural Opening Out Movement  (2341)  
27. Basic Movements: Closed  (2341)  Turning basic, back to starting position

Bronze class on Rumba

Figures covered at Rumba Bronze Level:

1. Fan: The man step slightly forward on step 6, rather that straight to side, to put him a little closer to the lady.
2. Alemana
3. Hockey Stick
4. Natural Top
5. Opening Out to Right and Left
6. Natural Opening Out Movement
7. Closed Hip Twist

Lesson on Cha Cha

Two key points of technique to work on: locks and spacing.

Locks

Most common problem is taking too big steps, in general, but specifically in locks. Backward locks are simpler. The legs remain straight at all times. On forward locks, footwork is ball-flat, ball, ball-flat. On 4, the front foot steps, pointing toe, and landing on a straight leg. Trailing foot crosses behind front foot on &, with feet turned out on ball, and knee bent. On 1, the trailing leg pops straight, lifting the trailing hip, and it is this motion that provides the impetus for the front leg to move forward, a little bit. When changing from left to right and right to left, as in the triple cha chas, a turning of the ribs should be used to effect the change. Do not swing the trailing leg around in a big arc, which is not very attractive.

Spacing

How far apart the man and woman can and should get: The anchor of the partnership in open position is the hand hold, and so the man and woman should not step further away from the hands than would allows for upright body posture, waist high hands, with bent elbows. A critical element of making this work is small steps. The previous point talks about how small the steps are for locks, but small steps are the rule in general. This goes back to a previous post on hand hold in a private lesson, where the instructor recommended a firm grip in open hand hold. This is the only way the man can effectively communicate how much travel is appropriate. It seems easy for the lady to travel too far without this hold in getting into, for example, the fan position.

Lesson in Samba

The most challenging aspect of samba for the beginner is the fact that the knees and the feet don't move at the same time.

Exercise with the volta, starting with left foot in front:

• &--Rise on the left foot, straightening the leg, rising on the ball, lifting the right foot in the air to make sure weight is on the left foot.
• a --Right foot to side
• 1--Front foot crosses in front of the left.

A very common mistake would be to use the free leg to drive the motion, rather than the leg with weight. Hips should absorb the samba bounce, so the head remains level. It's important to first get the footwork right, or there will be nothing for the hips to absorb.