Ballroom Blitz #073

Video

youtu.be/DlEFyNp180U

Transcript

Ian: Why hello there random dancer on the internet. My name's Ian,

Lindsey: and my name's Lindsey,

Ian & Lindsey: and this is a Ballroom Blitz!

Lindsey: Welcome back dancers back to another Ballroom Blitz we are going to be doing a modern Waltz figure for you. Today it is called Chasses from Promenade Position.

Now this particular figure is a lovely one and it can be quite a useful one on the ballroom floor as well, because it can give you a little bit of distance to a better spot on the floor. Very versatile but of course, as the name suggests, is from Promenade Position. It does assume that you have done a figure just beforehand that actually brings you to Promenade.

[Demonstration without music]

Lindsey: So as you can see, Ian and I started in that Promenade position, ready to come through on our back foot for our drive step, that will be on step one. The Chasse itself takes up the rest of that bar and because there are three footfalls for it we want to speed up the steps a little bit so we have a timing of Two-and Three or a Quick-Quick Slow to complete that Chasse, and then of course we need to have a step after that. The reason that it's included is that it will always pass outside of partner. So you would have seen at the end of that demonstration that Ian stepped past me on his right foot and would have gone into the next figure using that drive, probably some kind of natural turn.

Ian: Alrighty leaders, you are going to commence this figure on your right foot having got to Promenade somehow. It's quite common to get to this with a Whisk, but you'll still be using your right foot. So we're going to take a walk, and then a Chasse, and then as Lindsay described there's a fifth step, a walk outside a partner; so you can think of this as a Chasse sandwich, if you like. We take a walk to get some power we do our Chasse of Step-Close-Step, closing the follow to Closed Position over that; I'll let Lindsey talk more about that. Here from the open footed position, pretty much as with all our open footed ending positions in Waltz it's consistent to take this drive step outside of partner into whatever comes next.

Lindsey: Followers I'm going to change my line of dance, I'm going to say it's down this away. Now, Ian was ready to drive through on his right foot, I'm ready to drive through on my left. Because we are in Promenade position we both get to drive a forward step there. So I am stepping through on one on my left foot, my Chasse will continue me down the floor with a right-together-right. Nice sort of rise up through that, then lowering over that bar, so we get that nice floaty feel for our Waltz. But another important element is that I start in Promenade, the leader then uses their frame to turn me back to Closed as I do that Chasse. So you can see the difference in my head, I was looking forward down the floor, by the time I finish my Chasse I am looking back over to my left, and I am no longer the one who can see which way we're going, that's why the leader has the forward step after that, and I am going backwards for that final step on my left. So if I demonstrate that again I have looking forward closing up and back and there's a fair turn of the head as I go.

Now, we have demonstrated this move with that closing of the frame so we started in Promenade and ended in Closed and that is the base idea with this move. But the leaders do have the choice to use their frame to keep their partner in Promenade, and then go into another figure that starts in Promenade after that, so it is under the leader's control.

[Demonstration with music]

Lindsey: There you go dancers, that was the Chasse from Promenade for the Modern Waltz. So, try it out, it's a beautiful move, it's a nice versatile one you can make it nice and swoopy and make it feel absolutely glorious. So give it a try, leave a comment below as to what else you would like to see in our blitzes, and we'll see you next time.