Standard Lesson Notes

General Technique Notes

• Posture:

  • Stretch and lift the middle part  from lower center to top of ribcage, keep it very long, stretched, in lifted position all the time. The lifting created the flat space that connects with partner. Project the ribs to Man, but not the hips.

  • Hips "hanging down", natural arch in lower back (try sitting in a chair).  Especially when shaping head (Weave etc.) do not lift the hip to Man to try to extend head, lift ribcage/chest to Man.

  • Volume is created with both depth and width

    • Depth: lift and frontal curve

    • Width:  Right hip slightly forward to Man. Diagonal. Right hip slightly higher. 

    • If trying to create volume from wrong place (e.g. from hip), hips are locked and impossible to move.

  • Shoulder blade open, do not squeeze together. 

  • Giving Man hips by moving whole body toward front of foot. Do not just put hips forward and lock hips. 

  • Do not "hold" the position which will appear to be stiff. When keeping the posture, the whole body can still move, apply softness. Body can sway "smiley face" but side doesn't drop.  When one side is up, the other is also up(!)

  • Hip has to under/released in order to freely rotate the body (e.g. Tango Chasse)

  • Extend, stretch, but not with tension which feels stuck.

  • Two parts of the body - upper center (rib, chest), and lower center (hip) - they go different direction. 

  • When trying to release hips back, make sure not to pitch forward. All front muscle in middle must elongate. 

  • Do not mix posture/position vs over-balance.

    • lady "moving away" - this is balance/over-balance, regardless of position.

  • Lady's RH - Man needs to feel it without grabbing tension. 

  • Lady's LH - provide structure, do not slide around Man's arm. Fixed solid position.

  • Man: imagine there is a cup on a big round tray. Man has to keep the tray in place with cup on it.

• Body breathe, don't hold  (body rise is gradual, not jerky), allow the movements/shaping Man suggests. "Allow" and do not "force" movement, which will appear stiff.

• Arm: too stiff, need to allow arm to go down (while the other side stretch), do not resist. think about chest back (but shoulder blade is still stretch open), "Holding" shoulder blade makes arm stiff. and movement limited.  When stretching (left side, for example), the relative position of arm to shoulder/body doesn't change, but body follows, so R arm goes down.

• Hand: Left hand needs to be a stable structure point for both swing dances and Tango. It does NOT move.

  • Going to PP: needs to do body work and NOT let LH slide. When torso is rigid, the hand moves. 

  • Tango: L forearm and LH - connected, but not tension. Keep stable.

  • Structural points don't have to be strong, it could be light, but has to be solidly there.

• When moving forward, use joint absorption, cushion, before doing the next step so one can glide.  (e.g. Weave) 

  • Use Knee, hip, ankle.  Looseness in hip joint (don't lock hip joint which limits movement). 

  • Not bending down, but release, sending knee forward.

  • When Man is moving back, he is inviting, if not using joints, will gap with Man.

  • There is always something happening in body, joint moving, no stopping (even when foot is not moving).

  • When joint is loose/absorbing, Lady can sense how big Man will step and what timing he will use. When locked, movement is fixed

• When moving backward:

  • more projection of top center to Man. Move lower center (hip) and head back, but keeping upper center very projected to Man (so Man doesn't feel being pulled off his foot, or Lady "leaving" Man, or loosing connection.)

  • inviting Man with lower center (hips), not moving upper body away too fast. Hip needs to release earlier. Not lower for too long, too much, make sure to release hips as lowering.  

  • when taking hips and head weight back, do not take chest away from Man.

  • Using standing leg - lowering body weight and moving center back about same time. 

  • "Prepping the leg" - means releasing hip and foot, but do not stick leg straight back.

  • "Moving all the time, non stop" - it's the hips that never stop releasing. Hips bent, flexible.  Hips are constantly traveling across the feet.

  • If bottom/hips are locked, it usually affects the top, making top locked/rigid. 

    • Body needs to be in the right space as well to make it not locked. Do not rely on upper body doing all the movement. Bottom has to do the work.

  • When body parts are moving well in coordinated fashion, it uses the least energy to produce big movement and topline.

• Movement: 3D + 1 (rise and fall or up and down)

  • when over-balancing, up/down should be clear, smooth and not abrupt

  • Changing height (up/down) should not interrupt the over-balancing movement.  (e.g. not up/down first and then over balance forward and back, should be smooth together) 

  • Up and down is circling. There is "heavier" part and "lighter" part as body is doing over balancing.  Over balancing is always continuous.

• Sometimes the movement of upper body and lower body are connected, sometimes the upper body is doing extra without lower body moving. Lady follow Man's suggestion - if it's only upper body shaping, Lady shouldn't be moving lower body.

• (This does not apply to OP movement) "Crab": Man's RF, Lady's RF; Man's L arm, Lady's L arm.

  • On right side: Lady's RF "track narrow": if there is a wall on right side of Lady's body, RF does not go outside the wall, RF always steps fwd straight (relative to body) or back (though body could turn).

  • On left side, the wall is "wider", wall is at Lady's L elbow. Lady's LF tracks "wide", try to walk toward her L elbow. 

  • It feels like moving with open legs, the balance of the couple is secure. 

• Feather step/Feather finish

  • Think about L side stretch even more forward.

  • Feather finish: don't over turn. Stretch L side. Upper body stays with Man, 2 step (Q), RF after stepping, turn the foot, footwork is TH. When placing down the foot, it's time to release/relax/bend R hip, R hip moving back. moving to back heel.  Foot has to turn and be straight with movement direction, not turned out. Body turns less. Release the hip, not the leg, Do not move leg too fast. 

  • "rubber band" pulling opposite direction to stay in balance - R hip pulling back, L side stretch fwd. Create hovering slowing down effect. 

• Body decides how much to bend the legs, it's not legs deciding. If body is exploring upper space, legs stretch; if body is exploring lower space,, legs/hips bend.

• When body is more balanced, body is more relaxed and can move more freely. Relax upper body and "let weight hang/fall".

• Flexibility:

  • Flexibility - much of it is about coordination. Not a "brick" kind of coordination. Different center of the body exploring different space.

• Set up frame: 

  • walk to Man with "full length" and then relax the knees.

  • R elbow downward., arms in front of body (3D). think about being wider.  

• Walking back: 

  • think about octopus - octopus under the frame/posture.

  • wider legs, more balanced and create space for Man.

  • Lady's chest project forward, lifted, entire time. Chest keeps the connection with partner.

• Head change does not change frame. Head is the last thing to change.

• Shallow position (American style):

• Think of it as Lady's running finish and then open right turn.

• Coming out of PP: don't go "down", go "across". 

Posture

• Release the "knots" in the body, use minimum tone to accomplish movement and presentation. Dance "expansion"/"extension", not "contraction". Explore full range.

• Posture:

  • Upper center: Image sphere rotate to back, have shoulder "hang" down, no tension, thinking about "crunching" back often tenses it up. Try to think about rotating and breathe. Breathing will make it possible to stretch more.

  • Head counter balance chest, as the sphere rotates back, imaging the part from chest to neck, neck is connected to head, so take head with neck (do not keep head at same place) as the sphere rotate, this will create bigger extension

  • Should be able to bounce - make sure body is still perfectly balanced. At the beginning, try rotate as far as possible as long as one can sense/keep the vertial balance. 

  • Rotate the center and not moving the center back, center stays at the same spot, then you will not be back weighted and won't affect movement.

  • Try to keep it when moving. It's easy to straighten up. Think about staying in Man's hand. 

  • Lady thinks about articulating her upper body to stay between 2 points: the connection point (her R side to Man's R side) and Man's R hand. When Man extends his R hand, Lady keeps going with it. Lady's L shoulder blade has to look for and stay with Man's RH.

    • For picture line figures, the body contact can go lower (which may appear Lady is peeling off a bit).

  • When moving, it's easy to move away from the body, which makes Man feels back weighted. Shape-wise, upper body rotate back; weight-wise, be fwd on the Man.

• Set up:

  • Lady's center of body, go directly at Man's R elbow (yes, very offset), do not try to find Man, keep enough space

  • Lady have a diagonal stretch to leftward, upward, the arm is on same plane as chest (arm is not forward).  Lady's arm is parallel with Man's arm at beginning. Man finds Lady.

  • Lady's R leg is loose, not straighten/locked. R knee relaxed to side. Lady's R thigh in between Man's legs, touch. 

  • Connect at R leg/thigh, (don't meet at feet, feet need to be apart enough),  do not at hip joint, hip stays, hip still has the crease; then at the R rib, without changing this connection, rotate and find Man's R hand, collar bone back, and stay there (do not peel off R rib connection). Diaphragm on Man, shoulder blade on Man's R hand. Body has the "Zig-zag" curve.

    • The diaphragm is a muscle that helps you inhale and exhale (breathe in and out). This thin, dome-shaped muscle sits below your lungs and heart. It's attached to your sternum (a bone in the middle of your chest), the bottom of your rib cage and your spine. 

  • When Man connects, the two as a couple rotate a bit to right. 

  • Lady's upper body lives between Man's body and Man's R hand.

Promenade Position

• Lady's middle of body connects to Man's R side. Keep that, do not change than, 

• Think bout keeping head in where original head is in closed position. Do not peel off body with Man. Find a way to make shoulder blade go back and find Man's R hand.

• In Closed Position, L shoulder blade more fwd, R shoulder blade back.

• In PP, the feeling is L shoulder blade is more back. Don't pull back with L arm, it's shoulder blade. Could use/leverage hands, push hands into Man.

  • more volume on Lady's L side, 

  • Do not rotate to L in order to create the look.  Think about it as a stretch, it does change the angle of the body a little, but not turning away from center.

  • In the different angle, the Lady still stays "in front of" Man, not behind.

Oversway:

• RF not pass man.

• R side stay with man

• LF diagonal, not same parallel line with man

Order of Movement for Swing Dances: (very quick, seemlessly together, set the base as we move, create body flight)

• Weight: Shift of spine, using body weight, overbalancing.

• Standing leg: Use standing leg: either onto the leg down absorbing, or out of the leg pushing up.

• Moving leg: Step with free moving leg.

Order of Movement for Tango: (set the base with moving foot first, then move)

• Standing leg: drop of weight

• Grab Step with moving leg

• Body weight: last to happen.

Waltz

• Wing: PP on the wrong side, think about top stays, move bottom/hip to the other side. Fwd, Fwd steps

• Left whisk: flat, move and go into the empty space. If rise up, it would be hinge.

• Hover Corte: stay left side, head has to stay on left. 

• Consistent topline is a good indication of better movement and position.

• Swing - always forward and backward. Swing, turn and then sway.

  • In normal position, there is a hip crease. During swinging, crease is still here, may be lessened, but it shouldn't be sticking out hips flat which will be back weighted.

  • Swinging fixed point is above the head, whole body swinging (like baby swings, baby still sitting).

• Spin Turn & turning lock to R:

  • After overturned Spin Turn. Next 1: body is to straight and flat forward, try keep turning body to R, ribs turning with Man to R, LF is fwd, Lady shapes/leans to left, keep the head volume. Think about body going between narrow glass wall, body is diagonal, sway left, not flat fwd. 

• Weave from PP

  • Lady is outside of the turn, not the axis, when turning not as axis, Lady does not have full weight committed to RF (on 2), it's stepping bigger on 2, kind of part weight, do not plan to arrive on RF, do not over shoot weight  when turning, not really brushing LF, LF just go pass. legs are  slightly open, and steps out on 3. 

  • when there is more momentum, step 2 RF needs more slide, bigger step

  • Body passes through, do not arrive full weight on RF, do not make RF an anchor. it's transitional. It is not putting full weight,  turn and then out. It is passing through. no moment of full verticality. Legs open wide on 2, collect and then open wide again to go out.

  • Next, Lady's RF fwd, outside partner, RF is turned out. CBMP, traveling DC, RF is pointing LOD. 

• Contra Check

  • Body stays with Man,  don't pull away, "lose the body", do not tense, do not use strength, let go and stretch as much as possible.

• Reverse Turn

  • Respond to Man's upper rotation, with rotating hips to L. R leg follows it. (Starting with R leg behind, when rotating hips to L, if R leg doesn't follow, it becomes CBMP, we don't want that in reverse turns.) R leg follows the rotation, it will appear RF turned in.

  • Rotate hip, lower into LF, using the standing leg, placing RF already turned in 1/8 of turn. 

• Hover Corte: build together with Man. don't do on your own.

• Setting up: do not be too close

  • Aim for Man's elbow, feet at parallel angle with Man, do not go too close; bend at the knees (weight goes a bit forward, toward front of foot), twist body a little bit (not too much) to each other; then curve a lot to Man's R hand (frontal curve).

  • Connect "diagonally".  This will help to create shape. When it's too close, when shaping, it will be off balance.

  • "Crab".

• Spin Turn & Turning lock to R a bit crowded.

  • Spin Turn: RF fwd, rotate upper body (disconnect R shoulder, but do not pull back R shoulder, think more about L shoulder forward), not lower body, reach left (not curving back),  place LF, don't step too early, slide even more and wait for Man to place Lady's weight onto her LF.  

  • When Man leads, lady "divides" her weight, do not put weight early (do not anchor foot), step foot outside body, do not step under body, otherwise, the movement is cut short, feel stuck. Lady steps outside body, Man puts Lady on the foot.

  • For head to not look "locked" and stiff: allow L shoulder rotate fwd, head reaching left and out, going a halo circle.

  • Turning lock to R, similar with sliding Lady's LF.

  • Soft, pliability

• Turning Lock to L: LF step to L elbow, do not go too close to Man.

• Hover Corte:

  • Stretch more leftward/backward into Man's RH, (but not straight back). Stretch diagonally, not "square".

  • Lady's upper body "lives" between Man's body (R side) and his R hand.  

• Chasse from PP:

  • 1: swing (moving weight forward onto front of foot), starting at &, leaving head back (do not allow head to keep going forward). (If swinging on 2, it's too late.)

    • lower body and upper body do not go equally. 

    • Swing: in relationship to the hip, swing is forward, moving weight onto front of the foot. It changes the angle of the body, but does not change the "accordion" "zig-zag" and C of the body. hip does not flatten out which will hinder movement. 

    • Swing helps to leave the head behind. When not using swing, head comes with rest of the body/feet and ends in wrong position. When swinging forward, body curves backward (which leaves head behind).

    • Swing starts in feet, body, allow head to react, and finish with head, 

    • Swing ends in sway, R hip will end higher. 

    • Double sway for Chasse from PP: Finish with more sway to L, then keep the head, and allow shape to change to shape to R.  

  • 2: RF big step

• When going to PP:

  • Do not lock upper body/frame, left side, otherwise, Man may feel pushed on his R arm.

  • Lady does internal chest/body rotation to PP without changing L arm position with Man, do not slide hand up Man's shoulder. This is a place where Lady does not keep upper body one block when turning to PP.

  • Upper body needs to have some pliability, stay in Man's R hand. Going to PP with everything else.

Tango

• Sometimes body is stronger toned, sometimes it's looser (Outside change, Slow Spanish Drag)

• Avoid: too much tension in upper body. When body too active, neck is trying stabilize the body, neck is stuck. When body is stabilized, neck/head can flick on the top. Isolate head from body.  

• Cobra: keep frame and posture, do not get ahead of Man.

• Tango: weight more on back of foot (compared to swing dances)

• PP: IE of ball of foot, not IE of toe. 

• Contra check: start less than 50% and when extended, it gets to 50% split weight.

• Rocks: when Lady does RF fwd, it's more side ways. LF fwd is across in CBMP.

• Stalking walk from PP: RF fwd is more toward Man, not to side. 

• Posture: body should be very lengthened, just like swing dances. And keep it lengthened, e.g. during Cobra.

• Steps are too big, including walk.

• Walk: 

  • think about RF toward left shoulder, LF toward left elbow, wider legs, creates space for Man. Wider legs. not about "bigger steps"

  • pick up foot/thign and place. do not drectly think about pushing on standing foot.

• Chase, move arm to right, it helps man, keep head same position, it will end left, body turn underneath, seamless,  place LF under body, after moving arm, very small step

• Fallaway, just keep walking back, good lead, it should happen,

Posture:

• Legs and knees need to be more compressed, body not too high.

Movement:

• Drop weight then immediately step free leg, followed by body weight.

• Want to feel the energy, but not too physical.

• Viennese Cross:

  • Cross feet or not, either ok. Typically cross when it's syncopated.

  • Prepare foot early.

  • Last Viennese Cross, finish by preparing RF to side, while still shaping to L, then change shape to  to R when closing LF to RF. 

  • Finish with R side positive, do not open R side.  Shoulder parallel to Man.

• Contra check:

  • drop and step foot first, do not move body weight first.

  • Step foot first, head last.

• Fallaway Promenade:

  • leg first.

• Tango close

  • RF side step, but don't put weight on it too fast. Leg first.

  • Move R rib to Man more, leave head behind.

  • Need to close more, shoulder parallel to Man.

• Chasse

  • Side chasse ending, stop the chasse, prepare R leg for Progressive Link, otherwise Man feels like chasse is still going sideways, falling and Lady is heavy.

• Direct and Indirect action. (Think of ribbon, the direct moving the head of the ribbon, the rest of ribbon reacts/follows indirectly.)

  • We don't want to move everything directly. i.e. we do not want to move in one block., looks stiff.

  • When going sideways to left,  head and hip move strong, middle rib "stays behind". E.g. chase chasse to Lady's left.

  • When going to right, lead with ribs, head and hip stays behind E.g, Promenade close, RF to side, lead with R side, leave head really "behind" (after turning head is very to left.)

  • Even though one's body is one together, there is internal stretch or twist/counter rotation , one side is longer than the other so it's not feeling like one block. 

  • Either leading with head when moving to L, leaving ribs to Man;  or leading with rib and leaving head behind when going to R.

Foxtrot

• Everything is extremely gliding, smooth movement, full, range is bigger, foot does not leave floor, glide.

• Preparation is a "figure" on its own, don't cut the movement "short".

  • RF to "side" - but never straight to the side, it's more "forward" and side. always more "diagonal". Do not stop, cut short, extension continues till it changes direction.

  • The last step, Lady's RF back - is like "rise, fall, drive" all in one step, like the last step of a previous figure. It flows, other it could feel "heavy, static, hitting a wall". The preparation step needs to be "inviting".

• Avoid: moving "too fast" "too early"

  • Going backward: Leave chest/body to Man, prepare leg, head back to counter, so Man doesn't feel Lady is too early, running away.

  • When going forawrd, Lady has to drive and be active and not wait.

  • Transition: after heel turn, don't wait, immediately drive, cuz it's going forward.

  • The preparing leg/hip part is the part that gives Man the "inviting" feeling. Leaving chest with Man gives the feeling of "not running away".

• Three step: LF back is wider step, especially in curved 3 step.

• Top Spin: on toes

• After heel turn, be active going forward, so not stuck 

• Open impetus,  felt stuck,  try go forward actively . Shoulder less open, but hip more open

• Natural weave from PP: head L first, then R. Weave ending, LF fwd diagonally left

• Natural twist turn: after heel turn, be active to run fast fwd

• Reverse wave, under turn at first, then catch up, after that, follow man squarely, not turning away, taking one side away for the extended wave part

• Backward step, Feather, heel turn, delay, step on 2nd half of beat; except when it's QQs (e.g. Fallaway, reverse weave.) to give the clear Foxtrot feeling.

Studio Routine:

• Feather Step  (SQQ)

• Bounce Fallaway with Weave Ending  (S&QQQQQQ)

  • Bounce: like "ride on Man's R hip"

• Reverse Wave  (SQQ SQQ SQQ SQQ) extended, at corner

  • Heel turn, delay, upper body stay with Man, not too fast with 1st S.

  • Wave part: both sides to Man.

• Open Impetus  (SQQ) at corner

  • Frame tend to get smaller. LF go toward Man, not away. Go "through" Man, keep body connected, which actually produce bigger topline.

• Natural Weave  (S QQ QQ QQ QQ)

  • Q: Lady RF forward, move Man to R, that's when head changes.

  • One head change at the end and change again in Feather finish,

  • When finishing, weight on LF solidly, wait for Man. Don't fall into Three Step, 

• Three Step  (SQQ)

  • Delay.

  • RF do not turn too much.

• Natural Twist Turn  (SQ&QSS)

• Natural Zig-Zag from PP  (SQQQQ) at corner

• Change Of Direction  (SSS)

  • Change head to R. Continuing to Feather step, do not turn head back to L too soon.

• Feather Step  (SQQ)

  • Till last Q, slowly change head to L.

• Open Telemark (SQQ)

  • Heel turn, delay, upper body stay with Man, not too fast with 1st S.

  • Head: depends on Man's shaping

    • Lady keeps her head L till last second if Man keeps flat and change shape to his L, 

    • or "head stays and body turns underneath". 

    • or, in middle, delay head a little bit and then change to R - all depends on when Man shapes.

• Open Natural (SQQ)

• Outside Swivel  (SS)

  • Slow down. 1: prep, 2: step, 3: swivel, 4: head.

• Feather Step from PP (SQQ) back to long side

  • Shift of the beat, can step on the 2nd half of S

Repeat from Bounce Fallaway.

Quickstep 

• Has swing, rise and fall range is smaller, has to recover from swing faster.  SQQ Natural Turn: at end of Q, sway is gone and ready to take off again. 

• Body light, flight. feet do the work. Higher center. Feels like arms are floating. 

• Lock step: RF step back. Then Man leads Lady to just shift her weight to her R, which becomes a lock step. Do not focus on side lead, twisting body.