ROUND DANCING — CHOREOGRAPHED BALLROOM

First of all, What is Round Dancing?—It is choreographed and cued ballroom dancing.

General Technique —

Warming Up—A few minutes of stretch and warm-up before a dance can loosen and lubricate joints and tendons and reduce the risk of pulls, twists, and strains. Warm-up feels good, too.

Walking—Dancing is just orderly movement to a rhythm. Walk to the beat, light on your feet.

Basic Dance Steps—Dances consist of a sequence of dance figures, but figures consist of a sequence of individual steps and actions. A list.

Timing—One of the conspicous features of round dancing, and ballroom dancing in general, is the great variety of rhythms and the variety of step patterns that are characteristic of those rhythms.

Round Dance Phase Levels—The Roundalab Phase Rating System ranks round dance figures according to degree of complexity. Each phase has a specific syllabus of basics — steps, movements, and actions.

Balance and Good Posture—One of the images that comes up again and again in round dancing is the idea that the dancer's body is a pile of boxes, crates stacked in a warehouse, and it is important to keep the pile aligned and balanced.

Holds and Positions—First in dancing is the dance position hold.  Before you can move as one, lightly and smoothly around the floor, the gentleman's lead clear and unambiguous, and the lady's follow responsive and precise, you have to get a hold of each other.

Dance Position and Connection Between Partners—The fundamental dance position, and the one in which you can feel most connected, is Closed Position. Good connection and smooth lead and follow come from a toned frame in the upper body and contact at the hips.

Dance Position and Connection, Part II, A List—As you scan the list, can you picture a way to incorporate a little more connection between partners:  actual contact, body rotation, body sway, a centering on your partner, mirrored arm-work…? Round dancing is not simply doing the correct steps in the vicinity of your partner.  Round dancing is dancing together.

Blend To Banjo—To shift from closed position to banjo position, you don't need lateral or sideways movement; you only need right-face body rotation and left-side lead.

Dance Right Through Her—Sometimes, we men are too polite. We try to be gentle and to give our partners their space. But in dancing many figures, we need to forge ahead and dance right through her.

Don't Fight—It is a basic and fundamental rule of dance: don't criticize your partner.

Be Gentle—Dancing certainly is a contact sport. But it is not wrestling, football, or boxing. We are dancing with a partner, not an opponent. So, we should try to be gentle.

Be Gentle—A shortened version (750 words).

Let's Put On A Show—The music and movement of dance feel good even if you're dancing by yourselves. Dancing with other couples feels better. Can it be still more fun to play somewhat to the audience?

The Healthy Side Of Round Dancing—Round dancing is a perfect activity for improving physical, mental, emotional, social, and even artistic or creative health. It's fun, too.

Dance Position Photo Essays —

Closed Dance Position—In closed position, the man and the woman are facing each other, offset a little to the left, arched back, and looking left. A photo essay.

Cuddle Dance Position—Cuddle position is a close embrace in which each partner's arms are around the other. A photo essay.

Banjo and Sidecar Positions—Banjo and Sidecar are considered to be forms of Closed Position with strong body slice. A photo essay.

Semi-Closed Position—In semi, the couple opens a little down line, and the man uses a little right side stretch to "open the woman's head," to cause her to look to her right. A photo essay.

Reverse Semi-Closed Position—In reverse semi, the trail shoulders turn just a little outward. Both might be looking toward reverse line of dance. A photo essay.

L-Position—L-position is a stance in which the man and woman are 90 degrees to one another, like the letter "L." He might be facing wall, and she might be facing line of dance. A photo essay.

Open Dance Positions—In Open Position and other open positions, partners are apart from each other. They are scarcely in a dance "hold." They may not be touching at all. A photo essay.

Shadow Dance Positions—The term "shadow" is a rather broad one, refering to any position in which you are both facing the same way, one a little to the left and behind the other. A photo essay.

Lead and Follow —

Lead and Follow—We can recognize four (or more) different styles of lead and follow: the traditional man's lead, the somewhat less structured "Isadora" style of leading, a more collaborative style, and finally, the woman's reverse or back lead.

Leading Styles—Traditionally, the man leads, but it doesn't have to work that way.

Pitfalls In Lead and Follow—what we should be careful not to do in leading and following.

Lead That Hockey Stick—We can reclaim some of the fun in well-known dance figures if we think beyond the steps and focus on lead, follow, and connection with our partner.

Give Her Leg A Nudge—The man leads his partner using body rotation, sway, and rise and fall. A category of lead that might deserve extra consideration is the nudge - a gentle and subtle push with the foot, knee, thigh, and/or hip. Lead and follow is communication between partners, and a “little nudge” can be a surprisingly clear and comfortable signal.

Anticipate the Check—To check in dance is to stop our progression in one direction and, more or less suddenly, to continue to dance in some other direction. If we don’t anticipate the Check and communicate with each other, the sequence will be rough.

Dance Styling —

Icing On the Cake—Good dancing is much more than the dance steps. Here are six features of styling that can produce grace, shape, and flow—body frame, floating, dancing on the diagonal, side lead or contra body action, rise and fall, and body sway.

Dance Frame—Good frame means a toned and stable upper body with the torso stretched, the arms up and heads left. It is good posture.

Dance Frame—A key to smooth lead and follow is a stable dance frame and enough tone so that the man can communicate to the woman, and the woman can sense or feel that communication. A photo essay.

Float—A floating dance is one in which the body never stops but is always moving in smooth, graceful arcs centered and on balance over both feet.

Dancing On the Diagonal—Dancing on the diagonals produces a soft, flowing pattern—a little into the center, then back toward the wall—a wave-like motion, something more like natural flow and less like plane geometry in school or soldiers marching in straight lines.

Side Lead—Just as dancing looks better if your progression is along curves and diagonals, rather than down straight lines, so does it look more graceful if your body is gently angled.

Rise and Fall—Rise and fall gives a whole new layer, a third dimension, of natural flow and movement to our dancing.

Body Sway—Walking is pretty much straight up and down. Our dancing will be much more interesting if we make use of body sway, the inclination or tilt of the body to the right or to the left.

Squeeze the Trigger—Muscle tone throughout the body can eliminate the jerks and bangs and give smooth flow to your dancing.

The Long and the Short Of It—Partners of different height or size can dance smoothly together if you adjust your frames to match your partner, tone your frames so that you can both communicate clearly, and finally adjust your movements to those of your partner.

Specific Dance Figures —

Cha-Cha-Cha—Often, we dance the cha-cha-cha as a simple chasse, with the second step a closing step but there are other ways to cha that add variety to our dancing and that help us connect with our partner and dance more smoothly and comfortably.

Twists and Twist Turns—One of the common actions in round dancing is the twist, but there are Twists, which are in the hips, and then there are Twist Turns, which occur down in the legs. 

Single, Double, and Triple Twist Turns—A Twist Turn usually begins in closed position, facing reverse line of dance, trail feet free.  The man crosses behind and unwinds.  The woman runs right face, unwinding him. The figure can be repeated for a double or even a triple Twist Turn.

Is A Hip Twist Just A Fancy Half Basic?—One way to think about the Hip Twists in Rumba is to see them growing out of the phase-III Half Basic. Begin a Basic, but on the third step, use footwork and body shape to turn her to the right.

Hip Twist Figures—The Hip Twist is a latin action found in Rumba and Cha (and other rhythms).  We like to think of a Hip Twist as any sharp swivel on the weighted foot in the same direction as that weighted foot. There are Open, Closed, Advanced, Continuous, and Circular Hip Twists.

Tipples, Ripples, and Body Rolls—Sometimes there is a Body Roll, Barrel Roll, or Around the World feeling in our Tipple and Ripple Chassés, and it feels good.

Inside & Outside Rolls In Slow Two-Step—The Slow Two-Step is a richly textured dance rhythm, exhilarating, fun to dance—and one of the characteristic components is the Inside and the Outside Rolls.

A Few Rondes In Slow Two-Step—We “ronde” in almost all of the round dance rhythms, but there have been some especially nice examples in some recent Slow Two-Steps.

Dancing Picture Figures—Most of our dancing progresses. But sometimes we encounter choreography in which we do not step. When faced with such figures, we must decide, are we going to keep dancing, or are we just going to stand there?

Mini-Picture Figures—Sometimes, we see a division in our dancing between regular figures and “picture” figures. Another way to view dance figures is to recognize the picture figures and then to think of most of our other dance figures as mini-picture figures.

Animal Figures—Round dancing has quite a few figures with animal names—domesticated animals, pests, marine life, and of course terrestrial wildlife.

Continuous Figures In Latin—One of the interesting things that we do in Round Dancing is take a dance figure and make it “continuous” by adding additional steps or actions to the base figure but not in a way to change its fundamental shape or character.

Continuous, Extended, and Interruptie Figures in Smooth—There are Roundalab Standard Figures that are Continuous in both the Latin and the Smooth rhythms, but there are no Standard Figures that are Extended or Interrupted. But we do dance them, and these three terms can be informative cues.

Left Hinge, Right Hinge, Increasing Figure Variety—One way to increase the variety in our figure repertoire is to take a standard figure that in some way goes in one direction, dance it with the other foot in the other direction, and so gain a new figure.

An Alemana Is Not A Twirl—The Alemana Turn is an emotion-laden figure. There is promise and rejection, pursuit and reconciliation. If we dance it like an Underarm Turn or a Twirl, we’re dancing a whole different story.

Whip Her Across—The Whip, Cross Body, and Left Pass are three Latin figures in which the man gets to move the woman from one side of the partnership to the other. But they are by no means the same figure. The Whip is loose and appropriately "whippy." The Cross Body is a softer, more gentle turn. The Left Pass is used only in Bolero and is the most sophisticated and flirtatious of the three.

Dance Figure Photo Essays —

Pickup—Officially a part of Waltz and Two-Step, the Pickup is widely used to move the woman in just one step from semi-closed position to closed position facing line of dance. A photo essay.

Wheel—The Wheel comes from waltz or two-step. In any of a variety of positions, such as banjo, right-right hands, bolero, or sombrero, the couple walks in a clock-wise circle around an imaginary spot between them. Use the time to create a "mini-picture." A photo essay.

New Yorker—The New Yorker is a Latin figure, used in Cha, Rumba, Mambo, and Bolero. We turn to side-by-side and lunge through. A photo essay.

Fence Line—The Fence Line is a Latin figure, used in Cha, Rumba, and Bolero. It is supposed to be a styalized thrust with a fencing sword, the free hands up for balance. A photo essay.

Lariat—The Lariat is a Latin figure from Rumba and Cha, and it takes two measures. The man will do small Cucarachas in place and keep lead hands high while the woman walks forward in a clockwise circle around him. A photo essay.

Aida—The Aida is a Latin figure, used in Rumba, Cha, and in Bolero. We don't usually think of the Aida as a "picture" figure, but notice that the ending "Aida Position" does include attractive body lines. A photo essay.

Alemana—The Alemana is a two-measure Latin figure. Sometimes it is cued Half Basic to an Alemana Turn. A photo essay.

Promenade Sway—A "sway" is an inclination or tilting of the body produced by stretching one side of the body or the other. A Promenade Sway is a left sway performed in Promenade or Semi-Closed position. A photo essay.

Oversway—Where the Promenade Sway is a left sway performed in Promenade or Semi-Closed position, the Oversway is right sway in Closed position, usually with a little left rotation. A photo essay.

Throwaway Oversway—The Throwaway Oversway is an Oversway in which the woman's left leg slides straight back, first under her body, and then well back to the point where the sole of her left foot is displayed. A photo essay.

Hinge—In a Hinge, the man uses strong left-side stretch and left-face body rotation to move the woman to an L-position at his left side. She crosses her left foot behind her right, changes weight, and both lower on the left, both extending the right leg, she to the front and he to the side. A photo essay.

Samefoot Lunge—In closed position, the man steps side and slightly forward with the right foot. The woman steps back with her right ("samefoot") well under her body The left legs are straight and extended. A photo essay.

Develope—The develope is a raising of the knee and then a straightening of that knee, a controlled kick. A photo essay.

Leg Crawl—The woman steps forward and slowly lifts her trail leg along the man's outer thigh, her toes pointing down. A photo essay.

Leg Over—The woman steps over his extended leg and moves from in front of him to behind or from behind to in front. A photo essay.

Caress—A Caress is the soft stroking of the man's cheek or upper body by the woman, a type of woman's "arm work." A photo essay.

Around the World—In tandem, woman in front, we bend forward at the hips and then rotate the body in a counter-clockwise circular motion. A photo essay.

Body Investigate—The man extends his arms, palms facing inward on either side of the woman (no touching) and slowly lowers into his knees. It is a kind of "caressing with the eyes." A photo essay.

Layback—The woman (usually) inclines her body backwards, and she relies on her man to support her. A photo essay.

Layover—The woman (usually) inclines her body forward. She drapes her body against his and allows him to support her weight. A photo essay.

Contra Check—The man turns his body left face, flexes his knees, and steps forward on his left with strong contra-body action. A photo essay.

Right Lunge—The man lowers and then steps side and forward with the trail foot. A photo essay.

Chair—The man and woman lunge forward onto their trail feet and soften into the supporting knees. A photo essay.

Figurehead—Her pose more or less resembles the wooden female figureheads of ships of old. A photo essay.

Sit—A Sit usually involves a small back step and then a relaxing of the knees and a consequent lowering of the body as if beginning to sit down. A photo essay.

Steps—A dance consists of a sequence of dance figures, but each figure consists of a sequence of individual steps and actions. A photo essay.

Little Used Dance Positions—Some extreme picture figures. A photo essay.

General Rhythm Essays —

Beginning Two-Step—It is ironic that the Two-Step is the rhythm that many round dancers first learn — it is one of the staples of a square-dance/round-dance evening — and yet the Two-Step is a difficult rhythm to learn.

Beginning Waltz—Lloyd Shaw came up with this game that he played with his begining waltz students. Instead of starting with the basic waltz step: forward, forward, close; he asked them to take a big step, a medium-sized step, and then a little step.

A History of Waltz—A surprising number of dance rhythms are as recent as the Twentieth Century, but the origins of the Waltz go way back.

Two-Step Waltz—The two-step waltz is an old style of waltz that is not done much anymore, so this is something of a historical digression. On the other hand, you might just like to try this slightly different rhythm (freestyle ballroom; there are no round dances like this).

Foxtrot & Quickstep—favorite rhythms.

Foxtrot Feels Like Skiing—The foxtrot has a floating, gentle kind of rise and fall, as it soars to the left and then to the right, much like snow-skiing.

Where Should We Put the Slow In Foxtrot?—Foxtrot timing is slow, quick, quick. We put the slow first. But, we shouldn’t feel constrained. One of the freedoms that dancers have is the freedom to play with the timing of the music, to borrow from a slow, or even from a quick, in order to linger over another step.

Jive & Swing—What is the difference?

West Coast Swing & Jive—What is the difference?

West Coast Swing Figure Patterns—two-count figures.

West Coast Swing Figure Patterns—four-count figures and more.

American Tango—There is International or English Tango, with its disciplined, sharp, and rapid footwork; Argentine Tango, smooth and languorous, with sensual leg sweeps, leg crawls, swivels, hooks, and flicks; and American Tango, which is said to contain the best features of the other two.

Rumba Styling—At its roots, Rumba was extremely erotic, with harsh sinuous movements of the hips and torso, and “Latin-Motion” is still an integral part of Rumba styling. It is achieved by moving the hips and ribcage in opposition to the foot that is in motion. There is a constant soft flowing hip movement. — an essay by Shirley Aymé

Samba Styling—Samba is the most light-hearted of all the Latin dances. Flamboyancy, ostentation, and emotion energize the beat with the dominating Samba bounce. — an essay by Shirley Aymé

Paso Doble Styling—Paso Doble atmosphere is powerful, intoxicating, and intense, with fierce drama and captive energy. It puts the audience under its majestic and magical spell. — an essay by Shirley Aymé