Figures for Social Smooth

While most of the participants in this forum have a particular focus, the forum description says Social and Competitive.

My focus is social, and I've added American silver smooth. I've found it works well in a social situation, most ladies can follow me if I lead it well -- while we might not win competitions, social dancing is not about that. If you're having fun, and your partner is having fun, and the other couples on the floor are still having fun, then it's all good.

I'm going to take some private lessons to improve my technique but would also like to add some more figures to my repertoire. That is I'm wanting to some figures which work well in social situations with various partners of different skill levels on a crowded floor.

A lot of group classes teach long amalgamations which may include complex figures. Pre-canned choreography does not work on a social floor, with adjustments needed for the skill of your partner and other couples on the floor not realizing that you're the center of the universe and that they need to get out of your way. :tongue:

So I'm looking at some figure recommendations for foxtrot/waltz for social situations. Some criteria I'm thinking of:

• Something I can master
• Something an average follower can read
• Something that can be easily linked into different choreography that I make up on the fly to deal with other traffic (floorcraft).

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

IMO; grapevines, and passing twinkles...particularly because they can be repeated as many times as neccessary, but aren't the basic, and they really aren't ambiguous in what they feel like as regards a follow understanding what is going on

I feel ya on the social versus competitive. Question, though. Does the social dance crowd wherever you are really support regular use of silver figures?

fascination said:

IMO; grapevines, and passing twinkles...particularly because they can be repeated as many times as neccessary, but aren't the basic, and they really aren't ambiguous in what they feel like as regards a follow understanding what is going on

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Yup. +1 on passing twinkles, especially.

oh...and the great part of the GV's and passing twinkles is that they can be used in waltz and FT...

Does the social dance crowd wherever you are really support regular use of silver figures?

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I've found that if you approach it right, it can work. It helps if the lead is clear and consistent (sometimes repetition helps). The other part of it is that you accept that you're not going to win any competitions but you don't have to because it's a social situation.

And "clear lead" does not mean having to force the follow through a figure. Sometimes the follow will get the idea from seeing your body move out of the way and your arms extending to avoid pulling on her. Not a very good explanation, but it's complex and I'm not a teacher.

As far as passing twinkles and grapevines, have those and mostly agree. Though the more open the grapevine the less crowded the floor needs to be. Need to work on ways to end those more gracefully when the unexpected happens.

and, I bleieve we have a thread on it, there is a fair argument that silver smooth is easier to lead than bronze in that, when the feet come together, there is a tendency for motion to stop, which makes movement far more difficult to continue

I would recommend against chasses unless you are really good, as it is almost always unrecognizable for me in a social venue

I agree that chasses are a challenge and don't lead them very often. But there have been cases where I lead it, the lady follows well enough and are on the correct foot. But has a moment of uncertainty because of the syncopation. I assure them that they did just fine.

and, I bleieve we have a thread on it, there is a fair argument that silver smooth is easier to lead than bronze in that, when the feet come together, there is a tendency for motion to stop, which makes movement far more difficult to continue

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I tried bronze foxtrot. Maybe it was the group class situation, but it felt so lifeless -- more like plodding. So I didn't dance foxtrot much, until I tried American silver.

sure...I am not saying that it will go wrong everytime...I am saying that it is one that doesn't go terribly well alot of the time

snapdancer said:

I tried bronze foxtrot. Maybe it was the group class situation, but it felt so lifeless -- more like plodding. So I didn't dance foxtrot much, until I tried American silver.

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yes...it stops the action...unless of course one has really soft knees and ankles, which is a technical element not often found in abundance in a social venue...silver continues the momentum which, IMV, often feels better for everyone

Is a passing twinkle the same as a he-goes she-goes? I find that HGSG gets led a lot
I've had good leaders lead me into pivots, and been blissed out
Cross body lead, always fun
Is fan a silver move?
Have been posed by good leaders; oversway, same foot lunge (have also been posed by bad leaders, fwiw)

pivots are one of those things that I would never ever reccomend to anyone who isn't good and (if dancing with an unknown follow) willing to do all the work...which is considerable if the follow doesn't have a clue...but yes, personally, I now love pivots and picture lines are great, but only done by someone who has their own sense of balance and knows how to offer them rather than dumping me into them

as to the term "he goes-she goes"...lots of things seem that way to me...I have never heard it called that, but that doesn't mean a thing