"Wherever you go, you represent the team. You will talk like, you will look like and you will act like the most dignified professional in your hometown" - Vince Lombardi to his players.

I know and use the back spot turn, but don't think I know what the forward spot turn is.

"Wherever you go, you represent the team. You will talk like, you will look like and you will act like the most dignified professional in your hometown" - Vince Lombardi to his players.

[This message was edited by Administrator on 12-16-01 at 10:29 AM.]

Is your technique of transferring weight while straightening a bent knee due to comfort or style? The reason I ask because if I transfer weight on a bent knee it feels uncomfortable after doing it for a long time, say 3 or 4 consecutive songs. I resort to your technique when that happens but some people think I am not doing it right and calls it hybrid, not really American.

Can you describe the fan? it's possible that I know it, but by another name.

"Wherever you go, you represent the team. You will talk like, you will look like and you will act like the most dignified professional in your hometown" - Vince Lombardi to his players.

That would be the simple and a-technical description

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." - Horace

Ladies: Chachacha to the right (men's left!), walk past him, turn around 180 degrees (facing the gent), do a hiptwist, walk back, do a spot turn (In'tl Style Spot Turn!) and return in dance position. (This is danced holding just the gent's left-hand.)

Men: Let the lady chachacha to the right, turn 90 degrees by moving weight from Left to Right to Left leg, chachacha's, let the lady turn underneath left arm and return in dance position.'

I'm sure Jonathan (or anyone else for that matter!!) is better at explaining this Hope it helped though!

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." - Horace

It's due to style. I'm a strong beleiver in progress, and I think that the dancers of both American and Int'l styles have quite a bit they can learn from each other. There is a group of people out there who complain that the line between the Latin and the Rhythm is becoming mre and more blurred as time goes on. I don't necessarily disagree with them... I just don't see it as a bad thing. If American Rhythm's identity is based entirely on a slight modification of leg action, I think it has a lot more soul-searching to do.

I'm also curious as to why the "purists" -- that is to say, those who beleive in mantaining the status quo for the sake of authenticity -- think that there's anything authentic at all about either form of Rumba. I understand those who seek to preserve the authenticity of Lindy Hop or Argentine Tango, but American Rumba & Cha Cha are hybrids themselves; The usage of the bent leg action is not inherently Latin and does not date back to the origins of Rumba. It's only as authentic as Arthur Murray.

So since we've established why I don't mind changing the technique, the next question is: Why do I prefer another version? I'll talk about the answer on two levels: One competitive, and one social.

I beleive that bent leg action is inherently less competitive, movement-wise. It's restrictive to the type of movement which wins competitions. So it's no wonder that most of the top 6 couples in Rhythm have abandoned it. The most noted exception is the champions themselves, Bob & Julia. But I will argue, as most have, that it's not their leg action that puts them on top.

On the social and teaching level, I think bent leg action has too many potential pitfalls, caused either by misinterpretation of the technique by the teacher, or by the student's lack of ability. Whatever the reason for the less-than-perfect technique, the fact is that less-than-perfect bent leg action is very problematic. Most students, as well as many teachers (predominantly those who work in the chain schools, who are the biggest advocates of this technique), dance with centers dropped, too much pressure into the leading foot, and action restriced to the lower body in a "wiggly" fashion (especially offensive on men). And while bent leg action does not absolutely require that you have these faults, it does invite the problems in with all but the best dancers.

The way I teach American Rhythm technique to my students does not entirely abandon the look of the bent leg action. But it does do away with many of the potential problems, and I beleive, puts the focus in the right place. You still present a bent leg prior to weight transfer, giving it a very different look than the Int'l style... It still appears as a bent leg action. And of course, some weight does go onto bent leg, since the straightening and weight transfer occur simoultaneously. But it puts much more emphasis on the leg you're leaving, helping to improve the quality of movement, keeping the center picked up, and taking pressure away from the landing foot.

All just my observations through my own experiences dancing, teaching and competing. I don't consider those who prefer to teach the old school method wrong in any way. In fact, one of the couples we feature on our website quite frequently does prefer this method. We may even use them to teach the basics, when we get around to redoing them. I'll probably ultimately try to think of a clever way to represent both techniques.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com

Many of the identical or similar patterns have different names, so it helps to familiarize yourself with the language of the other team. For example, a Back Spot Turn is known as a Natural Top, while the Forward Spot Turn is known as Reverse Top. Crossovers are New Yorkers, Back Crossovers are called Hand to Hand, and here's a confusing one for you: The Walkaround Turn (some call it Crossover Turns) are known to Int'l dancers as Spot Turns (not to be confused with the American style Back Spot Turn, which of course is a Natural Top).

There actually is no Cross-Body Lead in the Int'l Cha Cha syllabus, but most Int'l dancers can follow it anyway because it's a common variation for them. And it's just a hair's difference from the Fan (especially when the Fan is taken following an Opening Out).

For competitive and scholastic dancers (or just perfectionists in general), there is a slight difference in the technique of the leg action... although I always emphasize that this is not as big a difference as most people seem to think. It is said that the American style uses a "bent" leg action while Int'l uses a "straight" leg action. This is slightly misleading, as it implies that American style dancers always have their legs bent and Int'l style dancers never bend their knees. The truth is, both groups do basically the same thing (with a few noted exceptions). They begin with two straight legs, then bend one of them, and then straighten it again.

The difference is this: American style dancers bend the leg, transfer the weight onto the bent leg, and then straighten it. Int'l dancers bend the leg, and then straighten it immediately prior to placing weight on it. That's it... just a slight difference in the timing of the action.

It should also be noted that many American style dancers these days are intentionally steering away from the original timing, which was completing the transfer of weight 100% before commencing the straightening. Nowadays many of them (myself included) prefer to present the bent leg, but then to straighten it as the weight is being transferred.

It's also important to realize that there are many examples of completely straight leg actions in American style, as well as bent leg actions in Int'l style. I would never teach a student to use the bent action on the first step of a Walkaround Turn; For that, I use the extended leg just as in Int'l style. All of my Cha Cha locks and chasses are danced identically in both styles (although some purists will argue against this). Even Int'l style dancers use the bent leg in figures such as the Advanced Hip Twists, among others. They even have an official name for it: The "Pressed Forward Walk". So next time an Int'l dancer comes up to you and asks, "How come you guys use that funny leg action all of the time?", you just tell them that you're doing a Pressed Forward Walk. And tell that that if it's so funny, then they should stop doing it on all of their Advanced Hip Twists.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com

I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of removing the quote from your post. Unless you're referring to something specific that was said, quotes aren't generally necessary here, since the source message appears directly below the reply anyway.

As for describing the patterns, I'll leave that to others here (thanks, Michelle). I'm actually working right now on laying out the man's & lady's technical descriptions in the new "Learn the Dances", so you can check them out there when I get to them. And of course eventually I'll get those video clips up there, which will be even better.

Sincerely,
Jonathan