Chris Stratton
New Member
The natural spin turn is a figure surrounded by a lot of confusion, which I think may be due to it having evolved in contemporary practice into something a bit more complicated than what is described in the book.
The original:
Man:
4. LF back with CBM, down LOD toe turned in, THT, making 1/2 turn to R (pivot), no rise, no sway
5. RF forward in CBMP, facing LOD, HT, continuing to turn, rise end of 5, no sway
6. LF to side and slightly back, backing DC, TH, 3/8 between 5-6, Up lower end of 6, no sway
Lady:
4. RF forward with CBM, facing LOD, HT, making 1/2 turn to R (pivot), no rise, no sway
5. LF back and slightly to side, backing LOD, T, continue to turn, rise end of 5, no sway
6. RF diag forward having brushed, facing DC, TH, 3/8 between 5-6, up lower end of 6, no sway
Basically, this describes a step 4 that consists of a vertically aligned, 1/2 turn true pivot, in which man and lady both rotate over the ball of their foot and change places. The man is instructed to hold his free right foot in CBMP, which is to say in a line in front of his pivoting left. As the pivot completes, the man steps forward on a heel, then into the toe and rises. The lady steps essentially backwards onto her toe and rises directly from it, without the heel ever lowering. As they reach the top of the rise, a second spin of 3/8 turn occurs to achieve the final alignment. Step 6 is relatively obvious.
This is a fairly boring spin turn by today's standards, though it might be worth learning to really do it. In particular, many fail to execute a real pivot on step 4, and a real forwards step (with heel lead) on step 5, leading to instability. But part of the confusion for beginners may be that advanced dancers are generally doing a different sort of spin turn.
I'll call it a blended spin turn, because it consists of a watered down version of the book spin turn, superimposed on the action of a backwards natural turn. To review for a moment, the intersting two steps of a back natural are:
Man:
4. LF back with CBM, backing LOD, TH, commence to turn R, com to rise end of 4 NFR, no sway (initially)
5. RF to side, pointing DC, T, 3/8 between 4-5 body turns less, continue to rise on 5-6, left sway
Lady:
4. RF forward with CBM, facing LOD, HT, commence to turn R, commence to rise end of 4, no sway
5. LF to side, backing center, T, 1/4 between 4-5, continue to rise on 5 and 6, right sway
Here we do not have a foot pivot on the first step, instead the hips turn while the foot maintains something related to its initial alignment - though the man may want to toe in a bit. The real key though is the pointing alignment on step 5 - without further turning his left foot, the man opens the right side of his body and starts to point his foot towards the center. This opens a path for the lady to swing forwards across her step 4, gradually developing into a sideswing - and the sideswing results in a sway.
In contrast to the spin turn, we have no pivot on step four, man's hips opening and feet seperating to nearly 135 degrees rather than staying in CBMP, and a bit of sway developing. However, we can still make a sort of spin turn of it - from a slightly more compact pointing alignment at the start of step 5, the man can start to turn his hips more to the right, push forwards, and let his right foot evolve from a sliding toe into a heel lead. As he comes onto the right foot from this right side leading position & left sway position, he has the opportunity to swing the entire left side of his body through to power the rotation at the top of step five.
So while the book spin turn is a simple vertically-aligned figure of steps and pivots, the contemporary spin turn is a blended combination. It first step has the lady swinging past the man, and it's second step has the man swinging from that trailing position to pass the lady. I think a lot of the confusion comes from pretty much everyone dancing the blended spin turn, but often trying to force-fit the technique of the pure spin turn into an explanation of what they are doing!
(As an aside, in the blended spin turn we are taking step 5 with the kind of side lead that I've argued elsewhere to be improper for step 1 of a natural turn. While this does set up the potential for a huge swing, I don't feel that one can properly take an initial step forward with a side lead, since doing so requires sending the moving foot ahead of the body. In this spin turn case, step 5 ends up looking like an initial step taken with side lead, but in fact comes about as a result of swing out of step 4. The man's right leg does not reach ahead of the body, rather it is placed as an extension of the right side of his body as a result of sideswing.)
The original:
Man:
4. LF back with CBM, down LOD toe turned in, THT, making 1/2 turn to R (pivot), no rise, no sway
5. RF forward in CBMP, facing LOD, HT, continuing to turn, rise end of 5, no sway
6. LF to side and slightly back, backing DC, TH, 3/8 between 5-6, Up lower end of 6, no sway
Lady:
4. RF forward with CBM, facing LOD, HT, making 1/2 turn to R (pivot), no rise, no sway
5. LF back and slightly to side, backing LOD, T, continue to turn, rise end of 5, no sway
6. RF diag forward having brushed, facing DC, TH, 3/8 between 5-6, up lower end of 6, no sway
Basically, this describes a step 4 that consists of a vertically aligned, 1/2 turn true pivot, in which man and lady both rotate over the ball of their foot and change places. The man is instructed to hold his free right foot in CBMP, which is to say in a line in front of his pivoting left. As the pivot completes, the man steps forward on a heel, then into the toe and rises. The lady steps essentially backwards onto her toe and rises directly from it, without the heel ever lowering. As they reach the top of the rise, a second spin of 3/8 turn occurs to achieve the final alignment. Step 6 is relatively obvious.
This is a fairly boring spin turn by today's standards, though it might be worth learning to really do it. In particular, many fail to execute a real pivot on step 4, and a real forwards step (with heel lead) on step 5, leading to instability. But part of the confusion for beginners may be that advanced dancers are generally doing a different sort of spin turn.
I'll call it a blended spin turn, because it consists of a watered down version of the book spin turn, superimposed on the action of a backwards natural turn. To review for a moment, the intersting two steps of a back natural are:
Man:
4. LF back with CBM, backing LOD, TH, commence to turn R, com to rise end of 4 NFR, no sway (initially)
5. RF to side, pointing DC, T, 3/8 between 4-5 body turns less, continue to rise on 5-6, left sway
Lady:
4. RF forward with CBM, facing LOD, HT, commence to turn R, commence to rise end of 4, no sway
5. LF to side, backing center, T, 1/4 between 4-5, continue to rise on 5 and 6, right sway
Here we do not have a foot pivot on the first step, instead the hips turn while the foot maintains something related to its initial alignment - though the man may want to toe in a bit. The real key though is the pointing alignment on step 5 - without further turning his left foot, the man opens the right side of his body and starts to point his foot towards the center. This opens a path for the lady to swing forwards across her step 4, gradually developing into a sideswing - and the sideswing results in a sway.
In contrast to the spin turn, we have no pivot on step four, man's hips opening and feet seperating to nearly 135 degrees rather than staying in CBMP, and a bit of sway developing. However, we can still make a sort of spin turn of it - from a slightly more compact pointing alignment at the start of step 5, the man can start to turn his hips more to the right, push forwards, and let his right foot evolve from a sliding toe into a heel lead. As he comes onto the right foot from this right side leading position & left sway position, he has the opportunity to swing the entire left side of his body through to power the rotation at the top of step five.
So while the book spin turn is a simple vertically-aligned figure of steps and pivots, the contemporary spin turn is a blended combination. It first step has the lady swinging past the man, and it's second step has the man swinging from that trailing position to pass the lady. I think a lot of the confusion comes from pretty much everyone dancing the blended spin turn, but often trying to force-fit the technique of the pure spin turn into an explanation of what they are doing!
(As an aside, in the blended spin turn we are taking step 5 with the kind of side lead that I've argued elsewhere to be improper for step 1 of a natural turn. While this does set up the potential for a huge swing, I don't feel that one can properly take an initial step forward with a side lead, since doing so requires sending the moving foot ahead of the body. In this spin turn case, step 5 ends up looking like an initial step taken with side lead, but in fact comes about as a result of swing out of step 4. The man's right leg does not reach ahead of the body, rather it is placed as an extension of the right side of his body as a result of sideswing.)
For now, just enjoying reading this. I guess you must have talked to kitty about this?