Feather Finish In Slow Foxtrot

Ballroom Blitz #116

Feather Finish In Slow Foxtrot - May 30, 2024

Transcript

Ian: Hey guys and girls from the inter-webs. My name's Ian,

Lindsey: and my name's Lindsey,

Ian & Lindsey: and welcome to Ballroom Blitz.

Lindsey: Hello, ballroom dancers, welcome to another ballroom blitz. We are in the ballroom world today, we're going to be having a look at a move in the Foxtrot; it's the Feather Finish.

Feathers, of course, are a staple in our Slow Foxtrot and there, a number of different varieties. So, this particular one has the leader going backwards into that feather action, with the follower providing the drive step; let's have a look.

[Demonstration without Music]

Lindsey: And that's all there is to it, nice and easy; let's have a look at the leaders steps first.

Ian: Leaders, the best thing to do with this figure is not to overcomplicate it. You have positioned yourself in a position where you are about to receive a drive step from the follower, and you will be going backwards on your right. This might happen at the end of a Reverse Heel Turn or a Closed Impetus Turn, and you've invited the follower to drive.

So we're going to do that. That's step one, not really much you can do to that, but now we have to put ourselves in a Feather Position. We've just received power so we have to use that. So there will be some rotation, some turn, some movement away, you can think if this is leading with your left side if you like.

However you think about it, and kind of however you move, and however much turn you make, you must get to the point where you can achieve a Feather Position in the second quick, and through the first quick you then must position this foot so that you can step outside of partner. So, the classic “prepare to step out side step” is your second step, and then you step outside in your Feather Position for step three, and then you can go ahead and add step four as the drive step, which will be step one of the next figure in most cases. But other than that, it's the guts of a Feather that has been preceded by a drive from the follower. We get driven, prepare to step outside, step outside and settle afterwards. It is as simple as that.

Ian: The golden rule is take your follower with you. Try not to over rotate and get right outside of them so they're dancing in the crook of your armpit or dancing backwards, and you will find that when you achieve that feather position, you might be stepping across yourself slightly more because of the movement beforehand. That's okay, don't be afraid of that feeling, don't feel you have to reef you and your partner round to step too straight. It just won't feel as nice and you won't get as good results with your steps that you follow with.

Lindsey: Followers, like we said before, we have the drive step into this particular figure, and we should be ready to drive on our left foot. So whatever the leaders have done just beforehand, we should have settled on our right and have passage going forward, into the floor usually, it depends what we have just done. So we have a drive on the left, that's our slow. We want to make sure even though we've got the forward work here, we want to make sure that we are in a good closed position with our partner here, so when they start to turn, we keep our head to the left and we'll find ourselves more in a sort of sideways, ready to go backwards position, and this is our classic Feather step. So if I do that again, I have provided the drive, the leader then takes that energy and does with it, what they will, side and back and across, so we should get that crossed feeling. If we take it too straight back, chances are we have come off the hip, we've lost that contact with our partner, so we want to be prepared for that sort of crossing step, and then settling backwards on the right into whatever the next figure is.

[Demonstration with Counts]

[Demonstration with Music]

Lindsey: There you are, dancers, the beautiful Feather Finish in the Slow Foxtrot. So try it out, it can work very nicely as part of your Reverse Turn, after a Closed Impetus, after a Back Feather, there's quite a few places where the leaders will find they can provide the opportunity for the follower to drive on that left foot, but end up doing the forward work in a classic feather. So try it out, let us know how you go and we'll see you next time.

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

Lindsey: comment,

Ian: share,

Lindsey: and subscribe.

Ian: See you next time.

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