Friday, November 4, 2011

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts II (Master)

Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
Providence, Rhode Island
October 30, 2011

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The Providence Tango Tricks and Treats Weekend with Homer & Cristina Ladas

Friday, October 28, 2011

Something Scary Spins This Way (Int)

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Art of Surprise - Part I (Int)

The Art of Surprise - Part II (Int/Adv)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts I (Advanced)

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts II (Master)

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Video Courtesy of Steven Spura

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts II (Master)


This master class expanded upon the Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado to look at the possibilities for the Follower after she crosses behind herself. First, we investigated the Felix Back Sacada, connecting it to the Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado.

THE FELIX BACK SACADA (named after noted DJ and creative dancer Felix Naschke of Berlin)

This is a series of continuous Follower back sacadas (walks back) to the back of the Leader’s right foot as he kicks the heel around to turn, paddling or kick standing around as he pivots on his left foot.

This is more of a dessert move of continuous Follower back sacadas.

For the Leaders, we focused on how to lead it. His right hand opens up and the Follower uses the other two points of contact with the Leader (her left and right hands).

Why does the Follower not do a turn/hiro/molinete? The Leader’s extended leg prevents the Follower from doing a side step. The Follower feels the presence of the Leader’s hips, which blocks her hips from opening and prevents her from going into a hiro/turn/molinete/grapevine.

The Leader steps on his right, pivots back as she pivots, changes weight to his left foot, and his right foot paddles around, staying out for the Follower to back sacada it as she walks backward counterclockwise.

Homer’s secret is to envision an imaginary box, going from a right foot side step to pivot 180 degrees to be on the other side of the box. The Leader’s goal is to get to the edge of the box by his own pivot, which will also lead the Follower to pivot, being mindful of releasing his right hand. His right foot step around is a little bit away from the Follower so he doesn’t jam her, and with this step he should attack the floor to give Follower a lot of energy to help her pivot a lot.

The Follower should collect her feet before she steps in the back sacada, so that she pivots first all the way, collects, and then steps in the sacada. She needs to pivot a lot, putting fire in her hips, but having ice in her reaching step back in the sacada (no kerplunking). The Follower does the left foot back sacada first and then the right foot, left foot, right foot, etc, all around the Leader counterclockwise. When the Leader stops blocking the Follower with his hip, that’s when she should do the side step.

ADDING THE FELIPE REVERSE OCHO CORTADO TO THE FELIX BACK SACADA

We can go directly from the Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado into a Follower right foot back sacada, to do a wrap (gancho):

-regular, between the Leader’s thighs

-low wrap outside the Leader’s left leg

-high wrap (piernazo) outside the Leader’s left hip

We worked on doing all these wraps/ganchos.

The easiest wrap/gancho is where the Leader places his left foot behind the Follower as she arrives, turns to his left counterclockwise so she does a Follower left foot wrap.

ROBERTO VARIATION (named after a student in class)

This is even easier.

She is on her left foot, and does wrap/gancho with her right foot after he immediately gets into position.

MILTON VARIATION (named after a student in class)

The Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado into a Follower right foot reverse volcada into a Follower left foot wrap/gancho between his legs.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE LOW AND HIGH LEG WRAPS

The Leader needs to make it very obvious where he wants her to wrap, giving her low or high energy.

LOW: Leader’s knee is down, calf is in her way, near her, with a little bit of rotation.

HIGH: Leader really gets behind Follower. His rib cage is really behind her. He gets his hip lower, as if he is presenting his back.

4TH/CUARTO/AGAINST SACADAS

When the Follower’s and Leader’s hips go in opposite direction (clockwise + counterclockwise or counterclockwise + clockwise), it is an “Against” Sacada. An example is where the Follower’s hips turn counterclockwise, while the Leader steps clockwise. The Fourth/Cuarto Sacada is one of these, with the Leader stepping counterclockwise (right foot open side step), while the Follower does a clockwise hip turn with a right foot back sacada between Leader’s legs. The 4th/Cuarto/Against Sacada is more dynamic and energetic than other sacadas.

We drilled, trying to do “With” and “Against” sacadas, and we also added low wraps afterwards.

OCHO VERSUS GANCHO

The difference in leading an Ocho versus a Gancho is that in the Gancho, there is a circular, and then a blocking energy. In the Ocho or Felix Sacada, there is a smooth, circular energy with no blocking.

We can add the Felix Back Sacada anywhere where there is the Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado. Maestros left it up to the students to figure it out in 2-3 songs.

The pattern isn’t the important part: the important part is exploring the road to get there. We were to look at the sum of the parts to try to figure out how things flow together.

The Leader needs to fish for feet positioning, derived from tiny details from hours of practice. It takes 10,000 hours to master something.


This master class expanded upon the Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado to look at the possibilities for the Follower after she crosses behind herself:

Follower back sacada

-with

-against

To Receive the Sacada, don’t get too close, especially when doing the “Against” sacada. Options:

-wrap/gancho with options in:

--position (low or high)

--energy (low or high)

--Felix Back Sacada

During the review, some major concepts that the students felt were the backbone of our work:

Follower collects before stepping back

Follower defaults:

-pivot a lot

-major spiral

Leader creates spiral and gives energy to the Follower to help release her spiral. Every Follower has different pivot energy/capability/potential. The Leader needs to tap into it as much as he can.

Telescoping arms can be used.

After our class review, Maestros demo’d to Cirque Du Soleil’s Pearl.

A similar lesson was taught at the Yale Tango Festival on 10 April 2011, and the summary video can be found at:



Annotations of that video are as follows:

0:00 to 0:07 Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado

0:18 to 0:23 Follower's Swivel Shimmy

0:30 to 0:34 Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado

0:48 to 0:55 Exaggerated Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado

1:00 to 1:03 Follower's Swivel Shimmy

1:25 to 1:32 Felix Back Sacada

1:47 to 1:54 Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado to Follower's Right Foot Back Sacada to Follower's Left foot Low Wrap of Leader's Left Leg

2:03 to 2:09 Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado

2:17 to 2:23 Felix Back Sacada

2:35 to 2:39 Felix Back Sacada on the other side

2:40 to 2:43 Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado to Follower's Right Foot Back Sacada

Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts I (Advanced)

Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
Providence, Rhode Island
October 30, 2011

----------------

The Providence Tango Tricks and Treats Weekend with Homer & Cristina Ladas

Friday, October 28, 2011

Something Scary Spins This Way (Int)

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Art of Surprise - Part I (Int)

The Art of Surprise - Part II (Int/Adv)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts I (Advanced)

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts II (Master)

----------------


Video Courtesy of Steven Spura

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts I (Advanced)


This advanced class both grounds us and expands our horizons. We began by refining the circular ocho cortado, including lead/follow variations. From there, “The Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado” and its variations were introduced.

CIRCULAR OCHO CORTADO

We began with a warm-up dance working on the ocho cortado, doing it linearly or making it as circular as possible. When doing the Circular Ocho Cortado, we need to be aware of where we are facing (opposite Line of Dance).

In the Circular Ocho Cortado, the Leader’s hips face the Follower’s hips, and he should keep his heels together, even if he “V’s with his feet. The Leader pivots on his left foot to open his hips.

IMPORTANT OCHO CORTADO CONCEPT: LEAD/CONTROL FOLLOWER AT SPLIT WEIGHT

The Leader has the option to really lead a split weight on the open step, or to transfer the Follower’s weight fully to her left foot before leading her back around into the cross. It is important that the Follower take long steps around the Leader, unless the Leader constrains or cuts her step. The Leader needs to be able to control this side step of the Follower, so that he can maintain it at split weight, and neither dancer should overrotate. We drilled this concept, really working on trying to control the Follower’s side step with split weight.

AMERICAN TWIST SHIMMY SWIVEL


We worked on the American Twist Shimmy, where the Follower’s hips are in the middle with weight split, and then she pivots on the balls of both feet, as her knees turn one way and then the other (a la Elvis).

For the Leader, he leads the ocho cortado, stopping the Follower in the middle, making her stay there. He then communicates with his spine/torso to lead the Follower to do her Twist Shimmy Swivel. We did this in QQS-QQS-S rhythm. The Leader needs to get in touch with his hips and how they communicate. They hips are the motor that can drive the movement in the chest. It’s a knees, feet, hips pumping into the ground sensation.

The Follower knows the Leader is moving her into compression through:

-the use of the embrace

-the direction of the hips rotate to the left (counterclockwise) to move her into the cross

-the Shimmy movement is more compact

We drilled this with our usual partner, then tried with another different partner for one song.

BEYOND THE OCHO CORTADO: FOUNDATION WORK OF FELIPE REVERSE OCHO CORTADO

We worked on this in close embrace, so it becomes a surprise.

The Leader’s right hand lets go, and the Leader twists his body as much as possible and Leader twists Follower as much as he can (she is mostly on her left foot), rotating her hips as much as possible so that they become perpendicular.

The Leader needs to rotate the Follower, without her collecting. The Follower needs to be on axis, not tilted, and her weight is split about 60/40 or 70/30, but not more than that, otherwise she will collect. She is also not sitting back on her left foot. Being in the middle has to really resonate with her.

THE FELIPE REVERSE OCHO CORTADO (named after Felipe Martinez)

From the perpendicular position, in the Felipe Reverse Ocho Cortado, the Follower’s cross is a left foot back cross tuck (not a left foot front cross tuck in front of her pivoted right foot), to a right foot forward step, to a right foot pivot counterclockwise back into a normal left foot front cross tuck.

The Leader leads the left foot back cross tuck by circular rotation and linear energy to get the Follower to do a back cross tuck of her left foot behind her right foot. The Leader can add a little bit of telescoping in his arms to lead the Follower to get her to her back cross tuck. He also needs to turn and tilt the axis a little to create space for the Follower. He needs to transfer weight onto his right, and pull his left foot back so she has room.

The Follower’s left foot side step before her left foot back cross tuck needs to be really circular and around the Leader so she can end up perpendicular to him. She also needs to accept the transition from close to open embrace.

ROBERTO VARIATION (named after a student in class who came up with this during our exploration)

Left foot back cross, to come back out to uncross in a rock step back, into regular front cross. The Leader holding the Follower up is what makes the Follower’s weight change when she crosses back.

EXIT

The Leader pivots on his right foot, pulls his left foot in to get it out of her way to create space for the Follower to step around the Leader and cross in front of him, and the Follower walks around the Leader in a counterclockwise turn/hiro/molinete.

ANOTHER EXIT

To right foot unwind while she is on her weighted standing left foot to right foot back ocho (clockwise).

We drilled the various exits with the goal to try to figure out how to get back to close embrace smoothly and elegantly.

After the class review, Maestros demo’d to D’Arienzo’s El Flete.

Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com

The Art of Surprise - Part II (Int/Adv) (Focus on Telescoping)

Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
Providence, Rhode Island
October 29, 2011

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The Providence Tango Tricks and Treats Weekend with Homer & Cristina Ladas

Friday, October 28, 2011

Something Scary Spins This Way (Int)

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Art of Surprise - Part I (Int)

The Art of Surprise - Part II (Int/Adv)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts I (Advanced)

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts II (Master)

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Video Courtesy of Steven Spura and Bill Pease

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Art of Surprise - Part II (Int/Adv) (Focus on Telescoping)


We explored more advanced forms of social dance surprise, some building on the previous class and some new directions as well. This was a new, experimental class, with a sophisticated, complex topic related to the arms and how we use them with a focus on the concept of telescoping.

BODY SLAM (CHEST BUMP)

Maestros began with a demo of the Body Slam (chest bump)

The Body Slam (chest bump) doesn’t/shouldn’t hurt. The Leader does an arm send out, and then brings her back in, so the move goes from close embrace, to open embrace, to close embrace.

2 EXERCISES:

The Leader leads whatever he wants from the Sugar Bowl Embrace

-Axis is key.

-Lead in this embrace only.

-Things to think about: If an Astronaut is in space and turns a wrench, and there’s nothing for him to be grounded to, he will spin around.

The Leader leads whatever he wants, ONLY leading with his arms/hands (not his spine/body).

-Make it feel good

-As long as it feels comfortable, use your arms as much as you want, but you will find that your body is still behind the lead. You need to use your body no matter what you do. You should use as much of your body as possible, then use your arms.

SHE GOES, HE GOES (or HE GOES, SHE GOES)

Here, our goal was for the Leader to disassociate the lead.

Both dancers were to keep stable and balanced. The Leader sends the Follower out, and down, and then he goes. He needs to really plant the Follower in place, and then go. His thoughts should be “I lead my Follower, I go myself.” The Leader should play with how much weight the Follower puts on her back foot, playing with leading her to collect.

We drilled and played with this concept, doing forward, back, and side steps, or with her doing two steps in He Goes, She goes (or She goes, He Goes). The Leader was to project his axis, then telescope the arms/hands. This is the reverse of the Body Slam (Chest Bump), going forward then back. The Leader’s right hand needs to be sent back as he walks back to keep the Follower back and still as he walks back (telescoping his arms). If he keeps his arms fixed, they/he will get whiplash.

BACK STEP, WEIGHT CHANGE, FORWARD STEP, WEIGHT CHANGE

This step happens a lot in milonga so our music for this drill was milongas.

Doing this step, we were to do it in He Goes, She goes, where the Leader projects with his rib cage and right arm, to lead the Follower’s weight change and do a weight change himself, pulling with his rib cage and arm, too.

What do you use in your body to make this happen?

Cristina’s Method for the Lead: Comes more from the rib cage

Homer’s Method for the Lead: Has more of a down and into the floor sensation

There is a “U” or “O” energy of down, over, back up, settling at the top. Try to lead this movement without a lot of flexion in the knees (so more in the arms).

We also tried going to the side.

For the Follower, this type of communication takes a lot of listening and control. Do it slowly, wait for the Leader to lead the collection. We drilled this to two songs: (1) with our usual dance partner, (2) with someone else. We were to think about the telescoping idea, and which one method will be most successful in the milonga: She Goes, He Goes doing the Cristina Method or the Homer Method. The key is to stay grounded and not fall, and be consistent. The two ways to lead the She Goes, He Goes is to project the body forward all the time, or go back a little. With both you can telescope as much as you want.

Follower needs to pay attention:

(1) To the lead for the weight change

(2) Wait for the lead to: - reach, - transfer weight, - collect without transferring weight.

The Leader should have the option to plant in between.

In leading two steps for the Follower, the Leader needs to think about how much to project his body and how far to lead the Follower step back so that he has enough room to project for her second step back. The Body Slam is the opposite of going out, then in versus He Goes, She Goes, which is going in, then out.

After the class review, Maestros demo’d to Orchesta Tipica Victor’s Cacareando.

Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com

The Art of Surprise - Part I (Intermediate)

Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
Providence, Rhode Island
October 29, 2011

----------------

The Providence Tango Tricks and Treats Weekend with Homer & Cristina Ladas

Friday, October 28, 2011

Something Scary Spins This Way (Int)

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Art of Surprise - Part I (Int)

The Art of Surprise - Part II (Int/Adv)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts I (Advanced)

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts II (Master)

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Video Courtesy of Steven Spura and Bill Pease


Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Art of Surprise - Part I (Intermediate)


This Intermediate class lays down the groundwork for good vs. bad surprises in tango. We played a few fun games to get warmed up for various fundamental surprises.

TANGO HIP CHECK

Walking in partnership in promenade, the Leader bumps the Follower with his hip periodically. He should not hurt his partner, but let her know that he is there. The bump is done inside leg to inside leg. The Follower can do this joke back to the Leader.

TO WORK ON THE FOUNDATION OF SURPRISES, WE DID THE

MICHAEL JACKSON THRILLER EXERCISE (PART 1)


This was an independent exercise where we all walked around in random directions, and we went up to someone and scared them with hands up, but only stepping on the strong beat. We were not to run or do double time, or walk in the line of dance. This built up to the:

D’ARIENZO SURPRISE (PART 2)

To D’Arienzo’s Nada Mas, we worked on the concept of surprise. Everyone was to walk around the room, in any/all directions, always stepping on the strong beat to accent it in our walk, with energy going into the floor. Every once in a while, we were to surprise someone by touching them appropriately with both our hands at two points on their body (arms, shoulders, hips), always staying on the strong beat.

The purpose of this game was to get us used to the element of surprise as a musical tool, coordinating our dancing with the music. Every strong beat is a potential surprise. The Follower needs to feel safe and comfortable before she is surprised.

TAI CHI TANGO

Next, we did the Tai Chi Tango exercise, which is an exercise to help us work on our connection, really mirror and match our partner’s energy, and feeling compression. Leader and Follower face each other and are hand to hand (or palm to palm). The Leader does a big, flowy circular motion with each of his hands with big range of motion, releasing his shoulder joints, and his arms going into his body, engaging strongly or subtly and using his breath. At some point, he stops and gives compression. The Follower's response needs to be immediate to mirror and match the circular motion and to give resistance when she feels the Leader compress, giving the Leader the same mount of energy that he gives her. This was first done with no music.

Then we added music. So with Tai Chi hands, we were to focus on the music, giving compression at the accent points in the music, with the Follower waiting for the Leader to initiate the compression. Follower’s eyes are closed for this exercise. We can change the flavor of the embrace with compression to create a surprise with music.

SURPRISE 1: FREEZING

We were to dance, doing just walks, and then freezing for a moment. The Follower should always feel safe. To freeze, the Leader’s embrace changes, with compression energy to firm/tighten up/jolt/get more rigid, as his steps have more down energy into the floor. After a moment of freezing, he then keeps going by releasing the embrace into the normal, non-compressed close embrace.

The Leader should wait for an appropriate strong beat, freeze for a moment, and the ease back out of it to normal dancing. He needs to actually stop before the midpoint, compress the embrace a little, being subtle or dramatic, to play with the music. The Leader creates the Freeze by using compression and being very grounded, and maintaining the compression the whole time, sticking to the moment even though the music continues. The Follower needs to respond to the change of energy.

SURPRISE 2: LEADER’S FOOT CATCH/THIGH GRAB

FOOT CATCH:


Leader tries to trap Follower’s foot in a quick sandwich without stepping on her foot. It is easier to trap the Follower’s right foot, by the Leader approaching with his right foot first, and then completing the quick sandwich with his left foot. For this, the Leader needs to be snappy to catch the surprise to stop the Follower in the middle of her weight so that she doesn’t collect. The Leader’s heels stay together in the sandwich so that he doesn’t go too deep. The Leader should keep his thighs together and try not to change height, and to accent the rhythm/melody of the music.

THIGH GRAB:

Here, it is important to be appropriate; otherwise this surprise could be taken the wrong way. It should be comfortable and not at all inappropriate, but the move is somewhat “PG” rated. It is a gentle squeeze, with contact in the thighs, not the feet. It’s a very quick move and should not linger. It is a “hello and go” movement. Don’t sandwich too long, otherwise it’s not “PG” anymore. Like the Foot Catch, there is an easy side and a hard side. The exit is to release the thigh easily and loosen up the embrace.

CAN ADD LEADER’S PITTER-PATTER BEFORE THE FOOT CATCH

The Leader’s Pitter-Patter are small, short quick baby steps. Though the Leader does his Pitter-Patter, he must also keep leading the Follower to walk back normally, stepping on the strong beat. He should not change the height; there should be nothing going on in the Leader’s chest that encourages the Follower to do anything but walk back normally. The Leader starts the Pitter-Patter when the Follower’s right foot goes back, and when there is good synchronicity of movement.

SURPRISE 3: LEADER’S LEFT FOOT CROSS-BODY SOCCER CATCH IN FRONT WITH SWEEP

Leader does rock step to turn to the right (clockwise), and his left foot crosses in front of his body to catch the Follower’s right foot forward (front cross) step on the clockwise hiro/turn/molinete, to sweep it back. Note that both dancers’ sweeping/swept feet need to be unweighted (weight is on the back, standing supporting leg/foot). We practiced this in Sugar Bowl or Teapot Embrace. The Leader’s right foot cross behind after his rock step is very important for stability and to open up his right hip for maximum range of motion for his left foot to cross in front to catch the Follower, who should be taking a long, reaching step.

It is important for the Follower to have a good embrace and give horizontal energy. The Leader’s lead is the turn/hiro/molinete. The Follower’s default step should be long and around the Leader. She should take long steps, reaching first, and then transferring the weight smoothly. The Leader leads the turn and also leads her to stop. The two exits are:

(1) The Parada/Pasada by leading a turn to the left (counterclockwise), or

(2) A mini colgada, doing a rock step around and paying attention to the Line of Dance.

ADVANCED OPTION: Instead of a front catch, he can do a back catch with his left foot crossing behind and across his body to trap in the back, into a drag and sacada.

After the class review, Maestros demo’d the surprises to Rodriguez’s A Mal Tiempo Buena Cara.

Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com

Something Scary Spins This Way (Intermediate)

Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
Providence, Rhode Island
October 28, 2011

----------------

The Providence Tango Tricks and Treats Weekend with Homer & Cristina Ladas

Friday, October 28, 2011

Something Scary Spins This Way (Int)

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Art of Surprise - Part I (Int)

The Art of Surprise - Part II (Int/Adv)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts I (Advanced)

Cool Tricks and Traps for the Social Dance Floor - Parts II (Master)

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Video Courtesy of Steven Spura

Friday, October 28, 2011

Something Scary Spins This Way (Int)

In this intermediate class we worked on developing a “single-axis turn” or “colgada spin” of various speeds and durations (from almost “not there” to “hurricane force”). These movements are great social techniques to help navigate, be musical and dynamic in small spaces, or to outright “scare” your partner (ie, the roller coaster ride of tango).

We began with a warm-up dance with the goal of the Leader spinning the Follower around, with the loose instruction to have the Follower on one axis, left or right leg, and to find a way to walk around her axis. It is like a calesita (where there is a little lean).

Colgadas showed up around 2000, as a way to hang away from each other that is more stable and can be very fast.

We worked on a lot of fundamental Colgada concepts, illustrated by a simple pattern:

Leader side step left, with a right foot sandwich of the Follower’s feet. The Leader takes baby steps around the Follower as she pivots on the ball of her right foot. The exit is the Leader right step back or to the side.

BASIC CONCEPT: HOW TO KNOCK SOMEONE OFF THEIR AXIS

The Leader walks into the Follower’s space, knocking her body off axis with direct body contact, gently, and she falls back into the Leader’s hands. Follower’s feet remain in the same spot. There are three levels to this exercise:

(1) Follower and Leader catch each other.

(2) Leader catches Follower (Follower’s arms and hands do nothing; they do not hang onto or catch the Leader).

(3) Follower catches Leader (Leader’s arms and hands do nothing; they do not hang onto or catch the Follower).

In this exercise, the Leader needs to physically knock the Follower off axis with his whole center, displacing the Follower’s space. She needs to wait for the Leader to do this, not anticipate and not go back too soon automatically with no initial contact from the Leader.

What is the parachute for the Follower? If she feels the Leader is not catching her, she can step back with the unweighted free leg/foot to survive to stop herself from falling.

BASIC CONCEPT: HIP UNDER COLGADA POSTURE AND COUNTERBALACING EACH OTHER

In the Hip Under Colgada Posture, hips are under our rib cage. Spine is straight. Hips go back. We are not sitting down. We were to engage our cores, and our hips were to be under our rib cages. We were to use our backs and our hips, and not overuse or overcompensate with our arms and our shoulders.

The Leader sandwiches (his feet are in a “V” shape) the Follower’s feet (which are in parallel). He then sends the Follower back and sends himself back to counterbalance her. Knees are soft and slightly bent.

Leader and Follower hang onto each other’s wrists, and then move their cores/centers back, counterbalancing each other, using the power of their backs and core muscles (not their arm/shoulder muscles). We worked on this by going out a little first, and then more farther out, working on the posture in an extreme position.

We drilled this for a while, practicing with several different partners (tall, short, fat, thin), to work on being able to counterbalance different body shapes, weights, and muscle compositions.

GOING BACK TO THE PATTERN:

The Line of Dance is toward the open side. The Leader steps into the line of dance, and sandwiches the Follower’s feet. Leader engages the embrace and steps forward a little. The Leader doesn’t have to do any turn. As soon as the Leader goes around, physics will take over. The Leader can do minimum sendout and still get centrifugal acceleration. The Leader’s right arm becomes fixed to support the Follower.

The Follower needs to have confidence in her Leader, and she needs to really send back her hips so that the Leader can fully counterbalance her.

COLGADA KILLERS:

How can the Follower kill the Colgada either on purpose or by accident?

(1) Put her free leg down.

(2) Sit down and change leverage and Leader is unprepared for this.

(3) Push the pelvis in.

(4) Foot clamp.

When the Leader sends the Follower out in Colgada, he becomes like a Wall for the Follower to hang on to, supported by the Follower’s hips and back.

In teapot embrace, with the Leader’s right arm behind him as the handle and his left arm up as the fixed spout, we were to lead the single-axis turn with the Leader stepping around the Follower with his left foot and coming around with right foot. The Leader’s feet need to go where they need to go. He first pigeon toes in with his left foot, so it sickles, and then his right foot turns out. It’s as if the toes say “Hello!” to each other, and then the heels say “Hello!” to each other. The Leader needs to stay equidistant around the Follower’s axis.

We backed up a little to a brief exercise:

EXERCISE: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HUGGING/SPINNING

In partnership face to face, we were to imagine that we were back in elementary school, giving the person a nice hug. We got into this by stepping to the side, and the hugging person (usually the Leader) doing waddle footwork around the hugged person (usually the Follower), slightly lifting while whirling the hugged person around as fast as he can. The goal was to spin crazy and fast in both directions, with Follower on her left foot or right foot, so there were four possibilities:

(1) Spin left with Follower on left foot.

(2) Spin right with Follower on left foot.

(3) Spin left with Follower on right foot.

(4) Spin right with Follower on right foot.

ANOTHER PATTERN:

Getting into it via the rock step.

Follower does right foot forward step around the Leader, Leader does right foot catch of Follower’s right foot with his weight back on his left foot, but he leads the Follower to transfer weight to get her into Colgada. Leader rocks forward with his left foot, Follower rocks back with her right foot.

For the Leader to quick weight change to his left foot, he crosses behind and does a weight change to get the right foot out fast enough to catch the Follower. The exit: Leader steps back or to the side in the Line of Dance. He should send the Follower out as she is transferring weight so that the transfer from axis to off-axis is seamless.

We tried doing this in open embrace and close embrace. The Colgada does not mean we need to spin or turn.

THREE POINTS OF CONNECTION IN COLGADAS

Note that in the colgada there are three points of connection:

Follower’s right hand in Leader’s left hand

Leader’s right hand on Follower’s back

Follower’s right hand on Leader’s right arm

Maestros concluded with a demo to Laurentz’s Amurado, which has a lot of crazy variaciones in it, perfect for doing this hurricane colgada. The demo illustrates that Homer still gets dizzy when doing too many of these.

Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com