Arthur Murray's First Lesson - the One Step

[DanceMentor]

I'm sitting here browsing over Arthur Murray's 1947 "How to Become a Good Dancer", which is a revised edition of the 1937 original.

The First Lesson is "The Walking Step, the simplest of all the basic steps".
First he talks about how the One Step was in vogue in 1912 and is still in use. He starts out with a quote from Vernon Castle:
Bear in mind this one important point - when I say walk, that is all it is. Simply walk as softly and as smoothly as possible, taking a step to every count of music.

This is the One Step, and this is all there is to it. There are many different figures [after you have mastered the step], but they are all in the same strict tempo. It is simply one step - hence its name.

So many thoughts come to my mind when I think of the shear simplicity of the teaching versus the complexity of technique that can go into one step.

Your thoughts?

[Vince A]

DanceMentor,

So many thoughts come to my mind when I think of the shear simplicity of the teaching versus the complexity of technique that can go into one step.

A few years back (when I was a teenager???) , , , when "Disco"- "Saturday Night Fever dancing" - "polyester" - was big . . . I used to teach. Alot of the dancers in class just could not get the rythym. What did I teach them? Yes, "the One Step." Just as described . . . "simply walk . . . taking a step to every count of the music." By the end of the lesson, most in class "were dancing Disco.

Yes. Simple, but oh, so effective!

[msc]

That's good advice, for the standard/smooth dances. Really, really good advice, actually. Not sure how to teach the checking action of the Latin dances though.

[DanceMentor]

msc,

I think teaching rumba walks early on can be very helpful, especially when the goal is to become a competitor.

Vince,

I can just image playing "Staying Alive" and having everybody practice their walks. :lol:
"You can tell by the way I walk I,m a woman's man, no time to talk...:

[Vince A]

msc,
"Not sure how to teach the checking action of the Latin dances though."

The Cha Cha is the only Latin dance that I do very well, so I cannot speak for the other Latin dances, but if you think about it, a check step could still be taught to a beginner this way.
Maybe thinking of it as a half step, or the start of a step, not putting weight on it, and returning it into place. Maybe, kinda-sorta?

DanceMentor,
Man did you ever paint a picture with those words to "Staying Alive." So true!

And by the way . . . it must be my computer, as it still did not work!

A local regular, quite long in age, exclusively does the "Walking Step". He leads the follows all around the floor and in some variety of patterns (with no breakaways or spins), and specifically speaks about enjoying the softer, more Foxtrot sounding songs.

Thanks for the quote, DM, an interesting study.

-FF

[msc]

DM, vince
I guess I'm looking for something more tractable for a total beginner. I once had a teacher say (in a group class) that it's like walking down the sidewalk and suddenly realizing there's something right in front of you that you don't want to step in, so you tend to naturally check yourself with the ball of your foot. I'm not entirely sure I'd want beginning students to keep that image in their mind, though.

[Vince A]

msc,
Then maybe the "check step" is too much for a beginner?

Possibly start them off with the Merengue - a quite easy and fun dance to start with, and I believe that the One Step would definitely work here. Although this dance can get involved - clubs seem to attract the brighter, faster style, while ballroom is slower and has a lot of hip action.

I personally struggled with learning the "Hustle" until I applied the One Step method, walking it out, until I could coordinate the footwork/armwork/lead and not break into doing a WCS. Now, the Hustle is a natural!

I believe a beginner can quickly learn to do a check step, but how you get them there is still the problem?

[DanceMentor]

Learning a check step:
Rock, step, rock, step, rock, step, rock, step, rock, step, rock, step, rock, step...
Now let's try it with the right foot back.
Now let's take three walks and then a rock, step
Wouldn't this strategy work fine?

[Vince A]

DanceMentor,
That would work for me, and I can teach that!

[Vince A]

DanceMentor,

Learning a check step:
Rock, step, rock, step, rock, step, rock, step, rock, step, rock, step, rock, step...
Now let's try it with the right foot back.
Now let's take three walks and then a rock, step
Wouldn't this strategy work fine?


Guess who got what???

[DanceMentor]

Guess who got what???
What do you mean, vince? Are you talking about the use of quotes?