I've recently encountered a problem in transferring some of my competitive dancing figures to the social dancing scene:
I had to explain to the girl I was dancing with how to do cuban breaks as one opens up as in a New Yorker/Promenade in the cha-cha. That was easy enough, but then she asked me how I signal that I want to do that, and my answer was no more than a vague erm... shall we say...
I anticipated the same problem with the toe-heel-swivels in the jive, but we never got to do that because she figured she couldn't move fast enough to keep up con la musica.

So, the question is: How do you signal cuban breaks in the cha and toe heel swivels in the jive??? And this is International style, if that matters.

Philipp,

I wasn't trying to be sarcastic in my answer. So many coaches skip the lead and follow when teaching for competition. When time is short, such as for college students, sacrifices in instruction are necessary. For example here in the US, students are pushed into championship levels by using a routine which includes tons of picture steps. They are a pain to compete against as they are constantly breaking up the natural flow of the dance.
The latin lead requires a tone in the arms which is something that is acquised over time. It usually starts by being rather stiff and softens to the proper tone over a period of time. The lady then can feel each movement of your center through the toned arms. If the lady lacks this tone, there is nothing you can do to overcome this. Practice this by standing facing each other, arms bent at the elbow with the forearm horizontal. Man's hands straight out with palms facing each other, fingers bent with fingers pointing toward eachother. Lady's hands straight out with palms down, with fingers bent over man's fingers. Don't grasp just rest them over the man's. Then just walk the basic steps with the man moving his center with toned arms and the lady following, also with tone. It is almost impossible to describe this. Get your coach to give you the proper feel by doing this with him or her. With a proper tone it is easy to lead anything.
If the lady lacks this, I don't waste my time. It takes two to tango and do any other of the dances. Every good dancer develops this tone to the extent that it is not noticeable to the casual observer. It usually looks rather soft with a quiet topline. My personal test as to how well I am leading is how well I lead the spanish arms in jive.
Again, good luck.

Speaking as a woman, if you change hand positions and don't *lead* the move, I'll stare at you like you've lost your mind. I've lead it myself, though, and the main trick is this: your hand is a part of your body. Your foot is a part of your body. The whole point of connection is to make your hand tell your partner what your foot is doing. The main thing is, as always, frame. Watch someone lead the mores carefully, and you will see the hand move naturally in response to what's happening at the feet. It doesn't have to be a taught move-- I learned it by being lead through it in a social situation a month after I had started dancing. I know this doesn't help too much, but it's hard to really explain-- hence the comment about asking a coach!

Well, thanks, David, for your wise words. But I was really looking for some advice on dancesteps, not on coaches. Actually, I'm being taught by two very good coaches who are really trying to make the most out of my money, as it should be in competitive dancing where the expenditure of time and money on the student's part cannot be too large (yes, full-time university student in a science subject).

Thank you, wedding dancer. You answered half of my question. And this is the non-sarky, honest thank you. Anyone on the cuban breaks?

Hi Belle!

Firstly, thanks for your contribution. The cha-cha step we call the Cuban Breaks can be danced in several ways, but the one I was referring to (hope I'm not repeating myself here) is like this: Leader may do a New Yorker/Promenade to his left, then return to face his partner, and step out (almost) as in a New Yorker to the left, only taking a smaller step (thank you, Phillip!), and actually crossing over the feet to the nearest outside of the couple. The leader's left foot briefly touches the floor (+ hip action), then returns to 2nd position (toes turned out). Throughout, the follower mirrors the leader. They both cross over in the same direction again, and then do the same thing twice towards each other. Then a single time to the outside and once to the inside, step out as in a New Yorker, and return to face each other. Very showy if arms are used well!

Hi Phillip,
For the toe-heel swivels, my partner and I use the change of hand position as the lead.

Phillipp,

I think what David was implying in his original answer was that if the lead is leading properly with the correct tone through his center, and the follower is following properly with the correct tone through to her center, then she shouldn't need to ask what the "signal" is. It will be obvious. Therefore, either you weren't quite taught how to lead it properly or she isn't following well enough.

When I dance cha here with my instructor, he can make me go through all kinds of upper level steps I've never done before, if I just keep my frame and footwork. Sure, it won't have quite the flourish as if I had been taught it ahead of time, but it's still fun to social dance it .

I could have more specific advice for you, except that I don't know the move you are asking about by that name. I do suspect that the real difficulty is in the lead/follow though.

Michelle,

Thank you for your interesting opinion!

Phillip,

Call me a cynic but I've been in dancing for a long, long time and have been teaching ballroom and latin for some time - NEVER BE INTIMIDATED BY SOMEONES MEDAL STANDARD. It means zip. I could get someone who has never danced before in their life to Gold Standard in, at the most, a month. What I mean is that an examiner will pass everyone regardless of how good they are - it's all about money. That's why we don't do medals at our school. We think more of our pupils.

Hi David!

Thanks for your answer. I guess that I was in fact dancing with a lady who didn't have the tone, and I did notice this. However, I was intimidated by the fact that she had completed gold (or even gold bar) level and knew basically all the steps (except for the Cuban breaks, and she couldn't do the toe-heel swivels at speed). It's probably true that my regular partner has a better tone in her arms, so that even though we're dancing a routine in the way you described, we're always doing the same things, i.e. in competitions when I forget to do the Cuban breaks, she follows (obviously, in normal practice, she doesn't do this, trying to "educate" me). I'm not aware of breaking up the natural flow of the dance, but then I don't know exactly what you mean by that!

To conclude this story of a dancesport expedition, it seems to be common in many dance studios in Germany to learn just steps, but not so much leads etc. When you look at the syllabus of bronze steps, for instance, it seems that these might be taught quite quickly, and I know those who go to dance classes go to social dancing as well to 'practise'. It seems to take at least a year, though, for most teachers to get through that syllabus, without teaching any technique (if you just SAW them dance, you'd have to look twice to decide whether it's a cha or a foxtrot they're doing). This seems to be rip-off on a grand scale, a cartel of teachers all agreeing to teach as slowly as they can, in order to get paid more. So I can see your point in warning about inefficient teaching.

Still, just keeping arms toned doesn't help with the Cuban breaks, because the moment that both partners move the arms through as in a New Yorker, the lady needs to know whether to cross over her feet or not. One possibility I can think of is moving arms at a lower level, i.e. at shoulder level for the New Yorker, and 15cm below for the Cuban breaks. This should give good communication without sacrificing on the looks. But it does involve concentration, i.e. hold your arms precisely at either level to avoid miscommunication. I still wonder whether there's an international standard for how to signal Cuban breaks in promenade position.

Thanks, David!