Ballroom Blitz #082

Video

youtu.be/lapF_l9-tM4

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!

Ian: Hello ballroom blitzers, welcome back to the channel. Not so long ago we did this thing called the Basic Weave in Foxtrot. Today we are going to be doing the Basic Weave in Modern Waltz. We're going to have a look at the similarities and the differences so you can an easy two for one out of these same steps.

(demonstration without music)

Ian: So as you can see from that demonstration, and if you have seen the Basic Weave blitz that we did for the Slow Foxtrot, there is a lot of similarities in the steps. Basically because they are almost identical. Where do the differences lie? Well it's basically we're dancing one in Foxtrot, which has some demands of those steps, and today we are dancing them in Modern Waltz, which has a slightly different set of demands on those steps. And this is a good opportunity just to highlight the fact that there is a lot of crossover with steps and ideas in your Modern Ballroom, we see it in the Latin world as well, where dances borrow from each other but then you have to change the execution to suit the style. So probably one of the biggest things that we will work out today is how do you take something that we dance in Foxtrot, which has obviously 4/4 timing with slows and quicks, and how exactly do you put that into a Modern Waltz where you have a One, Two, Three, 3/4 base, where most of the time all of the steps are even. So, let's have a look.

So, we start this figure in the Modern Waltz in exactly the same way as we do the Slow Foxtrot; with that checking action. If you need to recap that, jump back into the Slow Foxtrot video, again link is in the description. But, we are going to check backwards, so we have arrived at the same orientation, or thereabouts, usually with the leader backing diagonal wall, so I would be dancing this way. I'm going to allow the follow to power forward, as they are expecting, I go back on my right foot, check that power, have a nice heel lead forward on step two, this is very unusual for Waltz to take a heel on two but this is one of those exceptions, and now I'm going to step out to the side on three, once again achieving that weave endings critical position; link in the description for Weave Endings. So instead of dancing Slow Quick Quick, as we did in Slow Foxtrot, here we are dancing One, Two, Three, and out of Two and into Three you can start to adopt a little bit more of a Waltz-like rise, rather than keeping it nice and flat for a Foxtrot. So that covers your timing changes and probably the most notable difference between Waltz and Foxtrot, the rise and fall; so that's the first three checking steps.

Once we've hit that critical position, we now have what we have described in the Weave Endings video, and what we saw in the Slow Foxtrot version, four steps to do the actual weave that ends you in sort of a feathered position; that's fairly Foxtrot-ty. So, it might surprise you to know I'm going to do exactly the same four steps, this produces a bit of a dilemma. How do you do the four steps in Modern Waltz timing? We're basically going to take four slows, but appreciate that the very last one, what we would consider a feather type step in our foxtrot, is actually going to be the power step of whatever you choose to follow this with in your Modern Waltz. So if I continue with the same steps we would have One, Two, Three, and now I have to take this step outside. If I was dancing a Foxtrot we would have our toe step, our feather, here, but as I'm dancing a Waltz I'm going to lower at end of three, I'm going to turn this into a heel step, taken outside of partner and into whatever you choose to follow it with. But just noting that you are still dancing four steps, the last step must go out outside of your partner, but it's going to be one of whatever comes next. So if we put all of that together seven steps in total we have One Two Three Four Five Six Seven or if we count it a slightly different way that tracks the bars it will make a bit more sense with a One Two Three One Two Three One of what whatever you're following the figure with.

Lindsey: Followers our experience of the Basic Weave in the Waltz is going to be essentially the natural opposite of what Ian just did for the leader steps. One of the main things that we want to pay attention to though, because this is a Waltz, and we're matching that One, Two, Three, and we've got rise and fall, is that as opposed to our Foxtrot, where we really just had that one drive step, and then it was sort of toe all the way nice and light through, is that we have a second drive step to do on step four. So we had the drive on one, it was checked and brought back against us, but then my step past my partner here that sort of, we've reached the critical position of the Weave, because this is a Waltz Weave, I'm going to have a drive step past. So we want to lower here and take a nice heel, then rise up, and then be ready for our partner to take a drive step past. So that inclusion of the drive steps is one of the big differences that we will feel and we need to be ready for when we take this Foxtrot-ty kind of move and put it into our Waltz.

Ian: So one final thing to note, just about adding those heel steps for the followers, you want to make sure that even though we are dancing Waltz, and definitely you want to get those heel steps, don't fall into the trap of then thinking you must rise really high through the middle. It is a moving figure, you won't have as much time or ability to skyrocket up into high toes, so keep it a little bit flatter, take your heels, take your rising steps, but don't overdo it. So if we put that together and note that you'll see it's flatter than other types of Waltz steps with a heel a heel, and then a heel rising, and a heel here. So there is still rise and fall, we still want to get those heel steps in, because we are doing this in a Waltz, but don't take the "rise" in rise of fall to too much of an extreme.

(demonstration with counts)

(demonstration with music)

Ian: There you have it, the Modern Waltz adaptation of the Basic Weave. Sometimes referred to as Check and Basic Weave, because of course it has those check steps in the front, and really adapted from a Foxtrot figure. But if we bear in in mind those subtle differences and just remember that it has seven steps ending outside following on with a drive step outside partner, it's pretty much at its heart the same figure. So smash it into your Modern Waltz and revise the Foxtrot videos and smash those into your Slow Foxtrot as well. Have fun with your Weaves, let us know if you would like us to blitz anything else and whatever you do, whatever you do, just remember; there are no Weaves in Quickstep. We'll see you next time.