Latin American Introduction

General Information

The following information or definitions are to help in the reading of the charted figures. These are the common definitions for the information presented. The definitions are extracted from dance publications that are used by most of the teachers of dance, world wide.

Alignment - The alignments, as they are presented in the figure descriptions, refer to the direction that the body is facing, in relation to, the line of dance. As round dancers we only have one line of dance moving around the room. Some times the facing alignment of the body and the direction of movement will differ. When this occurs, the direction of movement will be include in the "Step & Direction" or "Foot Placement" column. You should not consider that the alignments used as the starting alignment, in the figure descriptions, as the only alignment from which you can dance the figure. The use of the alignment or direction is to allow the showing of the amount of turn necessary to complete the figure.

There are two types of Latin dances, stationary dances and the progressive dances. The stationary dances are the Rumba, Cha Cha, Bolero, Jive and West Coast Swing. This is not to say that they do not move around the room, however, you can, in many cases, accomplish a good routine and not move very far from your beginning position. Samba, Paso Doble, Slow Two Step and, to some extent, the Argentine Tango are progressive dances. Many of the figures, in these rhythms, require movement along a given line of dance. Alignment is more important in the progressive dances, because they tend to have grater movement.

Amounts of Turn - In dancing the Latin rhythms, the feet are almost never parallel, except when they are together. They turn outwards, usually. The primary use of this "turned out" position of the feet is to maintain balance, due to the foot, leg and knee action most often used.

Because of this turn out of the feet, the amount of turn made by the feet and the body is often different. Therefore, in the figure descriptions, the amount of turn measured on most figures will be the amount the body turns.

Dance Positions - The Dance positions used in the Latin rhythms are very similar. There are a few minor differences when you change rhythms. We will point these out as we explain each position.

Closed position (Close Hold)

The Close Hold (Closed Position) for Rumba, Samba and Cha Cha is for the lady to stand in front of her partner, approximately 6 inches away. The weight may be on either foot, normally opposite from the man. The man's right hand is on the lady's back and "cups" the lower part of her shoulder blade. The man holds his arm in a slight curve. The elbow is up, not drooped, at about the same level as his chest. The lady places her left arm lightly on top of the man's right and follows the same curve. Where the lady's hand rests, on the man's arm, will depend on the length of her arm, in relationship to the man's arm. In no case should it move onto the man's back. If the arm is long enough to reach the man's shoulder, it Latin American Gen Info - 1 S#7 - 2003 Latin American Introduction - General Information

should rest there. The man's Left arm is in a slight curve, to match his right arm. He will raise the left forearm so that his hand will be approximately level with his nose. The height of his hand is mostly dependent on the height of his partner. The lady places her right hand in his left hand, with a rounded arm. If the lady is much shorter than the man then he must lower his left hand so as not to be much higher than the top of her head. Looking down, from the top, the arms of the dancers will make an oval shape. The body posture is upright, with the heads held high. To alter this position for jive or swing you simply lower the arms little.

The Close Hold for Paso Doble is similar, except that the bodies are in close contact from thigh to chest. This causes the man's left hand and the lady's right to be held in a higher position. Both elbows will also be higher.

You must remember that the Close Hold in Latin dances is not static. The arm and body positions will vary while dancing figures in Closed Position. We say the arms "breathe" or loosen, when necessary, to allow freedom of movement, especially when moving forward or backward.

Left Open - Facing Position

The man and the lady are apart facing each other. They are at approximately arm's length. The weight may be on either foot, normally the lady is opposite the man. The normal handhold in this position is for the man to be holding the lady's right hand in his left. The hold can be, however, one of many. It can be right to right, the shake hand position, or right to left, not very often used. It could be butterfly, left/right and right/left, or it could be with no handhold.

When using a handhold, we hold the arm of that hand forward, slightly retracted, just below shoulder level. We hold the free arm to the side, slightly retracted, fully retracted for jive. When holding no hands, the arms are slightly forward, retracted, with the elbows fairly close to the body. In the figure descriptions, unless stated otherwise, we assume a normal right to left hand hold.

Fan Position

The lady is almost at an arm's length on the man's left side. Her body is nearly at right angles to the man's. If the lady were to move forward, she would pass in front of his body. The lady is on her left foot after taking a backward walk. The man's right foot is side and slightly forward, supporting full weight. The man's left and the lady's right hands are joined. The lady's right arm is forward, slightly retracted and the man's left arm is side, slightly retracted. Neither dancer should have to reach for their partner. The free arms should be to the side and slightly retracted, just below shoulder level.

Promenade Position (Semi-Closed Position)

Use this position in the Samba, Jive and Paso Doble. Normally the man will turn 1/8 to the left and the lady 1/8 to the right from closed position, lowering the left (man) and right (lady) arms. Slightly more turn out is acceptable for some figures. Especially those in the samba that require a pelvic action.

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Counter Promenade Position (Reverse Semi-Closed Position)

Use this position in Samba and Paso Doble. The bodies will be apart by approximately nine inches. We hold the man's left and the lady's right arms raised above the head level, slightly retracted. The man will turn 1/8 to the right from closed position and the lady 1/8 to the left. The man's right arm will be forward, slightly retracted, just below shoulder level. On some figures his right hand may slip from the lady's shoulder blade to the top or the her arm. The lady's left arm would rest lightly along the man's arm, following the same curve.

Open Promenade Position (Open Position)

Use this position in Samba, Rumba and Cha Cha. It is similar to Open Position with man’s left and lady’s right hand hold, with the following differences:

We hold the arms (left and right) diagonally forward, slightly retracted.

The man has turned up to 1/4 to the left and the lady up to 1/4 to the right.

When there is a 1/4 turn difference between man and lady, the foot position will be side in Open Promenade. When the difference is 1/2 a turn the foot position will be forward in Open Promenade.

Open Counter Promenade Position (Left Open Position)

Use this position in Rumba, Samba and Cha Cha. This position is quite similar to Open Promenade Position except that the man’s left and lady’s right hands are joined. We often refer to this position, in Round Dancing, as Left Open Position.

Fallaway Position

Used in the Paso Doble. This position is Promenade Position with the dancers taking a back step with the outside foot. The turn away is normally no more than a 1/4 (1/8 each) turn.

Open Fallaway Position

Use this position in Rumba and Cha Cha. The dancers take a backward walk and turn away with a 1/4 turn each. The turn into this position can be in either direction. It is a Fallaway with left/right hand hold or right/left handhold. The body shaping and arm positions are opposite to each.

Shadow Position

Used in Rumba, Samba, Cha Cha and Jive/Swing. The lady faces the same way as her partner. The weight can be on the same foot or the normal opposite. She is slightly to the man's right side and slightly in forward of his position. Hand holds and arm positions depend on the figure that is being danced. The lady could be in a wrapped position, there could be no hands held, or the man could have his right Latin American Gen Info - 3 S#7 - 2003 Latin American Introduction - General Information

hand on the lady's right shoulder, holding her left in his left. These are examples and not all the possibilities.

Contra Promenade Position

Used in the Samba, this position is similar to Promenade Position. The difference is that both are standing on the left foot and both have turned 1/8 to the left from Closed Position. If the dancers are apart and have a right to right hand hold then they are in Open Contra Promenade Position. It is also possible to be on the open version and be in Butterfly. Sometimes called Right Contra Position.

Counter Contra Promenade Position

This is the opposite of Contra Promenade Position.

Lines of Dance The line of dance in Round Dancing is always a line of progression, counterclockwise around the dance room. Unlike ballroom dancing there are no corners in round dancing. We are using the following alignments or directions to describe the figures in this manual.

1. Line of Dance (LOD) - This is movement or alignment along the line of dance.

2. Diagonal to Line of Dance and the Wall (DLW) - This is movement or align- ment 45 degrees to the right of LOD toward the wall.

3. Toward the Wall (wall) - This is movement or alignment 90 degrees to the right from LOD toward the wall, i.e., facing the wall.

4. Diagonal to Reverse Line of Dance and the Wall (DRW) - This is movement or alignment 135 degrees to the right from LOD toward the wall and reverse line of dance.

5. Reverse Line of Dance (RLOD) - This is movement or alignment to the opposite direction from the line of dance.

6. Diagonal to Reverse Line of Dance and Center of the Hall (DRC) - This is movement or alignment 135 degrees to the left of LOD toward the center of the hall and reverse line of dance.

7. Center of the Hall (COH) - This is movement or alignment 90 degrees to the left of LOD toward the center of the hall.

8. Diagonal to Line of Dance and the Center of the Hall (DLC) - This is movement or alignment 45 degrees to the left of LOD and toward the center of the hall.

Chart Column Explanations

Step #

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Each step or action that uses part of the timing of the figure. This could be a body action such as a shrug, head change or a pointing or brushing of a foot. More often this will be a step or weight change of the feet.

Timing

Timing is the part of the measure that the individual step # uses. We will express this as a value used in a particular rhythm, e.g., slows and quicks as in Foxtrot or Rumba and numbers as in Waltz or Paso Doble.

Facing Alignment

The direction the front of the body is facing. This is not necessarily the direction of movement. As an example, in Semi-Closed Dance Position the direction the body is facing and the direction the couple is moving is quite different.

Step and Direction or Foot Placement

This is the movement of the step. Normally, if this is a step made with a foot, it will be the position it ends in relation to the direction the body is facing and direction of the step in relation to the line of dance. If it is an action such as a brush it will be the direction of movement, e.g., we interpret, the left foot brushes to right as the left foot moves to the right.

Amount of Turn

The amount of turn the body will make on a given step or action. This is not necessarily the amount of turn that the feet make. We will explain this difference in the Lead/Technique column.

Footwork

This describes the part or parts of the foot or feet in contact with the floor during a step. We describe a step forward, in the rumba, as ball/flat (BF). More definitions of footwork are in the abbreviation definition section.

Action Used

This column describes any specific action that is necessary to complete the step or action being described.

Lead/Technique

This is additional information on technique necessary to complete the figure proper- ly. This could be that the step required sway, should end in contra body, etc. Reference to the fact that the body turns less than the foot, typical of the person on the inside of a turn, would be in this column.

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