Steps that will always feel awkward - or most difficult step

[spatten]

Does anyone have certain steps that are a nemesis?

Early in my dancing I developed a distinct dislike for the Leaders Closed Impetus. Ok, I got by this one eventually - and now I enjoy dancing it.

But the reverse roll in Samba is a whole nother animal. After a few weeks of attempting this contortion, I feel like I did when I walked into my first dance class ever. I feel completly awkward.

Some might say, well the Feather is an impossible step. While my feather in Foxtrot is far from good, it doesn't look horrible. My reverse roll in Samba is entirely laughable.

This singular step is really raising my frustration level with Latin as a whole.

Anybody else experience this - or have any advice on the Reverse roll?

Scott

[Sagitta]

The worst one for me, is "ping pong" in rueda. Can't stand it. My body screams when I do it. It calls out "NO NO"!! Couldn't help myself, even though this topic is in ballroom!! :oops:

[ShyDancer]

Breakaway movenment in Parma Waltz.
I always come in on the wrong foot. You think after 5 months of learning it I would have been able to braek this habit, but nope!

[Genesius Redux]

Simple Open Cuban Walk in rumba. For some reason, if I don't add all of the bells and whistles, I can't count properly and never know when to lead my partner back to me! :oops: :lol:

[mr bixx]

this new step in mambo is driving me nuts. cross body lead to telemark to sit pose to body ripple. then pull action and have lady walk around you to side rocks. i'm fine until the sit break then it goes down hill. oh well 1 more month to get it down right.

[salsachinita]

I probably have no business being here :oops: .......

The one step I can't seem to get is 'vacila la' in Casino/Rueda. For some reason no one in my city does it, therefore no one really knows about it. I only learnt it from a visiting Perth instructor (appearantly this move leads to a number of moves, therefore important). People also know it in Sydney, but it's rarely used.

Without regular practice/guidance, I have almost forgotten however little I had learnt :oops: . There's this little turn, timing/weight change that I seem to muck up ALL the time :roll: .

[UltraMagnus]

Forward and Back basics in rumba and cha cha.....I will forever be mastering those....

[TemptressToo]

Um, let's see...

Double spin in triple-time ECS. For some reason, a single spin is fine, but put an extra one in and I come out on the wrong foot. I am also just fine to do a double in single-time. That turns out fine.

Bolero--the WHOLE dance feels ungodly awkward to me. It is probably because I rarely do it, thus, it is a balance issue.

TANGO--I hate it. I feel so awkward all of the time like I am all unbalanced and about to be dropped.

WCS--Ok, let's take a fun little dance and complicate it as much as possible. Uck!

[dragon3085]

The whole Samba pulse thing is always a challenge for me. Not so much at the start of a song, but keeping it through the length of a entire song.

[dragon3085]

And since some mentioned Rueda, the whole basic steps screws me up, because it reverse of my normal basic, the minute I stop thinking about it, my legs switch at the next 1 or 5 beat . :-)

[Genesius Redux]

Bolero--the WHOLE dance feels ungodly awkward to me. It is probably because I rarely do it, thus, it is a balance issue.

TANGO--I hate it. I feel so awkward all of the time like I am all unbalanced and about to be dropped.

They're very hard--balance and partnering are key to both these dances. But once you get them right, nothing feels so good!

[msc]

Out of curiosity scott, what specifically are the problems with the samba roll?

Let's see moves I have trouble with:
Reverse Wave
Fallaway Slip Pivot
hand-to-hand in Latin

Then, more generally:
overrotation on almost any turning figure in Standard
aggressively projecting outwards (from a presentation POV) at all times.

[johnnywalker]

The one and only time I tried Flamenco I felt completely uncoordinated. 12 counts with much clapping and stamping of the feet and I couldn't, for the life of me, remember when to clap and when to stamp. It was like the first time I was talked into going to an Aerobics class. Everyone was grapevine-ing one way and I was heading off in the other direction. Very embarassing. :oops:

[ShyDancer]

The one and only time I tried Flamenco I felt completely uncoordinated. 12 counts with much clapping and stamping of the feet and I couldn't, for the life of me, remember when to clap and when to stamp. It was like the first time I was talked into going to an Aerobics class. Everyone was grapevine-ing one way and I was heading off in the other direction. Very embarassing. :oops:


This describes me everytime I do something new :lol: :lol:
I dont let it put me off though, I just keep at it until I finally do get it!
I had the worst trouble co-ordinating my head actions and arm movemnts into Merrilyn (another New Vogue dance) along with the steps in time to the music , I was really mad at one stage because I couldnt for the life of me work out why my head action had to be moving away from the direction my feet and arms were going.
But I persisted and although I still look the wrong way on occasion I still accept every invitation I get to dance it :D

[dancin_feet]

New step I have only just learnt in the last couple of weeks, a cross body lead in Foxtrot. Just feels weird being in closed dance position and doing a cross body lead, though I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. There just doesn't seem to be enough room to make the last swivel step!

[johnnywalker]

The one and only time I tried Flamenco I felt completely uncoordinated. 12 counts with much clapping and stamping of the feet and I couldn't, for the life of me, remember when to clap and when to stamp. It was like the first time I was talked into going to an Aerobics class. Everyone was grapevine-ing one way and I was heading off in the other direction. Very embarassing. :oops:


This describes me everytime I do something new :lol: :lol:
I dont let it put me off though, I just keep at it until I finally do get it!
I had the worst trouble co-ordinating my head actions and arm movemnts into Merrilyn (another New Vogue dance) along with the steps in time to the music , I was really mad at one stage because I couldnt for the life of me work out why my head action had to be moving away from the direction my feet and arms were going.
But I persisted and although I still look the wrong way on occasion I still accept every invitation I get to dance it :D

Persistence is definitely the key to overcoming problem steps. I'd love to try it again sometime...along with tap, lindy, jitterbug.......

Too many interests, too little time :(

[Angelo]

Chasse cape in Paso Doble used to be a huge challenge for me but its starting to get better. Outside spin in waltz is still hit or miss

[spatten]

I am intrigued by the fact that everyone had difficulty with differernt steps. I thought there would be my overlap between certain steps.

I know at my studio the ladies all gather round and complain about the heel turns.

I am doing better at the reverse roll as of yesterday. It still feels awkward, and doesn't look good - but at least we can dance it without breaking into laughter. I find the most difficult part of the step is transitioning from bent forward to bent back smoothly. This is definately a step that requires you to be quite comfortable with eachother - and have exerperience dancing the roll with eachother. I figure after about a year of working on it, it might be danceable in competition.

Scott

[Victoria]

I know at my studio the ladies all gather round and complain about the heel turns.

See now i love heel turns!.

My pet hate step is a sit line in Latin!

[Kitty]

whisk in waltz feels very awkward to me. When it feels especially awkward, there always is a gap between me and my partner - I get too far away (lean back, not on purpose), get down on right foot heel too quickly, and so concentrate on those mistakes that forget to turn my head. I know about the mistakes which means they will be fixed. When? I don't know, this whisk thing is going on for several months already. When I can practice it with a partner enough times, which isn't going to be anytime soon:-(.

All latin feels awkward pretty much all the time:-)
samba feels actually good to me.
rumba is the most awkward dance because it looks so boring when you don't do the hip thing right. In cha-cha I'm off balance most of the time.

Heel turns feel fine. Don't know how they look when I do them:-)

[Kitty]

hand-to-hand in Latin

Me too.

[etchuck]

Strangely enough... it's doing the following:

Sticking to 8-count lindy when dancing (because of years of ECS)
Not closing my feet when I do international tango (because of years of American tango)

It's the stupid mental and muscle memory bits that kill me.

[mamboqueen]

My old partner and I spent HOURS upon HOURS trying to do the perfect continual pivot turns. Just when we thought we were getting them down, we'd completely blow one.

Doing them with my instructor doesn't seem to be as problematic.

[LindyQuest]

This isn't a ballroom step, and I'm not sure the exact name...

But there's a Charleston step I always have trouble with. It's where I stand in front of the lead, and it's kind of a front and back Charleston instead of side by side. People have tried to show me how it's done, but I always seem to mess it up! :oops:

[Sagitta]

This isn't a ballroom step, and I'm not sure the exact name...

But there's a Charleston step I always have trouble with. It's where I stand in front of the lead, and it's kind of a front and back Charleston instead of side by side. People have tried to show me how it's done, but I always seem to mess it up! :oops:

Tandem charleston. That's the name of the move. :wink: :)

[LindyQuest]

This isn't a ballroom step, and I'm not sure the exact name...

But there's a Charleston step I always have trouble with. It's where I stand in front of the lead, and it's kind of a front and back Charleston instead of side by side. People have tried to show me how it's done, but I always seem to mess it up! :oops:

Tandem charleston. That's the name of the move. :wink: :)

Thanks! :D Now if I can just learn how to do it properly... :wink:

[spatten]

My old partner and I spent HOURS upon HOURS trying to do the perfect continual pivot turns

Someone told me once that when he was at Blackpool, he had discovered that he could tell how well someone was going to do by how good their lines of pivots were. The better the dancers, the better the pivots.

I have a real love/hate relationship with pivots. Some days I do them ok, other days they just blow up and start forming L's instead of lines. But I think they are a blast to dance. I would say this is my biggest stumbling block in Standard right now.

Scott

[ShyDancer]

New step I have only just learnt in the last couple of weeks, a cross body lead in Foxtrot. Just feels weird being in closed dance position and doing a cross body lead, though I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. There just doesn't seem to be enough room to make the last swivel step!

Im doing a closed cross body lead and a closed with swivels in Mambo..once you get the tension in your arms right the whole thing will seem so much more fun!



I find correct tension in my arms often makes all the difference im steps i am having trouble with...I wonder if this is common?

[Genesius Redux]

This isn't a ballroom step, and I'm not sure the exact name...

But there's a Charleston step I always have trouble with. It's where I stand in front of the lead, and it's kind of a front and back Charleston instead of side by side. People have tried to show me how it's done, but I always seem to mess it up! :oops:

Tandem charleston. That's the name of the move. :wink: :)

Thanks! :D Now if I can just learn how to do it properly... :wink:

You might want to do your back step slightly to the side to avoid putting your heel on top of your partner's toe....

This from having been stepped on many times doing tandem. Maybe they should call it "the lady's revenge." :roll:

[LindyQuest]

You might want to do your back step slightly to the side to avoid putting your heel on top of your partner's toe....

This from having been stepped on many times doing tandem. Maybe they should call it "the lady's revenge." :roll:

:D

Is the footwork for the follow the same as in side-by-side Charleston? (First right back, right forward, then left forward, left back). I'm never sure which foot to put back first...

[10Dancer]

For me at the moment the Running Right Turn in Quickstep is driving me nuts. I do love that step, though.

[etchuck]

Okay... a new one... the Savoy kicks for lindy. That is a real pain to figure out... I need major hours of slow practice to figure that.