Double Spin, Double Spin, Double Spin

Just got back from another night dancing. I was feeling a bit ill but I didn't think it was contagious so I went tonight anyway and I was really glad I did. Had a fantastic set of classes and enjoyed so many of my dances. There were some things that I was doing wrong in freestyle and I didn't really branch out in my intermediate moves but I think overall things were good.

Beginners' Class was Yo-Yo, Shoulder Drop, First Move Three Step and, Man Spin. As there were no actual beginners we did the First Move Three Step which starts like a First Move then you move your left hand in front doing a little left step bring in right foot and step with left (like a little skip) before twirling the woman straight out of that. The teacher also said you can try a double spin on the Man Spin which (obviously I tried) I did and then repeated to varying degrees of success in freestyle (about 50% of the time I can do it). She even congratulated me in class. I felt all special :).

• First Move into Swizzle Top. Start with a First Move when you put your hand back on your shoulder push away with it transferring to your right hand so you are at arms length then move your partner in under your arm in a twirl and then move into a Swizzle Top (like a Sway but with right hand firmly on her waist and the left ready for a push spin on her left shoulder). Push spin and catch with left. Return.


• Neck Break. Raise right hand in the air to indicate the move. Draw her forward with the left raising your left hand to your left shoulder while stepping in side to side. The right is then dropped to her left shoulder (slightly over it) you then twist her around using the left (being brought down to your right side). Let go with the left and put the right firmly on her shoulder. Bring her in towards you slightly before spinning her using her right shoulder. Return.


• Armjive Swizzle into Some Super Choke Thing. Start with armjive swizzle but as you finish the swizzle rather than take your left hand out put it on her right shoulder (so she has her right hand on her own shoulder. Then you take her left hand (which is in a half nelson) and turn her anticlockwise (?) and extend the hand out a bit like a swizzle. The right hand rests in a strange pseudo comb over the back of her neck while she faces 90° to your left. Then you bring the left hand up, turning her to face away from you, and comb that over her and onto her stomach. Then you do the same with the left hand you have locked behind her neck trying not to break her neck or anything at the same time. Half the time at least it seems to get caught in her hair but the other half you'll get it over and down to her waist as well. You then lift up the right and then the left begin turning her clockwise while letting go with the right and extend the left out to the right after one and a half turns and spinning her.

The last move was tricky and there were only a few women that I could pull it off with.

Tags: Ceroc

Party Number 2

I'm exhausted. Seriously. So I would say I'm going to keep this short but I know I'm going to write a lot instead. Maybe I should get a cup of coffee. Anyway had a fantastic night dancing. I had no energy left by 23:30 but then just carried on anyway. I think that when I hardly had any energy left I wasn't really dancing as well as I can but I had some of my best dances I've had yet while being at Ceroc which were just ace. The last song of the evening was super fast and turned out to be really good fun to frantically dance to finishing off a really good evening for me.

I met quite a few of the forumites tonight which was interesting to put some faces to the names (or even learn what their names are as well :)). There were probably about half a dozen women there that had never been to a Ceroc event before; I imagine the party must of been tough going for them (though it's more forgiving of beginner women than beginner men). I hope the night was enjoyable for them. They often make a point in class about women asking men up to dance but they didn't at the party so often these beginner women will sit waiting to be asked and in a fairly high ratio women-to-men event then often men will never get the chance to approach them.

So my third month dancing and my second party has passed. If I'm going to try and make a goal for the next one (along with just general improvement and having fun) it would be to work on my First Move stuff mainly just leading it better and improving my style.

Love the moves we learnt tonight as one of them is a nice filler move that works really well and, I think, looks good too; I'd certainly like to learn more of this sort of move and will definately keep using it in future.

Short party routine. It's a shame ducasi hadn't arrived by the lesson (I don't think he had anyway) otherwise it would have been interesting to see how our descriptions of the moves varied :).

• Arm Jive Step. Step in to the left of your partner (rather than turn) then rotate 180° to face your partner and extend arms out to move back. Repeat until bored (or twice); at which stage raise your left hand to indicate and twist the follower clockwise. Return.


• Man Spin Turn Around. Start like a Man Spin but as you move in don't turn and put your right arm behind the woman and on her left hip (well really her hand that is on that hip). Walk clockwise with her doing the same and then (after two turns but in freestyle I'd often do it until I thought there might be something inline with music happening) pull with your right arm sending her into a quick twirl and bringing her into her own arm to move into a Basket. We then twirled her with the right, extended arm to the left and than span her but, hey, it's the Basket go crazy. Loved this move to, I expect, an excessive use boredom by my partners.


• Dip. Tough one this and I don't even think I tried it in freestyle. As the woman is spinning put your right hand on her lower back as she is part way through the spin and your left arm on her upper back when she is finishing her spin. Hopefully she'll pick up the signal and wrap her arm around your neck ready for the dip. It's a really fast execution time though and very few women ever seemed to be prepared for it so I didn't want to dip them. Exited with a spin from the right hand at her waist for what it is worth.

Tags: Ceroc

Fast Dances All Around

It's late and I've got an early start so I'll try and keep this short. Lots of fast tunes but they were enjoyable as a whole. Not sure how my dancing is coming on at times I felt that some of the intermediate moves I was leading I was slightly gripping and yanking the woman into position which isn't really a habbit I want to form (or keep if I am already doing it). I'm still not leading the intermediate great at times; certainly women take the wrong lead from it.

Octopus, Man Spin, Catapult and, Armjive Swizzle. Fine; though a lot of work for a total beginner (three quite complicated moves).

• Start like the Zipper I think by taking the woman past your right while twisting her in towards you (could be wrong though and did it wrong a few times during freestyle) so her arms are crossed. Then pull with your left hand while turning to be back to back with arms high above you. Move left into a half nelson with her doing the same and then back right for the opposite hold. While in this though duck and slip under your nelson and the woman's arm (in towards the woman) and out the other side then twist the woman with your left arm (clockwise I think) for a spin and a quarter taking her to face away from you. At this stage move her to face right then left, right, left before letting go with left and spinning her with right for one complete turn (I think) and take her into a right handed ceroc spin and catch with left. Though I'm currently fairly certain on how to do this move I hope I can revisit it on Saturday to see if this is what it actually consisted of.


• Left handed start while offering with your right behind your back you move the woman towards it but then pull it away so she can't actually take it (it's a strange move) and twirl to face her (now that she is behind you) and swap to your right hand then move into the position where she is on the right and your right hand is on her right hip. Sway her back and forward before indicating her forward and swapping to the left. Return.


• Take both hands and move into a Basket. Only move back though then release with your left hand and spin her twice to bring her in front of you with the right while keeping the left at her waist. At this stage move into a ballroom grip and step back on left bringing her into a lean then dip her to the side (while trying to take your raised left hand past your head; wasn't very graceful at this) resume an upright position and flatten hand for a spin while moving right hand to her hip. Spin and catch left.

Well so much for short.

Tags: Ceroc

Dance!

I had some really enjoyable dances tonight but also some that seem to have just gone wrong (I don't think entirely because of what I was doing). There was a few intermediate moves that I tried and just gave up on. There were some other intermediates that seemed to have been going really well. At the end I was knackered; which was great. My knees hurt a little bit (I'm currently have some problems with 'em) but not as much than when I was sitting in an office so something strange is up. Once again I never got a chance to look at the moves list so I haven't yet had the chance to replace my descriptions with just names (but I'll get around to it).

Armjive Push Spin, Shoulder Drop, Step Across and, Sidestep.

• Archi-Spin Basic. Left hand start. It's on the excellent Jivoholics Anonymous; I'd direct link it but they don't allow you to. I'd just mention it is important to get the woman's hand to face upward and then making a sweeping clockwise motion with it to stop injury. As you do that she begins moving past behind you as you rotate anti-clockwise as she does the same. Return.


• Hand Swap Turny Thing. Start left but swap straight to right hand. Turn yourself anticlockwise and when you turn and face the follower turn her clockwise. Step back and return.


• Err... Move Around Thing. Start like a Yo-Yo except spin the woman aniti-clockwise, for half a turn, rather than push out at the same time pivot 180° yourself. Rest your left hand on her left hip and stand to her right. Push across with the left and spin using the right hand on her hip (while turning 90° to face her). Catch with right.


• Dip Thing. I needed practice with this so my explanation will suck. Right hand start. Offer left hand from up the right hand (so you start with arms crossed). Move in crossing the woman's right arm over your chest. Rotate 180° to face woman. Take your left hand and put it to the woman's right shoulder. Then pivot the woman around with right hand (taking your arm over her head so you are behind her and her arms are crossed in front of her and yours are crossed behind her back. Then you let her drop her arms and lean back with one foot allowing her to dip on your hands and your elbows as support. You then spin her for a half turn using your left arm. Catch with left. There was probably a return.

Tags: Ceroc

I Love It!

Tonight was fantastic but went all to quickly (must like the fast paced music we had for so much of the night) leaving me craving more. Loved so many of my dances though was very surprised to see some people who were attending their first class try the intermediate (they gave up after the first move though).

The teacher kept the intermediate quite simple tonight which was good but did some beginners moves that are no longer in the beginner's set. This was interesting for me who is beginning to see the same beginners moves twice a week (though I still enjoy them). We had the Hatchback, Cross Over, Armjive and, Wulitzer (sp?). The Hatchback starts like a Yo-Yo (but you flatten your hand across your chest) then you step forward right and spin the woman behind you while turning. The Wulitzer we did at the last party but basically it's two handed and you push the woman out to the side using the (flat) left hand and then spin her anti-clockwise using the right. Cross Over might be called that but I appear to be having a brain fart.

I'm actually going to copy down the intermediate name some time soon. The moves tonight had short names but I still failed to remember them.

• Teapot Something. Left hand start; move that up in between you while putting your right hand on the womans left hip (stops her trying to continue forward; even still in freestyle at least a few women took the raised hand as a sign to return). Let go with left and slide your right hand at waist level around her to her left hand side while moving in at her right. She hopefully offers her left hand which you take with your left and then move her back (moving her and your left hand to her right as a nice style tip) and then forward. At this stage push her across to the left while moving her left arm into a half nelson and extending the right. Pull her back to the previous position and do the step back and forwards again but this time push with your right arm to move her out as she piviots around taking your right with her right. Move that across and swap her hand into your left hand (for the next move).


• First Move into some Spintop thing. First Move but when you move her out push further back with your left hand causing her to move her right arm back further and put your right hand inside that loop (on her arm) while letting go with the left. This means you can spin her around behind you and catch with the right


• Catapult into Dip. Catapult but offer left hand on your right side and rotate her anti-clockwise before turning yourself on her back (clockwise) and letting go with the left. Spin her around you then in front for a another spin (for a total of two spins) before putting your left hand on her back; right on her waist; and moving her arm over your neck for a breif dip. Correct and spin. I did something just like this a while back; except the dip ending.

Liked the intermediate moves from tonight and had a good chance to test out other intermediate moves some of which worked and a few that went wrong. However what perked me up was the fact that I lead intermediate moves on women who didn't know the particular move and it worked; which is the first time I've really been able to take that from theory and put it into practice with intermediate moves. However I do want to practice my Lambada Drop but I'm always to shy to ask women if they fancy a go at it so don't get the opportunity to practice it.

Tags: Ceroc