Latin Turns

[samina]

have been practicing 180 turns without thinking about it, just feeling the mechanics as they want to move through my body, and the sequence of rotation in my body on the turn is torso-hips-head.

is this technically correct? it's been awhile since i worked on this with an instructor...

hoping that's the case, because it's moving so fluidly in that sequence.

 

[latingal]

mmmm....I might describe it differently. For a three step turn:

- full weight transfer with alignment,
- coupled with contrabody "windup", (ends first step)
- shoulders initiate the turn,
- closing of the body powered by the core and "unwinding" of the body,
- change of weight balance point with spotting, (ends second step closing of feet)
- aligned weight transfer pushing from foot to foot (ends third step)

I would guess what you're feeling naturally is the contrabody wind up and unwinding.

 

[samina]

yes, i have the winding up, unwinding going on, which is why it feels so good, so natural.

from your description, it sounds like the sequence confirmation i was after is correct, with the torso initiating the movement and the core/hips coming around after that, with the head coming around last.

thanks, LG.

 

[latingal]

no worries sam. just a little note, full weight transfer on the first step before starting the actual turning, and emphasizing the closing of the turn is very important in latin turns (otherwise you end up with a chaine turn from ballet).

 

[samina]

yes, understood. thanks.

 

[ireniecat]

no worries sam. just a little note, full weight transfer on the first step before starting the actual turning, and emphasizing the closing of the turn is very important in latin turns (otherwise you end up with a chaine turn from ballet).

I would say that full weight transfer to the "inside" standing leg is what actually initiates the rotation. Then the "outside" shoulder closes the body to complete the rotation. The power of the turn shouldn't come from the shoulders, or you will throw yourself off balance.

 

[latingal]

yes definitely the turn is not powered with the shoulders (as ic mentioned), but the shoulders when used in contra with the body initiates the turn (and yes, you must stay in a aligned vertical axis). the power and/or speed of the turn, comes from the core and unwinding of the contra position.

 

[Jananananana]

I've just started doing 720s and I'm trying to do three threes with them - and they are killer. I can do them maybe 40% of the time. I just feel like I'm never grounded. GRRRR.....

 

[ireniecat]

Jana, what was the last rotation amount you could do before you started having problems? Can you do a 1.5 and 1.75 without problems? If not, go back and build up the rotations gradually in 1/4's... and hold off on putting it into any choreography until you just get the turn on its own. Hope that helps

 

[Jananananana]

Jana, what was the last rotation amount you could do before you started having problems? Can you do a 1.5 and 1.75 without problems? If not, go back and build up the rotations gradually in 1/4's... and hold off on putting it into any choreography until you just get the turn on its own. Hope that helps

That's great advice - I feel like I always have trouble staying grounded with spins and turns and perhaps just in general. It just really frustrates me the most on spins. My DP and I are very competitive with each other and then he can do something I can't I get really motivated to improve - although in this case at times frustrated.

 

[ireniecat]

Sounds like it's time for a lesson on turns! It's great that you and your partner are competitive with each other for motivation, but you should also be supporting each other. You can build bad habits very quickly by trying to get something quickly and artificially. So I would definitely address any cases where either of you aren't getting something, instead of leaving you/him to fend for your/him self.

 

[G809]

So, I'd love to get more detail on how the turn works. Would anyone describe the position before stepping out of the turn as a spiral? Or do the feet come together earlier such that the legs never spiral? Out of curiosity, does this technique differ from dances like Salsa, where ladies often do many turns in a row?