|
|
Round Dance Tips by
Tim Eum—
Three Advanced Rumba
Figures
Advanced Alemana (phase 6)
One way to describe an Advanced Alemana is that it is nothing more than
a regular Alemana except that as a couple you turn it half-way around
-– but therein lies the difficulty. In an Alemana the lady turns under
right face and in the Advanced Alemana she must turn farther (an extra
half turn). In an Alemana the man stays in place but in the Advanced
Alemana he must move. The timing of the steps in the Advanced Alemana
is still the normal QQS; QQS; of a regular Alemana and most rumba
figures.
Start an Advanced Alemana the same as a regular Alemana. Starting with
lead foot (man’s left), the man will rock forward and recover on the
first two steps while the lady rocks back and recovers. In a regular
Alemana the man closes on the third step while the lady steps side and
forward with a slight swivel right-face. However, in an Advanced
Alemana, the man will turn his body about an 1/8th turn right-face and
step side left while raising lead hands to lead the lady to turn under
the lead hands on the next step. The lady will take her normal third
step of an Alemana but will swivel the extra 1/8th of a turn right-face
to prepare to go under lead hands on the next step.
The last three steps of an Advanced Alemana for the man are similar to
a “Back Circle Vine 2 and Close” -– the man crosses behind with his
right while turning a little more right-face, then steps side left
completing the turn (if started facing wall, he is now facing COH), and
finally closes with his right. The lady finishes the Advanced Alemana
the same as a regular Alemana but must turn more. Her last three steps
are forward (with her left foot) swiveling RF under the joined lead
hands, forward (with right foot) swiveling RF, and finally another
forward (with left foot) swiveling enough RF to end facing the man who
has by this time circled half way around from the starting position.
Three Threes (Phase 6)
The name of this figure, “Three Threes,” seems a bit odd because there
are four measures and the couple does something different on each
measure. But if you analyze what the man does, it is essentially a
Forward Basic; Side Basic ; Forward Basic; and Back Basic; Thus the man
simply does three of the rumba basics (with one repeated) each of which
has three steps -- i.e., three threes. But what the lady does with all
her spins and turns is what makes this figure one of the most difficult
rumba figures. The figure begins facing partner with lead hands joined
and lead foot free (man’s left and lady’s right), i.e., Left Open
Facing Position.
The first measure is an “overturned open hip twist.” The man does a
rock forward, recover, close in QQS timing while the lady rocks back,
recovers, and steps forward swiveling RF half to a tandem position in
front of the man. The man lightly places his hands on the lady’s
shoulders.
The second measure starts with trail foot where the man simply rocks
side & back, recovers and closes while the lady steps in place with
left, then steps in place with right, and then steps onto left foot
making a full LF spin all the way around back to tandem position -– all
with QQS timing. Many ladies have trouble making this full spin. The
secret is to keep all weight (head, shoulders, body, hips, thighs,
etc.) over the left foot while spinning -- the moment you lean one way
or the other is when you fall off balance. The lady should bring her
hands in close to her body while spinning. She can use her arms to
swing into the spin but then draw them back in while spinning. The lady
must not step too far to the left or she will be out of position for
the third measure. The lady should end her spin still directly in front
of or even slightly to the right of the man in tandem position. One
note – the man should not try to help the lady spin by shoving on her
shoulders – in fact he should completely release and be hands off
during her spin.
The third measure can be described as an open “Sweetheart” where the
man rocks forward & side with lead foot, recovers, and then closes
while the lady rocks back & side, recovers, and steps forward
swiveling RF half to face partner who will be about three or four feet
away with no hands touching. On the first step of this third-measure
“Sweetheart” it is most common for both man and lady to point left arms
forward and rights arms diagonally up and back and then to bring the
arms back in on the second step..
And now for the final and most difficult measure of “Three Threes” (for
the lady). The fourth measure begins with partners facing and with
trail foot free (man’s right and lady’s left). The man will rock back,
recover, and step forward to wherever the lady finishes. The lady will
step forward with the left foot swiveling RF half to tandem and quickly
drawing in right foot, then quickly stepping forward with right foot
swiveling RF another half (back to face partner) and quickly drawing in
left foot, and finally stepping forward with left toward partner
usually into loose closed position. While these steps for the lady are
straight forward, the speed that they have to be done (i.e., QQS) seems
lightning fast and very difficult for many ladies. One note is that
this same right face turning step/touch, step/touch, step is what the
ladies should do for the last part of the phase 4 figure Alemana Turn,
although yes, the turns are not half turns but are less in the Alemana.
If ladies can do Alemana Turns (and most can) then just a little extra
swiveling will enable them to do this part of the Three Threes.
Advanced Sliding Door (Phase 6)
In the phase 3 figure “Sliding Door” each dancer “slides” past the
other with lady in front. In the phase 6 figure “Advanced Sliding Door”
the man stays in place while the lady “slides” past momentarily only to
come right back to where she started. It takes two measures to do this.
There are some other differences as well.
Start the “Advanced Sliding Door” in Shadow Position with lead foot
free and essentially stay in Shadow all during the figure and end in
Shadow. On the first step, the man will “press” forward on the ball on
his lead foot and bend his left knee while maintaining a straight right
leg. He will also turn his upper body about 1/8th right-face. The lady
will step back, turning about 1/8th right-face as well.
On the second step, both man and lady recover turning about 1/8th
left-face. On the third step, the couple continues the left face turn
but the man will cross his left behind his right and take weight while
the lady steps forward. Note that because of the turning movement the
lady’s step is “across” where the man began the figure but that the
couple is still in Shadow with the lady on man’s right front side. The
man’s back crossing step can help the couple rotate left-face just a
little bit more than if he simply does a closing step.
The fourth step is the picturesque key to the figure. The man will
“soften” (i.e., bend) his left knee, and point his straightened right
leg/foot to his right side, and then “clone” the same body rotation and
arm movement that the lady does. The lady will lunge side & forward
allowing her upper body to continue rotating about 1/8th turn more
left-face. Her right arm should “sweep” just a little more forward and
then “sweep’ back. The man’s right arm will begin the sweep to match
the lady’s but stop sooner (i.e., before hitting her). This body
rotation and arm sweep should at least be done horizontally, but does
look attractive if the couple adds a right sway (i.e., stretch left
sides) so that the sweeping motion moves up and to the left. It
is unattractive if the body bends forward, the butt sticks out, and the
arm movement goes downward.
On the fifth and sixth steps, the lady simply runs back two steps
ending exactly in the same Shadow Position and facing direction as when
the figure began. The man will draw in his right leg/foot as the lady
takes her fifth step and then take weight with a closing step when the
lady takes her sixth step.
The timing for the lady’s six steps are the normal rumba QQS; QQS; The
man’s timing is the same except that he does not take a fourth or fifth
step (he is simply pointing) and thus his timing is QQS; - -S;
Tim
Eum has
prepared many Round Dance Tips for Calls 'n' Cues,
WASCA, for his weekly Rocket Rounds email reports, and for
other
publications. DRDC is
grateful for permission to collect and reprint. A Tim Eum archive.
|
