Notes on private class, 22 November 2009

24th November 2009

We covered the following topics:

Ochos

Footwork

For footwork purposes, an ocho is:

  1. a step
  2. a collection
  3. a pivot

Treat these as separate actions - e.g. don't try to pivot before collecting. (The collection is important: it ensures you keep your feet together, which helps your balance and also looks better).

Balance: a couple of points:

  • Worth practicing - stand on one leg for a minute a day.
  • When stepping, if you push off correctly, you'll arrive correctly - so you won't need to have good balance to correct any problems.

Chestwork - dissociation

For "chestwork", you should always dissociate to ensure that your chest faces the leader whilst stepping. This dissociation ("torque" / "twist") will allow you to pivot without needing momentum.

Dissociation is powered by the lat (Latissimus dorsi) muscles. Try to engage these muscles whilst pivoting.

If you dissociate properly, and use the lats, you should be able to pivot at any point and at (almost) any speed - it's good practice to see if you can pivot really slowly, as this avoids use of momentum or "shoulder swinging" to pivot you around.

For more information

See Ghost Guide to Ochos.

Giros

Chair exercise

Always aim to keep the feet the same distance from the relevant chair leg at the start and the end of each step.

The chair exercise is artificial - people aren't chairs - but it's a useful learning tool.

Notes on tempo

In a 4-step 360-degree giro, there are two pivot steps, and two non-pivoting steps. It's OK - in fact, it's natural - to take the non-pivoting steps at a faster tempo than the pivoting steps.

So the natural tempo would be something like this:

  1. Forward step and pivot: slow
  2. Side step and back pivot: slow
  3. Back step: quick
  4. Side step: quick

The trick is to then slow down again (for the forward-step-and-pivot), so as not to overtake your leader.

In addition, make the quicker steps smaller to keep your overall speed of rotation around your partner constant; if you're doing them at twice the speed, make them half the size.

For more information

See Ghost Guide to Giros.

Free leg movements

Boleos

"Boleos" ("whips") are a good exercise to work on freeing the leg movement up.

Try to focus the enrgy below the knees - keep the legs together.

Overpowered ochos

Boleos can be used for overpowered ochos - that is, ochos where the leader provides extra time or energy for you to use.

You can always choose to amplify this energy, to accept it, or to dampen it down.

For more information

See Ghost Guide to Boleos.

Related articles

- David Bailey, 24th November 2009