International Standard Waltz Tips: Rise and Fall

Waltz rise and fall: While the book, and beginning classes, instruct one to begin to rise at the end of 1 in many waltz figures, the rise should be delayed until step 2. That is, when the weight has been transferred on the second step, then rise. 

Dance tips: Waltz

• Always think of moving past your partner.
• When turning into promenade, the lady's head is the last thing to turn.
• Always think of counterbalancing your partner.

Caveat Emptor (buyer beware)

Found this very amusing dance resume plus explanation by way of danceforums.

Ballroom Tip: Going through your partner

In many turning figures, instead of thinking of going around, the technique will improve if one thinks of going through one's partner. On a natural turn, for example, the man steps straight through, stepping toward the lady's right shoulder, while using CBM to make room to get past her. Similarly, on step 5 of the natural turn, the lady steps straight at the man's right shoulder, where CBM creates room for her to get past. He goes, then she goes.

More notes on standard technique.

International Standard: Contra Body Movement (CBM)

Contra Body Movement (CBM) is usually used to initiate turns. Here are some technique that would help to dance CBM correctly:

• CBM on a forward step: the person (either Man or Lady) that does the forward step is on the outside of the turn and travels more. The step itself should be straight on the line. The opposite shoulder would be turning toward the moving foot (remember to keep shoulder level, no dipping).
• CBM on a back step: the person would be on the inside of a turn. Instructor often says "toe slightly turned in" - in fact, the hip and foot are "connected" together. The hip should also turn. Foot is always perpendicular to the hip. Man should always do a straight back step on the line. Lady follows the Man. (If Man does his forward step correctly, Lady would step back straight with CBM.)

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 Waltz (Bronze Level)

Bronze Level Waltz, including a routine for practice.

Some practice exercises:

• Step toward mirror, soft knees, keeping shoulders and hips flat, with CBM. Our coach said one of his coaches wanted him to practice this 10000 times between sessions. (Well, he only sees his coach in English once every few months.)
• In partnership, practicing all the possible leads, from man's perspective:
  
  
  
  1. Step forward straight, LF
  2. Step back straight, RF
  3. Step straight left
  4. Step straight right
  5. Lower on right leg
  6. Step forward, LF, turn frame right
  7. Step back, RF, turn frame back to straight
  8. Step Left
  9. Shape Left
  10. Shape Right
  11. Step Right
  12. Shape Left
  13. Straighten up
• When stepping through a routine, step back and forth through the steps, particularly on steps that require CBMP.

Some points of technique that are called out:

• The hips need to remain flat. Do not tilt the whole body forward, including the hips. This is as opposed to keeping hips in the right position, and bending forward at the waist. Through the hips and the lower spine the body is erect. This is especially important when turning the frame, as it is not possible to turn the frame properly at the same time it is tilted.
• When stepping back into a turn, the instructor cautioned us that the step back should be straight, toe is only turned in a little if called for in the figure. When one tries to make room by stepping to side while turning, it defeats the purpose of CBM, and if the forward stepping partner does their step correctly, it will also result in losing connection between the partners as they drift apart.

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 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 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 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 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.

Lesson on Cha Cha

Cha Cha technique points:

• Hand hold--In open positions, man should hold the lady's hand with thumb on the back of her hand, the first two fingers on the palm of her hand, with just tight enough a grip to clearly lead and communicate my position. Our instructor says that while little emphasis is given to the hand-hold in most instruction, he finds that if there is any uncertainty about hand holds, including how they change during a figure, his figures will not work right. It is incorrect to hold the hand as if it were holding a cup, the lady's fingers down inside the cup. This is not adequate for anything beyond a basic.
• Closed position--Fingers of man's left hand closed around lady's right hand. We try to create a large volume between us, slightly pushing away from each other. 
• Footwork--Heel has to be on the ground on the beat on 1, 2, and 3, but no heel leads. Steps should be small. Remember to step straight back, and not turn, when leading an underarm turn.
• Lead and follow--Man needs to lead where he wants lady to step. In open positions, he should try to keep his hand at the lady's waist level if possible. Hold the hand too high, and he will tend to tip her over at the top, rather than lead her feet to move.
• Sharpness in movement.--Torquing the hips. The hips should never be flat, except between movements. It is the hip rotation driving the steps, and in the settling action on the 2, that will lend sharpness to the movements.
• Natural Top--This happens in a closed position, shoulders square to each other, no hip action, the goal is to show off the amount of rotation. The man crosses behind, the lady has her feet pointing left relative to the shoulders, walking around the rim of the circle. The man and the lady have different footwork to avoid conflict in the feet.
• Hockey Stick--The hand goes up on 1, but remains to the right side of the lady. On 3, the hand is brought across the lady's face, causing her to turn 1/8. On the & after 3, the lady is turned a half-turn. 

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.

More on Samba Technique

Voltas

• For voltas to the right, left foot steps in front of right. Feet are turned out, right knee touches back of left knee. Hips face 1/8 to right.
• & - start with leg rise to begin the the next step, hips tilt back (arching the back), hips start to rotate flat
• 'a'- continue with foot rise, stepping on ball of right foot, hips are flat
• 1- left foot closes to right, at the last second, hips tilt foward to allow left foot to cross in front of right, hips rotate right

Boto Fogos: 

• 1- step forward with left foot, turn out right foot, hips rotate right, ribs and shoulders move less, to emphasize hip rotation
• 'a'- step forward with right foot, swinging leg in same direction of motion, place partial weight on foot
• step forward with left foot, turning left 90 degrees
• arms- on criss-cross boto-fogos, when Man is to right of lady, right arm extends straight out, when Man is to left of lady, extend right arm straight up

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.

Samba Lesson

Samba Basic Motion: Timing: 1 & a 2. Release the heels and 'bounce' up on &. The 'a' step only gets partial weight.

Samba walks: On the 'a' beat, the front leg is straightened, the thigh pulled back, weight is kept forward.

Voltas: The leg that crosses in front crosses just in front. The knees are together, and you 'sit. Then release the back leg to step to the side, this is the traveling step, not the crossing step.

Boto Fogos: The foot that steps to the side is turned out. It is the foot stepping forward that will swivel to change directions.

Beginner's Foxtrot

Steps are simpler in Foxtrot (in the sense that there are less number of steps), so focus on technique is important. The feet are always passing, so there is less rise and fall than in waltz. On the feather step, there is CBM on the first step, so the frame turns to the right. On the three step, CBM happens gradually across the three steps, so the frame is wound to the left by the end of the figure. The motion is likened to swinging like a monkey from vine to vine.

The feet stay in contact with the ground all the time. When stepping back, the leg needs to swing back like a pendulum. The tip of the toe touches first, and then one rolls back onto the foot. The heel does not touch the ground until the feet are even.

Posture, position, and frame: Position refers to the relative position of the man and woman. Because the man is normally taller and heavier, the lady needs to shape left and back much more than the man. In addition to shaping left, while keeping contact through the body, the lady also bends back at the 6th or 7th thoracic vertebra.

Beginner's Samba

In the Samba basic, the rhythm is 1 a 2. The 'a' is at the 3/4 point between the 1 and the 2. On the 'a' beat, the heels release from the floor, and the hips tilt up. The feeling is like doing an abdominal crunch. On the numbered beat the hip tilts back down.

Natural basic, the abs are crunched on 'a', step forward on the right foot on 1, while straightening the left leg and turning out the left foot. The hips twist, but the shoulders do not. More on Samba Technique.