ChaCha progressive step, to curve or not to curve?

Hi All,
While I was searching for my new teacher I ended up in the situation when I am taking private lessons from 2 different teachers in 2 different studios. That won't last long, but anyway.
One of them wants that step curved to the left, another wants it straight. Can anyone tell me what's the official word on it?

Gator said:

Hi All,
While I was searching for my new teacher I ended up in the situation when I am taking private lessons from 2 different teachers in 2 different studios. That won't last long, but anyway.
One of them wants that step curved to the left, another wants it straight. Can anyone tell me what's the official word on it?

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I would listen to the instructor that you end up with . . . however, an answer for your question could be that you have two different styles in your instructors.

It's been years since I've had lessons in Cha, so . . .

For Latin & Rhythm, turnout should be at least 45 degress and at the max to 90 degrees. Remember the knees here, the bent knee is straight ahead, and some instructors/judges like to see the knee pointing somewhat in.

For Smooth and Standard, I'm sure the feet are parallel, or straight ahead, although there could be times when they are not parallel, as different moves dictate different foot positions!

In my experience, if the follow is facing you, you take the lock steps straight forward, usually with a strong staccato action and a sharp stopping action. On the other hand, if you are in a side by side position, then the lock steps are usually performed in a smooth fashion, and couples will often walk the pattern around the entire floor.

A good question to test the knowlege of the instructor is to ask the specific footwork ("ball" or "ball flat") for all three steps of both the forward and backward locksteps. Does anybody know the answer?

THanks guys, so there's no simple answer I guess

Vince A said:

I would listen to the instructor that you end up with . . .

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Well, since I have decided to quit on the instructor with whom I've worked for a year, I am interested to get one who's good I mean if she's wrong, I don't want to spend time and money with her and then be forced to look for new one. All those lessons are't free after all.

The forward lock is BF, B, BF
The back lock is B, BF, BF.
Much of the time, you'll see the back lock executed as B, B, BF. That middle BF is deceptively difficult.

To be honest I don't know what the lockstep is?

I don't feel like you got a conclusive answer here, gator. Sorry I missed that earlier. :cry: I'll defer to the dance teachers here to describe locks to you, because, although I do them regularly, they're hard to describe. (Will ponder, and if you don't get an answer soon, I'll pull out my tapes and get a description in words)

At any rate, if I'm not mistaken, what you're talking about here is a running step on the four-and-one beats (or the cha-cha-cha). If that's true, I've followed either straight or curved, depending on the pattern that follows, and where you want to end up on the floor. (e.g. in a cross-body lead, or in shine position)

Incidentally, I often use a single forward lock interchangeably with the progressive run-run-run step just for fun.

( I think the confusion here is that there's a cha-cha step called the triple progressive, which is a series of three forward locks followed by three back locks. :?: )

pygmalion said:

At any rate, if I'm not mistaken, what you're talking about here is a running step on the four-and-one beats (or the cha-cha-cha).

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Yup, that's the one.

If that's true, I've followed either straight or curved, depending on the pattern that follows, and where you want to end up on the floor. (e.g. in a cross-body lead, or in shine position)

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I see. Interesting. In one case I was told to curve always. Pity, I can't go back to ask

( I think the confusion here is that there's a cha-cha step called the triple progressive, which is a series of three forward locks followed by three back locks. :?: )

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Well, never curved those Though who knows.

Thanks!

Could one of you dance teachers please break down the lock step for Gator?

Thanks.

Jenn

Ha!

You dance teachers may not step up to the plate, but I, mere forums lackey, will every time. :lol:

Gator, check out this link, which has a cool description of the lock step. Yay!

I'm not sure what particular situation you were in when your instructors answered. My answer would be probably both are right. There are always exceptions to the rules. You can curve a lock step. The direction can be changed but the footwork can not.

To curve or not to curve

Progressive Walks can be curved or straight. Your choice. I like to curve them because it looks more interesting since you aren't going in one direction for so long. If you do curve them, they must be curved to the left though.

Same for the Rumba, and here I believe it's even more important to curve them because the whole dance is a turning dance even more so than the Cha Cha Cha.

Curving is perfect for getting into a position on the floor where you can better avoid a collision. You can curve as much as you want, but I'd draw the line at say more than 90 degrees -- that would probably look cumbersome. :wink:

You can also curve the side steps in Rumba. I think it looks nicer and it's also a great way to get into a position on the floor where you have more room to do the next grouping.