Designing Open Routines

[Alexandros]

Hello dancers,

My partner and I just got into open-level dancing. What is some advice on how to begin designing open routines? We intend to use our coach's help for much of the planning, but does anyone search the internet / youtube for inspiring moves that they wish to incorporate?

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Dr Dance]

Never lose your technique that you learned for "closed" routines.

 

[middy]

For what style?

 

[Alexandros]

We certainly aim to incorporate the technique we have learned for closed routines! We dance 10-dance.

 

[middy]

I'm no expert at this, but another take would be starting with a closed version of a step and then turning it into an open version, for example a natural spin turn into a running spin turn. Or a double reverse spin and adding an overspin.

My partner is obsessed with learning open moves on youtube, which in turn have varying degrees of success when he tries to lead me in them.

I would say, balance things you already know with adding new open material - you want that moderate level of difficulty, so a challenge that is doable, rather than something super difficult that will just be frustrating.

 

[joedance]

Hello dancers,

My partner and I just got into open-level dancing. What is some advice on how to begin designing open routines? We intend to use our coach's help for much of the planning, but does anyone search the internet / youtube for inspiring moves that they wish to incorporate?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Rather then going to a completely new open routine, I would pick out phrased blocks of your current routine and replace those blocks with a new set of amalgamations (i.e. replace 8 or 16 bars of Waltz). That way you can make sure you can do each new section block by block so as not to be over-whelmed. This will also force you to pay attention to phrasing. This is similar to middy's comment except at a higher grouping level.

I suggest shying away from you-tube. Better resources are the DVIDA DVD's on open bronze and open silver variations. You can also look at DSI Media's "Popular Variations for Standard Dances". Not sure if there is something similar for Latin. Finally, you have books and DVD's for "A Technique of Advanced Latin American Figures" and "A Technique of Advanced Standard Ballroom Figures". The Standard one has demo's with entrance and exit figures which could be used to build your own amalgamations.

It would be good to run everything by a coach perhaps by bringing them things you want to include and where you want them included and then letting the coach review the final integration.

 

[Alexandros]

That is excellent advice. Thank you so much for the tips!

 

[Dancing Irishman]

Another thing my coach had us do for our rumba routine was take a syllabus step and, rather than going into it the expected way, find a different, creative way to get into it.

For example, we had a fan position to overturned hockey stick we were doing right at the beginning, so instead of getting into it from a back basic to some variation of an open hip twist (like literally every couple that's just starting open latin) he made us come up with an alternative that still incorporated what we liked from our beginning (a press line to solo spin for the lady) while playing with space and timing. Floorcraft and phrasing considerations might make it tougher in standard and samba, but the general idea of starting with a function you want a step to have, coming up with a couple variations, then picking the option that you (collective, not singular) like best is still a pretty cool approach in my view.

We've also had good luck with taking a move we really like from YouTube, then asking a couple layers of "Why do we like it?" to get to what the heart of our variation is about.

And if none of that made any sense, don't worry: it's not you, it's me.

 

[Fallaway]

This is all my personal theory from over the years, so don't take it as a rule but food for thought.

For the standard side of things, one thing that I think helps initially is designing routines so you enter diagonal center from a corner, moving inward on the floor, then progress down the line of dance while in the center area of the floor, and heading back to the corner with a diagonal wall progression. I hope that description makes sense, it's sort of a trapezoid movement. Think foxtrot when you do a feather step then a bounce fallaway and then a three step. This general design of movement works well in general for standard dances.

I find that line figures tend to work best at the end of your central movement before heading diagonal wall into a corner. About 2/3 or so down the long wall. So in Waltz that would be like doing a fallaway reverse split pivot toward the center, then a double reverse spin overspin down line of dance, and continuing into a throwaway oversway, exiting to promenade and doing a fallaway whisk from pp traveling diagonal wall into the corner. I also like line figures like right lunges in the corners themselves.

Again, this is all my personal theory, so just a place to start thinking. Play with variations on syncopation and timing. Good luck, and have fun!!

 

[ajiboyet]

Play with variations on syncopation and timing. Good luck, and have fun!!

This alone can give rise to endless possibilities.

Rather then going to a completely new open routine, I would pick out phrased blocks of your current routine and replace those blocks with a new set of amalgamations (i.e. replace 8 or 16 bars of Waltz).

This is also excellent advice. Do it a LITTLE at a time.

 

[Sania]

both styles:

consider light and shade, fast and slow - you will want to have some contrasts

shape of the routine on the floor - where does it start? If everyone starts at the end of a long wall in standard, have an option in your routine to start on a short wall, or the middle of a long wall. This can even be something that is variable according to number of competitors.

How much of the floor will you cover in a minute and a half? Do you need three or four walls of waltz? 6 or 8 walls of quickstep? How many walls of samba? How does your cha cha migrate? Does it start and end on the same wall?

it's probably good to show a couple of excellent basics

it's always good to start with material that pushes you but that you can execute, then upgrade a section at a time (or even a move or two) later on.

Especially in latin, there seem to be steps / sequences / combinations that are in style at any given time. If you like them and can execute, by all means incorporate them into the routine.

How good do you feel about any given piece of material? There are steps that I think look good on some people, but that I have no interest in dancing myself.