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.

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

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

Standard Dance, Tango, Rumba

Standard dances:

• For the man, compress knees more to make it easier when partner is much shorter.
• For the lady, do not think about tilting head back, just keep it straight, shift it over to the left a bit, so that head is not above sternum.

In Rumba,

• New Yorker: A check is how we change direction from forwards to backward. On the check, the back foot is kept in place, the weight is split. Rather than an abrupt stop and reverse of direction, it is a circular redirection of momentum.
• In the standard check, step on 2, check on &. The standard check is more difficult, and correct execution shows better control. 
• In the syncopated check, the check happens immediately with the step.
• On the Hand to Hand, however, the weight is fully committed to the back leg, since it is much easier to change direction from back to forwards than forwards to back.

The slow steps have three possible timings in Tango. The step takes two beats.

1. Step on 1, hold on two. For example, stepping with the left foot in a Tango walk, the left foot steps on 1, and the right foot comes under the body with out weight. This timing is used for walks.
2. Hold on the 1, and step on 2. This is the timing for closes.
3. Step on 2, with the moving foot movings smoothly through the whole step, like in the waltz or foxtrot.

Make use of this idea of breaking down the beat into fractions for sharpening slow steps in Rumba and Cha Cha as well.