Ballroom Blitz #036

Video

youtu.be/T29HH__tWoM

Transcript

Ian: Hey random dancer on the internet. My name's Ian,

Lindsey: and my name's Lindsey,

Ian & Lindsey: and this is a Ballroom Blitz.

Ian: Welcome blitzers, today on Ballroom Blitz we are returning to the field of Rumba and we're going to start from the Fan Position, fan related links in the description, and we're going to be doing a figure called the Hockey Stick. Let's have a look.

[Demonstration without music]

Ian: So this figure commences in the Fan Position and we have done a blitz on the fan we will leave the link in the description. The first two steps from fan position are the classic gimme steps whether you're doing it in Rumba or Cha, we'll go over those and they will be a stock standard no matter what figure you would do from that position.

Once we're from there there's a very specific lead to get us into the Hockey Stick, and once we know we're in the Hockey Stick it's all systems go, we just need to stay nice and compact. Let's break it down and have a deeper look. Leads if you have arrived at Fan Position your first two steps the two-three whether it's Rumba or Cha always will be to step forward on your left foot, two, at this point you're also going to inspire the follow to close their feet, but I'll let Lindsey cover the follow steps in a moment, and in classic Cuban style we're going to take the three beat to rock back into position.

[Demonstration of Leaders steps 1 and 2]

Ian: From here leads it's all systems go this is where you have to push the BIG red button and start telling the follow exactly what you are leading. In this case you are going to imagine there is a massive ray of light coming from your upper left corner and you must block it out, you must block out the sun, you must put your left hand almost over your right shoulder if it doesn't get this far across you're leading the follow in[to] No Man's Land. If You Lead the follow to no man's land they won't do this figure.

So, after steps one and two taken on beats two and three, as is normal with our Cuban timing, I am going to now close my feet on the classic four and one and mix it with my arm work lead.

[Demonstration of Leaders steps 1 to 3]

Lindsey: For the followers steps if we've just been put into Fan Position we would have just gone backwards on our left foot leaving our right foot ready to move. Our lead is about here, if you can imagine them, so they've got a hand here we should feel as they're taking their forward step a slight pressure through the hand that encourages us to draw our right foot underneath us and put our weight onto it. So our first step isn't actually taking us anywhere it's switching feet so it's, two, and I'm now ready to use my left foot.

If you want to be fancy you can put a little bit of a ronde action in there, but we still need to switch our feet so we've got on beat, two, ready to go on our left foot now. And that step will be forwards we will be starting to draw in front of our partner starting to shift towards them. The movement of the hand from the leader at this point, doing that blocking the sun movement bringing it across, will encourage us to take another forward step and this will truly bring us right in front of them.

So my first three steps here are:

[Demonstration of Followers steps 1 to 3]

Ian: Now that you can see us in Fan Position you will notice that as I take my step forward I'm going to give a slight push to encourage the follow to close their feet

Two.

I'm now going to allow my arm to draw back as I rock

Three.

and this is where the lead happens I'm going to bring this arm up block out the sun the hand position will have to change because I can't hold my palm in the same position and take my arm across so let that happen as I close my feet and encourage the follow through onto her step.

[Demonstration of steps 1 to 3]

Ian: From this position you will notice that the follower walks dead forward. Follows you don't want to think, "oh, I know it's a Hockey Stick", and start to move it towards the final position, and leads you don't want to think, "oh, it's a Hockey Stick", I need to move my follow to that final position. We're about to get really compact we need to keep each other close just for a few steps like so.

Two.

Three.

Walking forward, and there is very little space at this point between lead and follow.

Ian: At this point leads, we are committed to a Hockey Stick and we have to coordinate our arms and our feet. We have just closed our feet brought our arm to the leading position and our follow is now in front of us. We're due to take our right foot into a step and we're going to step on the spot backwards into a Cuban cross. And why I say on the spot backwards I don't want you to step back and I don't want you to move anywhere else I want you to stay on the spot but take a Cuban cross to put tension across your hips.

That's the footwork. The arm work in this next step is you have to encourage the follow to turn in the opposite direction. You're going to give a slight push with your arm. At this point we will now be approaching a tandem style position, so one behind the other a single file if you were to take a profile position, ready so that the next step I can step out, following the follower and then enter the last phase of the figure.

[Demonstration of Leaders steps 4 to 5]

Lindsey: Followers we would have just taken that right foot forward and we're going to continue with some forward work, but the effect of the leader doing their Cuban cross and that sort of slight push forward is that our forward step won't continue along that same line we're on it will switch us to that one there. So, it's just an eighth [1/8] of a turn to the left. If you were sort of straight with the walls you'll end up on a diagonal at that point. So our next two steps are two forward steps along that new line we've got;

[Demonstration of Followers steps 4 to 5]

Ian: Now it is important at that portion of the figure that we have taken a forward step both lead and follow. We're about to turn the follow back to a open facing position but we haven't done it yet we have to land that step first. At this point leads we have all of our weight over our left foot, we have taken step five, we have followed the follower out in a tandem style position, and now we are going to drop this arm. The drop of the arm after we have landed the step, will inspire the follow to turn in place, between steps five and six we have to land the step first, and then make the turn.

Lindsey: Now followers this is where we have landed step five it's forwards on our right foot even though we know at this point, we're pretty sure it's a Hockey Stick and that we are going to turn to face our partner again, we don't want to do it ourselves. Just the action of Ian dropping that hand very neatly turns me for me and at the time that the leader wants me to turn. So I get to do not much there at all except just be ready to be turned.

Ian: Now that we have made that turn between steps five and six all we have to do is finish the figure. The last step of the figure, now that we've returned to an open facing position, is a straight walk four-one forward on the right for the leads back on the left for the follows

[Demonstration with counts]

[Demonstration with music]

Ian: And that is it for the Hockey Stick in Rumba. If you're wondering why it's called a Hockey Stick it traces the shape of an American ice-hockey stick. So, if you are sitting here in Aussie land going what's that all about where we only have field hockey; that's where it comes from. If it helps call it the dog leg it just helps give you that shape. You really want that eighth of a turn into tandem position, and then that nice sharp half a turn back right at the end. Don't turn it all yourself, try and keep that creative tension, help each other, have fun with this on the floor and go kick some goals. We'll see you next time.