Ballroom Blitz #127

Open Natural Turn in Tango - Aug 15, 2024

Transcript

Ian: Hey guys and gals on the internet. My name is Ian,

Lindsey: and my name's Lindsey,

Ian: and welcome to

Ian & Lindsey: Ballroom Blitz.

Ian: Hello Ballroom Blitzers, welcome back to another Ballroom Blitz. We're in the Tango world today. We're going to be smashing out a super easy, very underused move. It is the Open Natural Turn in your Tango. Let's have a look.

[Demonstration without music]

Ian: Now it is quite common to do the Open Reverse Turn in Tango, and there are three versions of your reverse turn that are listed in most of your dancing resources; with the Lady Outside version, the Lady In Line version, and then the Basic version with the Viennese Cross. This is modeled pretty much exactly off the Lady In Line version of the Reverse Turn, but we're turning in the natural direction.

It follows all the same ballroom rules, it's a natural turn, it's turning clockwise, it's an open turn, there's no bringing your feet together, although being Tango, you could do that at the end, although I don't personally recommend it, but I'll leave that up to you; and if we think of it as the In Line version, where in the middle, in the guts of that, section, we are stepping in line down the floor, Follower coming forward, Leader going backward, then it's pretty much the opposite, of your Open Reversed Turn (Lady In Line). If [if] you know that, well, you might be able to stop the video here and just say “I'll try it on the other foot”, if it's a little bit new to you or if you want to play it out, stay tuned.

We're going to take you through step by step, but you will see a lot of similarities with this move that will come up with other figures in other dancers. We're turning clockwise. We're taking six steps. We're turning about three quarters (3/4) of a turn and we're turning in the natural direction. So let's have a look at the Open Natural Turn.

Ian: Leaders, my line of dance is this way. I'm ready to turn clockwise by using my right foot. Being a Tango, we're going to adopt the Tango-esque rhythm of Quick-Quick Slow, so there's no real, power drive step. But that's kind of common in some of your Tango figures, where we're starting with quicker beats and having the slow in the middle, and if I follow my, in line, taking my partner with me idea, I'm going to step forward Quick; I'm going to turn in a clockwise direction around them, Quick; and I'm going to let them step in line with a nice heel step, Slow; and I'm going to do the back half of that letting them step forward at me, Quick; I allow them to turn around me, Quick; and then walk forward out, Slow; and it really is as simple as that.

If we obey our Tango “rules”, such as they are, we're going to stay low, we're going to be, taking our choice of slow. Whether you want to dance early or slower or have a staccato type slow, however you want to style it up, that's fine. But if we adopt our tango position, frame and rules, we have our Quick. Quick. Slow. Quick. Quick. Slow. and that's that's pretty much as easy as that. The reason it doesn't get used as much is the entrance and exits; there aren't as many. But, that's why I think it's a really great social figure to have in your back pocket. Because if you get into a position that's a little bit foreign, if you know that you can do this, you might be able to wangle your way out of it without having to stop on the floor, and then restart in a more familiar position.

Lindsey: Followers, let's have a look at our steps. It's the natural opposite of what the leaders are doing. So, that's my line of dance, just so I can start facing you. I'm going to head backwards towards, diagonal wall ready on my left foot, and again, I have a Quick Quick Slow. By the end of this first half I will be the one going forward down line of dance.

So I have a: Quick, going backwards on my left foot, I'll feel my lead to start to take us around to the right, which means my next step will be a bit of a side step, and then by step three, I will have a nice sort of forward step in line with my partner's slow on my left. This is perfect because now I'm ready to sort of give some power with my right foot to keep that right turn going in the second half.

So another Quick Quick Slow. I start by going forward, Quick; that's through my partner's feet, it's in line, they take me to the side to continue the turn, Quick; and finishing off with a Slow backwards on my right foot. So, the whole thing should, turn about, three quarters (3/4) of a turn and great for getting a little bit of distance down the floor.

[Demonstration with counts]

[Demonstration with music]

Ian: Well, guys and gals, there we go, the Tango version of the Open Natural Turn. Of course, like most of these turns, you will get crossovers into other dances, and like all of these turns, you can pretty much break them in half and just use the first three steps or the last three steps as needed. But you get all six of them, if you want to, and it's a really good one if you're needing to get around the floor a little bit more and you just find yourself in maybe a peculiar position for your Tango, you know that you can do pretty much the opposite of your Open Reverse Turn, which I think is more broadly used; but only because it's in the books and this one isn't! So keep it in your back pocket, get out and dance your social Tango. It's a lot of fun. You will really, really enjoy it. When we just get up and get a little bit more experience on the floor. So try it out, let us know how you go. Tell us what else you would like us to blitz on the channel, but for now from us, we will see you next time.

Ian: Well, that's it for today's blitz boys and girls. Don't forget to like,

Lindsey: comment,

Ian: share,

Lindsey: and subscribe.

Ian & Lindsey: Bye!

Lindsey: That’s a keeper!