Hustlers -- How do you rock back without rocking the boat?

[pygmalion]

Hm. I guess this fits here. Hustle is a social dance that a lot of people call ballroom, right? :?

Anyway. Here's the question, for you hustlers out there. One of the main reasons I hate hustle is because of that th-thunk feeling I get when inexperienced partners rock step. So how do you prevent that th-thunk feeling when rocking back? Any thoughts?

http://www.eijkhout.net/lead_follow/hustle_rock_step.html

[DancingMommy]

Take the smallest step humanly possible (change weight) - rather than ROCK back. Some people have a tendancy in dances with a rock step to think of it as a step back when in reality most rock steps are merely a change of weight.

The th-thunk can also be exasccerbated by a type of arm-churn that coincides with the rock step....

[Sagitta]

I agree. Two of the most common mistakes beginners make in learning dance is big steps and letting full extension of the arms occur all the time!! It makes for jerky dancing. :(

[pygmalion]

Hm. Funny you should resurrect this topic now -- I just talked with one of my teachers about my pitiful rock steps the other day. Her take was that I'm not effectively using the supporting foot -- on a rock step, I should be pushing into the floor with the ball of my back foot, while staying forward poised, and never release that supporting foot from the floor.

[Vince A]

Actually, I've been under the impression that it is nothing more than a weight shift, while in place . . . yes???

[DanceMentor]

What happened to Coaster Step?
(back together forward)

[Vince A]

What happened to Coaster Step?
(back together forward)
The Coaster Step is a triple step . . . no?

[DancingMommy]

What happened to Coaster Step?
(back together forward)

But that isn't a rock step, tee hee. Also, a sailor shuffle is also a different animal altogether.

I think the idea here is that the ubiquitous "rock step" is actually badly named. It's more of a "replace weight" than "rock step". I used to use "change weight" in place of "rock step" when teaching because I didn't like trying to explain why you aren't supposed to rock back on your heels... The conversation would run like this:

Me: Ok side, side, rock step

<student takes huge giant step back pulling me off balance>

Me: Well, that was good for starters, but let's try taking a much smaller step back when we rock back, ok?

<student takes only slightly smaller step back again nearly yanking me into his arms>

Me: Let's try a different method here... Let's look in the mirror and put our left foot right behind our right foot. See how I do it? I'm really only replacing the weight. I'm not taking a step backwards really.

Student: Well why didn't you say so in the first place??? (this is the reply from the ones who actually were paying attention)

Me: Well, it's more of a teaching tool to get you on the rhythm.. LKet's try it this way... Side, Side, Change Weight. Wahoo! Right on! That's exactly what we're talking about righ there...

[pygmalion]

Amen to that. I used to have truly horrendous "rock steps" until I led triple swing once. Then I realized what that huge rock step feels like from the receiving end. Voila! At least I stopped stepping over my heels. As you can see, I'm still working on it, though. Continuous improvement is the way to go. :D