Re: Hustle technique (was Re: Definition of "Swing")

JC Dill wrote:

The follower's natural motion is to step *back*. The follower's body
travels down the slot. The follower's turn changes the direction the
body is facing, but not the body's momentum, which is to keep going
down the slot, ending with a back break.

Huh? If you turn 180 to the left on your right foot, how
is it natural to step back? On which foot? The more
natural movement is to step to the side on the left
foot and either close with the right foot, or more easily,
step forward with it (usually with facing change).

In order to lead a cross-body move followed with cross-overs, the
leader needs to A) lead the follower to stop traveling ("kill" the
natural momentum) down the slot *before* leading the turn, B) release
the follower's back (being held in the leader's right hand), and C)
lead the follower to over turn (turning 270 degrees instead of 180
degrees). I don't see this as a natural motion.

The basic Cross-body is a closed-hold manuever.
The follower is held in the leader's embrace, and
has her/his left arm latched on the leader's shoulder.
So, there isn't much excess momentum (to stop)
since there isn't anywhere the follower can shoot
off to. The release happens after the 180, so there's
no work to it. The extra 90 (actually could be much
less) simply stops the inclination to turn in a
natural/easy way.

Note that is Salsa, there isn't really anything like
AS Rhythm Cross-overs or IS Latin New Yorkers.
So the extra 60 to 90 turn is simply a facing
change (no outstretched arms) in lieu of the
harsher foot closure to retain the exact 180
about face.

In Salsa, the much more common
manuever would have the follower do a left 540 spin
so that she/he would be inclined to "center" rather
than keep going left-ward. Correspondingly, the
leader would alleviate the his/her inclination to move
right-ward by doing a 360 right-ward spin.

That doesn't describe a cross-body lead to me.

It's not a _basic_ Cross-body, but everyone I
know would call it an advanced or variant of
Cross-body.

As it is taught and danced here, the leader's body rotation goes "to
the left" during the entire move.

A lot of things taught are not the best way done.
A dancer needs to do a lot of practice and
experimentation to figure out the nuances and
what works for him/her. For every manuever
I do/know, I have probably been taught a dozen
ways of doing it, but only one or two ways suits
me.

The real advice I can offer to dancers is to learn
how to do better body isolations, which would
open up a new perspective on what good movement
is. When one dances like a lump, as I did for way
too many years, one will never figure out the
nuances/finesse, or really appreciate the joy of
movement.

As for the specific issue of only "rotating to the
left," when one gains understanding of body
isolations, one will intuitively know why
push+pull and wind+unwind go hand-in-hand.
Like Ying and Yang.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Hustle technique (was Re: Definition of "Swing")
    ... step forward with it (usually with facing change). ... A dancer's body momentum direction doesn't change just because the ... If the dancer is a follower, ... unless there is a supposition of pattern that tells the follower ...
    (rec.arts.dance)
  • Re: Hustle technique (was Re: Definition of "Swing")
    ... This is only possible if there is a braking step before, ... If the leader isn't pulling on the follower, ... The normal movement (supposition of pattern) is to brake on the 6th ... Absent a lead or pull from the leader to stop the momentum on ...
    (rec.arts.dance)
  • Re: Punching
    ... >> You want to perform the standard right hand punch (with left foot ... > velocity between you and your opponent. ... > deal with the attacker's momentum; ... > imply not lifting your rear foot at all. ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Punching
    ... >> You want to perform the standard right hand punch (with left foot ... > velocity between you and your opponent. ... > deal with the attacker's momentum; ... > imply not lifting your rear foot at all. ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Does anyone really do WCS reverse whips?
    ... the time - both a 6-count reverse turn and as 8-count reverse whip ... If you have turn-out with your right foot as you step across your own ... so that the follower steps ... arm frame after you've picked her back up and keep your posture up. ...
    (rec.arts.dance)