This week's mission (Mon Jan 24, 2005) - one hand/step size

[Pacion]

is to try and focus on one aspect whilst dancing and then report back :wink:

All suggestions welcomed for subsequent weeks of course :roll: :D

This week's mission:

a) For the advance/intermediate dancers: to dance an entire song with just one hand in contact with your partner (or none as appropriate, ie during shines :wink: ) - I will leave up to you to decide which one, extra points if you do two songs, alternating hands. You will need to explain to your partner of course :wink: and ladies, you will need to find a willing partner to help

b) For the beginner dancers: to try and be aware of the size of the steps you are taking - the faster the music, the smaller the steps - and generally, trying to ensure that you are not taking too large a step.

Previous missions: :kitty:
Previous missions: :kitty:
This week's mission (Wed Jan 12, 2005) - eye contact (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=6984)
This week's mission (Tue Jan 18, 2005) - Shines (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=7071)
This week's mission (Mon Jan 24, 2005) - one hand/step size (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=7201)
This week's mission (Wed 2 Feb 2005) - elbows (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=7401)
This week's mission (Tue 15 Feb 2005) - Dance with you later (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=7605)

[jamaicanspice]

You're ON!!!!! :D

[youngsta]

This is pretty cool, mission accepted!

[africana]

a) For the advance/intermediate dancers: to dance an entire song with just one hand in contact with your partner (or none as appropriate, ie during shines :wink: ) -


if I may ask, what is the purpose of dancing with just one hand :?: is it for arm styling or what?

suggestion for another mission: hop like a bunny rabbit after every cross body lead :lol:

[africana]

ooh another suggestion:
dance an entire song with your eyes closed hahaha

of course you will have to explain to your partner that you're not really bored, tell them you're focusing on "the connection"

[jamaicanspice]

ooh another suggestion:
dance an entire song with your eyes closed hahaha

of course you will have to explain to your partner that you're not really bored, tell them you're focusing on "the connection"

ok so NOOOOO :lol: :lol: :lol: I know for a fact that I would NOT be able to do this for the entire song! :lol: only for a part of one:wink: :D

[africana]

yeah i was being too silly :P
but i may try it with older friends

[DancePoet]

Ayuh, anotha interestin mission.

Likely not tough. But ya neva know.

[Houdinni]

You're on Pacion! :)

Better yet, I'll raise you...

I'll try it first without warning to my partner. It'll probably be easyer while leding only with the left, but should be fun to try to do it with the right also...

If unable, I'll restart with the original misson!

[squirrel]

My partner did it! :) He actually had to do it, as he fell on the stairs on New Year's Eve and couldn't move his left arm for a week! :shock:

So he used his right to dance and teach... it was an interesting lesson! :lol: :shock:

[Pacion]

a) For the advance/intermediate dancers: to dance an entire song with just one hand in contact with your partner (or none as appropriate, ie during shines :wink: ) -


if I may ask, what is the purpose of dancing with just one hand :?: is it for arm styling or what?

No to the styling :lol:

The reasons/thoughts behind this one:

a) I have heard that the guy/lead should lead with their body, not just their arms. Taken in its simplistic form, if the lead wants you to step backwards, the lead should not come just from the arms, which could amount to a push and therefore push you (the follower) off balance.

b) it shoud (hopefull!!!) help take some of the emphasis off doing moves :wink: and puts it on dancing. How many moves are there that the lead can do that does not require two hands :wink:

c) for the follower, they would need to be a little bit more "sensitive" to the lead and hopefully, not anticipate/back lead as a result :laughing:

d) increased awareness on the part of the follower to have their hands where the lead can easily locate them because if the lead misses one, he/she can't save/recover with their other hand

Having thought a little more about this, and this is where feedback from the leads (and followers) would be great - an extension/flexibility would be that you can do double handed turns/spins for the girl, but just using the one hand.

(It is a good thing I thought about this some more on the way home last night! :laughing: I thought someone would have asked the question :wink: so no, I am not just being "evil" for evil sake :wink:)

[Sabor]

Some mission twists.. if u fancy.. :P

1. lead/follow with one hand using three fingers maximum
2. lead using hands but not the follower.. cant touch her from the elbows down.. so use shoulders, waist, back, neck, chin etc. whatever..
3. no hands period.. leads use your legs only :wink: to lead dats a toughy!

:applause:

[Pacion]

3. no hands period.. leads use your legs only :wink: to lead dats a toughy!

:roll: it also depends on how "friendly" one wants to get with one's follow :wink: :wink: :wink:

[tj]

Now this one will be more challenging than the previous two weeks...

[Houdinni]

Man! You ARE raising the stakes! :shock:

[Pacion]

:lol: TJ & Houdinni, you are funny! The first mission "eye contact" was, ehem, pooh poohed and called "too easy". Now :roll: you are "complaining" :roll: :lol:

So what is it worth for me to make it an easy one next week :wink:

[Houdinni]

:lol: TJ & Houdinni, you are funny! The first mission "eye contact" was, ehem, pooh poohed and called "too easy". Now :roll: you are "complaining" :roll: :lol:

So what is it worth for me to make it an easy one next week :wink:

Who said anything about complaining??!! :lol:

Since your original mission, several people have raised the stakes, so I think I'll just take them one at a time... Hopefully, by the end of the weekend I'l have fulfiled most of them! (I'm trully not sure if I'd be able to lead an unknown follow through a whole dnce without hands! :shock: )

But please, I mean PLEASE, you don't need to figure an easyer mission for next week... We live to dance, and even if we don't dance to impress (at leas not all the time)... Wouldn't wanna miss the chance to impress ourselves with trying to surpass anything (even if you get to be in a diabolic state of mind :twisted: ) you'd remember to throu our way...!

If just make every night THAT MUCH fun! 8)

[jamaicanspice]

hmmmm...quite a challenge here.....ok so the mission is dance with one hand or with the maximum of three fingers?? ok.......I'll have a report next week :D going dancing on Thursday so I will be keeping this week's mission in mind :wink: :D

[Pacion]

Wouldn't wanna miss the chance to impress ourselves with trying to surpass anything (even if you get to be in a diabolic state of mind :twisted: ) you'd remember to throu our way...!
:shock: Moi! Get into a diabolic state of mind? :| Where is the angel emoticon :cry: :wink: :lol: :banana:

Since your original mission, several people have raised the stakes, so I think I'll just take them one at a time...
:lol: Yes they have! I have noticed that one or two have yet to comment on this one :twisted: :lol: Oh, and please take them one at a time! That is the whole purpose of these earlier missions. Don't worry, you will get missions to do several things in one dance :twisted: :lol:

Oh, and do I need to add for those who do attempt this, that you also have to stay ON BEAT?!? :roll: :lol:

[jamaicanspice]

staying on beat will not be a problem :wink: 8) :D

[Pacion]

...during the mission :wink: this applies to you AND your partner :lol:

(it is easy to "forget" one thing whilst concentrating on another :wink: )

[jamaicanspice]

of course Pacion :D I would never forget that :D :D I'll try to concentrate on concentrating on the beat AND dancing with one hand while at the same time concentrating on making sure my partner is concentrating on the same thing. :wink:


:D :D :D :D

[tacad]

I'll try to lead with an elbow.

[jamaicanspice]

I'll try to lead with an elbow.

I'd love to see that 8)

[Pacion]

:doh: (c) SD there always HAS to be one :lol:

[jamaicanspice]

:D

[Houdinni]

Some mission twists.. if u fancy.. :P

3. no hands period.. leads use your legs only :wink: to lead dats a toughy!

:applause:

Strong in the Force, this one, he is... :shock:

Wouldn't wanna miss the chance to impress ourselves with trying to surpass anything (even if you get to be in a diabolic state of mind :twisted: ) you'd remember to throu our way...!
:shock: Moi! Get into a diabolic state of mind? :| Where is the angel emoticon :cry: :wink: :lol: :banana:


Well... We have yet to get to:

Thou shall dance upside down, standing on your hands while leading two ladies into triple spins (themselves upside down standin on their hands preferably...), while simultaneasly asking for a drink at the bar, helping an old lady cross the street, and doing shines using only your knees.

But given time, you might actually get there! :twisted: :P

[nikita]

Leading only with the right arm? He definately wants to get closer to you :lol:
Can be very beautiful :wink:

[Pacion]

Are you going to try it Nikita :wink:

[nikita]

I already did :banana:

[Pacion]

And??? :lol:

[jamaicanspice]

AND???????

[nikita]

Harry and Sally :bouncy:

[jamaicanspice]

:lol: :lol:

[Houdinni]

Wednsday night is the strong salsa night of the week arround here, so I've started to fullfill this mission already...! :)

is to try and focus on one aspect whilst dancing and then report back :wink:

All suggestions welcomed for subsequent weeks of course :roll: :D

This week's mission:

a) For the advance/intermediate dancers: to dance an entire song with just one hand in contact with your partner (or none as appropriate, ie during shines :wink: ) - I will leave up to you to decide which one, extra points if you do two songs, alternating hands. You will need to explain to your partner of course :wink: and ladies, you will need to find a willing partner to help


I have to admit, when Isaw this in my mind, I thought it would be an easy one...

No way! No way at all! I had to put my hand behind my back to put it out of the game!

You're on Pacion! :)

Better yet, I'll raise you...

I'll try it first without warning to my partner. It'll probably be easyer while leding only with the left, but should be fun to try to do it with the right also...

If unable, I'll restart with the original misson!

This will teach me to raise the stakes befor trying!

When doing it without saying nothing in advance to the follow, I got questoins like... "Are you hurt?", "Is everyting ok with your other hand?", wich forced me to explain in the end what was going on.

This said, I found out that it wasn't easier to lead with one hand than the other. And lot's of moves that I got into, I had some trouble getting out with only one hand... It was fun! It's whole new dimension to the dance!

ooh another suggestion:
dance an entire song with your eyes closed hahaha

of course you will have to explain to your partner that you're not really bored, tell them you're focusing on "the connection"

Since I got to the club early, I came out in the wee hours of the morning, with an almost empty club theis is easy to do.

Some mission twists.. if u fancy.. :P

1. lead/follow with one hand using three fingers maximum
2. lead using hands but not the follower.. cant touch her from the elbows down.. so use shoulders, waist, back, neck, chin etc. whatever..
3. no hands period.. leads use your legs only :wink: to lead dats a toughy!

:applause:

1 - If your going to use 3 fingers, might as well use one. The main difficulty in this one, is for the follow to locate your finger, since it's harder to see...

2 - I'm saving this one for the weekend... :twisted:

3 - The Force, not yet so strong in me, it is...

Still I freely admit I'm having lots of fun with this mission, and await to find out what you thought!

Pacion :notworth: :notworth: :notworth: :notworth: :notworth: :notworth: :notworth: :notworth: :notworth:

[nikita]

let it be, let it be, let it be... :tongue:

[Sabor]

cant use one Houdinni.. u need at least 2 for some sort of clasp.. besides, it will look mucho ridiculous no..? :lol:


as for using legs to lead.. u have to be very careful and in good control of your leg action.. so as not to hurt her.. u use the area above the knees for that (inside and outside areas) on and around her waist area .. and your feet (between foot and end of shin area) that again could go any where on her bottom half..

but yes.. i would save this till i was 'stronger in the force' as u put it.. since a mistake could cause a fall or bump.. the salsera needs to be perceptive for that kind of movements too so she knows how to deal..

may the force be with u :wink:

[Lucretia]

I think a take the new beginners missions as a challenge this week. Shorten the steps. (This makes sence regarding my failure last weekend ...do you remeber the tall dark Londoner I failed to dance with? :oops: )

But do anyone have a hint on how to really shorten the steps?
When I try to take the shortest possible step some people tells me they are fart too long. How can it be so?

Is it because a tall and bigfeeted girl is unable to take small steps compared to short latino girls or what is my problem?

Or is it because my step "feels" long for a the leader since I have quite long legs and a style that is quite dynamic (lots of hips and rolling butt :oops: - well as a fact rolling upper body :oops: )

Once upon a time one of my "dancementors" was satisfied with my steps. When I change to another guy he stopped after a few seconds and asked if I felt sick or if I didn't like to dance with him. I smiled and took up my old style - like a timberman walking in the forrest. He was so content that I was back to my ordinary style....

This brings us to the question - how do you adjust your step to your partner?
What beside the lenght of the leader might matter?
This man wasn't tall at all - thats why I believed he also wanted short steps. On the other hand I have danced with tall guys who have a very laidbackstyle. They let the girls do all the job and stay in the center of the dancespace. Here it is easy to start up taking long steps because you have to be able to complete the pattern. But sometimes I get so confused ...it doesn't work at all. I become to slow in my reaction.

I do know I have a problem with the steps - I have problem keeping the beat and problem having speed enough to complete som patterns keeping the beat. But I get so disapointed when everyone tells me I fail when I really try my best to reduce the steps.

Can you please give me any hint?

/Luc

[Houdinni]

It quind of depends on who you're dancing with... How much you have to adjust.

e.g.: An easy to spot example is by looking at how the lead will do an XBL. Some leads hardly put their feet apart and you hardly have to move to cross. Others spread their feet wider apart, alowing you to do a better styling during the cross.

Unfortunaly you'll have to adapt to both to be able to dance...

[Pacion]

:oops: Houdinni and thanks for the report!!! :lol: Glad you had fun :wink: :lol: :banana:

I know that it is only Thursday, but anyone else tried it yet? How did it go? :D

[jamaicanspice]

tonight is my night.......I will have a report to give you all in a minute :D

[africana]

ok so I had intended to blow off this mission since I didnt see any merits to it, but last night presented a unique opportunity: I danced with a guy who only has one hand and it was a good fun dance :o
He did a lot of turn patterns so the challenge with paying more attention to his arm, not moving away too far, and sometimes if we miss hands I had to predict what move he was trying to execute...

so "mission accomplished"

[BrookeErin]

well, maybe just because of all the discussion, I was more aware of the size of my steps in the few dances I grabbed last night.

[youngsta]

I'm not going out until next Thursday so my homework will be late! :lol:

[jamaicanspice]

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! and can I just say it was rather easy :D but then again when I told my dance partner about it his response was....'gee, I do that all the time :D ' 8) 8) :D so we spent the rest of the dance doing spins and turns and open breaks with one hand....AWESOME!!! :D bring on the next challenge!!! :twisted:

[DancePoet]

Unfortunately, I spaced this one over the weekend. :(

I had a nice time dancing on Friday night, but forgot to give this a try. I've danced Foxtrot before with one hand, and I could have done it again. Oh well, maybe next week.

[BrookeErin]

well, I unintentionally partially fulfilled the advanced challenge as well. I met a new (advanced) lead who led with one hand about half the time. I admit it felt different, but I think I was also focused on not screwing up because my friend had been raving about dancing with him and I didn't want to make an awful impression.

[jamaicanspice]

:D :D you did good my friend :D you did good :D

[youngsta]

Homework complete!! Not only did I only dance using my right hand, my left hand was holding my sports jacket slung over the shoulder at the same time! :banana: :banana:

[tacad]

Man, you are too cool for school!

[youngsta]

Man, you are too cool for school!
Thanks 8) Do I get extra credit Pacion?? :lol:

[Pacion]

:lol: depends on where you bought the jacket, whether it was wool or silk AND whether you whacked your partner with it at any time :roll: :lol:


PS. What made you decide to hold your jacket? Was it a "strategy"? :wink:

[youngsta]

:lol: depends on where you bought the jacket, whether it was wool or silk AND whether you whacked your partner with it at any time :roll: :lol:


PS. What made you decide to hold your jacket? Was it a "strategy"? :wink:
No, it was HOT! :lol: :lol: The sports coat was custom made--wool mohair

[tacad]

Snappy, snappy!

[BrookeErin]

give the man some extra credit... anyone who has custom made clothing gets credit from me...

[Salsaonone]

ooh another suggestion:
dance an entire song with your eyes closed hahaha

of course you will have to explain to your partner that you're not really bored, tell them you're focusing on "the connection"

if you only do basics (of course if you can do multiple moves with eyes closed, you are a great dancer :) ), bachata is a great dance to do with eyes closed....but either salsa or bachata, before you start, make sure you have enough room around you cuz if you have your eyes closed.....you dont want the dance end prematurely with someone(s) getting injuried by getting run into or worse.... :shock:

[salsamale]

This week's mission:

a) For the advance/intermediate dancers: to dance an entire song with just one hand in contact with your partner (or none as appropriate, ie during shines :wink: ) - I will leave up to you to decide which one, extra points if you do two songs, alternating hands. You will need to explain to your partner of course :wink: and ladies, you will need to find a willing partner to help

I think this is a useful exercise. I forced myself to do this once, at a practice dance, to prepare for those times when my partner may withhold one of her hands for an entire song.