Hello!

I was very surprised to see that the variation of the week is a Samba with the Corta Jaca. Check it out at: https://www.ballroomdancers.com

It looks a lot as how we have learned it. The rhythm is the same (a1 a2). We turn in the Corta Jaca, but that's just a variation.

Fred Bolder
fghb@xs4all.nl http://www.xs4all.nl/~fghb/ballroom.htm

[This message has been edited by Fred Bolder (edited 06-06-2000).]

Thanks Dronak re:Corta Jaca
I have another question. Can anyone explain the "Chicken Walks" please?Also, what are the arm movements to accompany the footwork?

Regarding leading the Corta Jaca in samba, here's what I remember being taught in my classes. Speaking from a leader's perspective, the first step is supposed to be strong, without bounce, and using a heel lead. I think we were also told that it helps for the leader to drop the joined hands down to about hip level before the first step. Since I forgot to write this down, I don't recall exactly what the reason for doing this was. I think it was to help indicate that the next figure was the Corta Jaca and that when combined with the strong first forward step, a slightly more open position can be created (leader leading follower away slightly through the joined hands) which I think makes the figure a little easier to dance (you have a little more room to do the required actions). Someone else might be able to give a better answer, but I hope this helps.

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James Marshall
marshall@astro.umd.edu
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall

What is the lead for the Corta Jaca? I find lots of males have very weak leads and this makes following almost impossible.

Well Phillip, I'm glad you've started a new topic. After all, there is a lot to talk about the Samba rhythms. Everytime there was a new reply, I had to print the whole long story. I follow this discussion with interest.

It's all very funny. A lot of dancers including me come with a very long explanation and think that he or she is right. I think it is very hard to find out what the original Corta Jaca figure is. You can read a lot of books, but as Weddingdance wrote "Different books can say different things and it's open to interpretation".
And as Reyesuela wrote, there is a differents between social and competitive dancing.

4 quicks... 10 quicks and now 6 quicks. I have learned the Corta Jaca with 8 quicks. Let's look at it the other way. Perhaps the Corta Jaca is just the movement heal, replace weight, toe, replace weight. Ofcourse, you can use a lot of different rhythms and variations.

I have asked my teacher about the Corta Jaca and he explained me that we learn one of the many variations of the Corta Jaca.

If you dance a jive, you have two rhythms for the same figure. It depends on the music. You can have the beat values 1 - 1 - 1/2 - 1/2 - 1 - 1/2 - 1/2 -1 or 1 - 1 - 2/3 - 1/3 - 1 - 2/3 - 1/3 - 1. The last one is with triples.

I think every dance-teacher teaches in a different way. It's a pity that not everybody learns the same basic figures. This could be a problem if you want to dance with somebody from another dance school, but it could be exciting too!

If you don't understand the rhythm of a figure, you have to contact your teacher in the first place, but most of the time that isn't easy.
I thought there was only one way to dance the Corta Jaca. We have learned the Corta Jaca with a strange rhythm a1 a2 a3 a4, so you start the figure before count 1. I thought that Carol didn't understand that rhythm, because the basic rhythm is easy. That's why I replied to the topic.

Fred

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