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To Turn Or Not To Turn--That Is the
Question!
by Tom Hicks
There are two common types of turns used in the Smooth dances, and two
common types of turns used in the Latin dances. The focus of this
article will be to discuss the similarities and differences of each of
these turns and how to apply them to figures in hopes of making the
figures easier to teach and perform.
Smooth Dance: The two most common types of turns are natural
(right-turning) and reverse (left-turning) figures. Both types of turns
are done in all phases and involve any rotary movement such as an easy
Left Box Turn or Maneuver to the more advanced Fallaway Reverse or
Natural Hover Cross. Both turns—actually all forward and backward
movements which commence a turn—will involve Contra Body Movement
(CBM). By definition “it’s the rotary movement of the opposite side of
the body towards the moving leg.”
Natural Turning Figures: Generally, right turns have a stronger CBM
because the lady’s dance position & frame are positioned into the
man’s right elbow; therefore, the man travels around the lady on
forward right-turning figures. She is considered the center of the
rotation. When moving forward, the man is considered on the outside of
the turn while the lady is on the inside of turn. The opposite occurs
when the man is moving backwards into a right turn.
Another important body mechanic on right turns is the early rotation
(with the exception of forward turns in Banjo). At the beginning of a
right turn, a dropping of weight into the standing leg commences a turn
in the hips towards the direction of rotation. As the weight shifts and
transfers forward through the spine onto the moving leg, the opposite
side of the body moves early because of the distance the body has to
travel around the center of the turn. The result is an easier swing of
the leg and sway of the body continuing into the turn.
Reverse Turning Figures: The opposite occurs, the CBM is weaker because
of the lady’s dance position being used as a centrifugal force on the
outside of the turn. The man and lady still have the same
responsibility in moving forward and backwards—forward is the outside
of turn and backwards is the inside of turn. It’s important to note the
main difference in defining what the inside and outside of turn means.
Inside turns complete the turn early with the feet (pointing actions)
but delay the upper bodies, while the outside turn uses all the steps
to complete the turn. The result allows the dance frame to remain
constant, which creates easier dancing (makes the men better leaders
and women better followers).
The body mechanic for left turns is more of a delayed rotation (with
the exception of slips). At the beginning of a left turn, a dropping of
the weight still occurs like in right turns but the direction of the
moving leg stays directionally the same as the hip rotation. As a
result, the body is delayed until after the weight has shifted through
the spine over the moving leg and creates a later turn and a less
powerful CBM. The result is very simple; it allows the dance position
to remain constant and keeps the partners from pulling away from one
another.
Latin Dance: The two most common types of turns are Spiral (a turn to
left while standing on the right or the opposite with the other
foot—outside turn) and Swivel (a turn to the left while standing on the
left or the opposite with the other foot—inside turn). Both types of
turns are done in all phases and involve any rotary movement, from a
Fan or Hockey Stick to the more advanced figures like Advanced Hip
Twist or Sliding Door. A specific difference that is important to
understand is that spiral turns are motivated through the upper body
whereas swivel turns are motivated through the hips. Generally
speaking, Latin turns have a much sharper and more direct look as
opposed to the gracefulness of the Smooth turns.
Spiral Turn: The Spiral turn uses an idea similar to CBM to wind up
before the turn but then uses the technique of spotting to create a
sharp turn. Spotting is when you allow the upper body to commence the
rotation first and then the head and hips follow, giving the turn speed
and sharpness. The placement of the feet is of utmost importance to
dance any Spiral comfortably. The forward step must be placed on or
across the track of the supporting leg to allow for easy landing at the
end of the Spiral. Also the loose crossing of the leg (like an abstract
figure 4) varies depending upon the amount of rotation.
The body mechanic for a Spiral turn allows for a CBM wind up, into a
early rotation of the upper body, finishing with a sharp rotation of
the hips to allow the lining up of the blocks of weight (head,
shoulder, ribs, and hips). The result of dancing the Spiral in this
order allows anyone to be better balanced and have proper body
alignment at the end of any Spiral turn.
Swivel Turn: The Swivel turn doesn’t use a CBM action, but more of what
we call shoulder lead. A shoulder lead is when the same shoulder as
moving leg moves together at the same time (similar to the delayed
action of Reverse turns in Smooth). The full transfer of weight onto
the moving leg is vitally important for any Swivel to work. Once the
blocks of weight are lined up then just like a spinning top, the body
can spin over the ball of the standing leg and create a fast rotation.
The body mechanics for the swivel are created by fully transferring
weight, then isolating the hips to rotate before the upper body. Once
the hips are fully rotated, the upper body quickly turns to catch up
with the early hip rotation. An important side note -- because of the
speed of the turn, the hips must be prepared to settle as a type of
braking mechanism to allow for the balance to be constant while turning
and stopping.
With the application of these four very common types of turns, all your
Round Dancing should be improved and feel more balanced.
From RAL Education
Syllabus, 2019,
and
reprinted
in the Dixie Round Dance Council (DRDC)
Newsletter, February 2021.
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