In Basic Movement of Chacha. There are 3 types: Closed Basic, Open Basic, In-place Basic. But as I know, there is still Alternative Basic (Some manuals put it at the Gold level, but I think it should be at Bronze and a part of Basic Movement).

On the website following
http://www.usistd.org/standards/international_latin/index.cfm

I see that there are some figures:

Compact Chasse
Alternative Compact Chasse
Ronde Chasse
Twist Chasse
Slip Chasse
Runaway Chasse

The about figures are new ones? I don't see them before in ISTD syllabus. Could anyone explain that? and show me the description of steps? Thank a lot.

Waltz2u

To the best of my knowledge, the ISTD has never included the Alternative Basic Movement as a figure in Cha Cha. They only do this in Rumba. I cannot speak for the IDTA, Guy Howard, or any others.

Of course, that doesn't mean that such a figure doesn't exist. It just means you can't dance it during your ISTD exam, or during a syllabus-based closed dance competition. But for all other circumstances -- why not? If it's something you like to do, do it!

As for the various types of chasse (eg Compact, Ronde, Twist, Slip, etc), these are not actual figures. They are basic components -- building blocks, if you will -- from which figures are comprised.

The following are examples of basic elements: The forward check, the back break, and the basic chasse. If you put these elements together in the right order, you can form a figure known as the Cha Cha Basic Movement. Add some rotation in the right places, and you can also use the same elements to form New Yorkers, Hand to Hand, Shoulder to Shoulder, and others.

So the Chasses that you listed are nothing more than basic elements which go into the figures listed in the syllabus. Some of these elements are fundamental to the figure; Others are alternatives to a more basic version. For example, a standard side chasse is considered to be a basic element of the man's part of the figure known as 'Hockey Stick'. But in place of the standard side chasse, he can also dance a compact chasse, a slip chasse, or a ronde chasse (although the latter is considered to be more advanced, and may be restriced to higher levels). Whichever type of chasse he choses to dance, he's still dancing the figure known as 'Hockey Stick'.

Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson

As Jonathan said, I don't believe the Alternative Basic Movement is in the ISTD cha cha syllabus. Rumba, yes, but not cha cha. I don't think the IDTA includes it in cha cha either, but those books aren't here for me to check right now. As he also said, thost chasses aren't separate figures, but just alternate ways of dancing the chasse in some figures. Since he covered that "basic elements" idea, I'll try to briefly describe some of the chasses for you. I can get the books out later if you need corrections or better descriptions than these.

The Compact Chasse I think is just a chasse in place, one foot closes, change weight, change weight. I'm not sure about the Alternative Compact Chasse though. It might resemble a Cuban Break (or split one), but I can't really remember off hand. The Ronde Chasse is where the man will swing the LF around to the side and back in a ronde ending behind the RF on the first step of the chasse. I've always finished it with a RF close, LF side, but the book might have it printed slightly differently. The Twist Chasse resembles a hip twist action, hence the name. I think it's usually done by taking the RF fwd and across to the left, closing LF to RF with a hip twisting action, then RF side, but I might need to check it. The Slip Chasse is something like a Stationary Samba Walk -- step LF back, slip RF back a bit, close LF to RF (perhaps slightly forward, I forget). The Runaway Chasse is something the lady does, but I don't know it well enough to describe it. I think it involves her moving away from you first, then turning back to you to finish the chasse. I'd need the book to describe it better.

You can fit these in various places depending on which foot you have free and what your preference is. If I want to lead an Alemana from open facing position, I'll usually use a Slip Chasse after my forward break. I normally use a Ronde Chasse on 3-5 of a Hockey Stick. The Twist Chasse could be used on 8-10 of a Fan say. As I said, if I had the book I could do better, but this is what I remember off hand. I hope this helps.

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