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Personal Advice

·6 mins

Personal advice #

This advice is not verbatim. It is paraphrased in the manner I understood it.

From Chuck Anders:

  • Aim to have fun, stay safe, and dance every song.
  • The most important thing that you can bring to a dance is a smile.
  • Do not prepare twice because it confused the follower.
  • Move up, down, left and right to use all the slot. It makes the dance look good.

From Rick Brunson:

  • After finishing a pattern on step 6 or 8, do not rush immediately into step 1 of the next pattern. There is a whole beat between step 8 and step 1 of the next pattern.
  • When leading a whip, step back on 1 and pull straight back. Do not begin the J-hook prematurely.
  • Tension should reach a maximum at the beginning of a pattern, then decrease, and then increase back again at the end of the pattern.
  • When doing a whip, do not do a round motion, do an L motion. You are standing perpendicular to the follower up to 3& as you let the tension on the follower’s back build up. On 4 you step straight across and slightly forward. On 5 rotate 0.5 turns clockwise on the ball of your left foot as you bring your right foot next to your left foot as if holding a quarter between your ankles. Both of your feet should be pointing at 3 o’clock as opposed to 6 o’clock.

From Ray Trusty:

  • A prep does not happen on step two, it happens between step 1 and 2, when the follower’s left foot is floating and pulling on the arm would cause a rotation on the follower’s right foot. In other words, it is 1-prep-2-3&4 as opposed to 1-prep-3&4.
  • Do not open up you arms when doing a sugar push. Imagine you are holding a piece of paper under each armpit and you do not want the pieces to fall. Only open up your arms is when doing a hustle whip to close the space between you and the follower.
  • Even if you are doing the steps correctly, you must actively lead the follower and move the slot. Otherwise she looks good dancing around you while you look like a pole standing in the middle.

From Bob Wilder:

  • Move your head and shoulders to indicate where you want the follower to go. For example, look over your left shoulder when doing a left-side pass and look over your right shoulder when doing a right-side pass.

  • When leading a whip, on step 1 pull, on step 2 grip the follower’s hand and post it so it does not move. Let the follower walk into the left hand so the momentum causes a clockwise rotation.

  • During a sugar tuck, on step 4 keep your left elbow tucked in and relaxed, not floating. Imagine you are trying to hold a sheet of paper with your armpit.

  • The follower should exert equal and opposite force as the leader to achieve good tension and compression.

    For example, if the leader pulls and slowly increases the force from 1lb to 6lb, then the follower should slowly increase the force with which she pulls back to cancel out that force. This causes tension. If the leader pushes and slowly increases the force from 1lb to 6lb, then the follower should slowly increase the force with which she pushes back to cancel out that force. This causes compression. After about 6lb of force is reached, the follower has a clear indication to move into the direction she is being pulled or pushed into.

  • A good frame consists of having your right hand on the follower’s left shoulder blade and applying pressure, but an excellent frame requires the follower to actively push with her right hand into your left hand to provide some resistance. This allows the leader to use his left hand to move the follower to the back or to the right, and the right hand to move the follower to the front or to the left. This requires the follower to be pressed firmly between the left and right hands, which cannot be done without the follower’s help.

From Damon D’Amico:

  • Don’t step into slot on 4 when doing a left-side pass or a right-side pass. By not walking into the slot you can perform steps 3&4 even if the follower has not finished stepping across the slot. If you step into the slot on 4, you may step on the follower. Also, if you step into the slot on 4, you will be forced to square up on the anchor step and you will be unaligned with the follower instead of being face-to-face.
  • Don’t square up on the anchor step or you will look like a nooby. Use angles.
  • The slot is twice as wide as your body for the chain turn, it not a tight rope. Use the full width when turning, otherwise your feet will get crowded and unbalanced like you are walking on a tight rope.
  • Step 3 on a [free spin] should be a back drop so that backwards your body movement causes the follower to rotate counter-clockwise.

From Jennifer:

  • While leading a [left-side inside chain turn], a [right-side outside chain turn], a [sugar tuck pirouette], or any turn in general, you must use as few fingers as possible to lead follower throughout the rotation. You can use two fingers in chain turns, but you must use one finger for pirouettes. As Jennifer’s instructor told her, this is the only time when a follower will be extremely happy to receive the middle finger.
  • Engage your latissimus dorsi in an [open] position as opposed to using your biceps or forearms so there is a direct connection to your core.
  • Tension and compression are not results of pulling and pushing with your arms, they are the results of standing or stepping on the heels of your feet and standing or stepping on the balls of your feet, respectively. If you stand on your heels there will be tension, and if you stand on your balls there will be compression.

From Rachel Moran:

  • Imagine that you are trying to bring your armpits to the floor in an [open] position such that it puffs out your chest slightly. This should improve the connection to your core.
  • Unlike salsa, WCS does not require you to dance with your knees slightly bent.
  • Unlike Lindy Hop, WCS does not have a mandatory “pulse”, meaning that you don’t have to bend your knees or bounce at the rhythm of the beat. That being said, you can use the pulse if it is a feeling and look you are going for.

From Luke:

  • When stepping backward in a sugar push, do it as if doing a moonwalk, because your feet should remain connected to the slot.
  • When doing a telemark, which is technically a scroll, cut across the slot on 5&6. Do not step around the slot.