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Two Positions: SCP & RSCP
by Tim Eum
Semi-Closed Position (SCP)
Similar to Closed Position but lady turns to her right (head, hips,
knees, and toes) while maintaining the same CP hand holds and upper
body “frame.” The man turns toes and head slightly to his left but
leads the lady by turning his hips and upper body slightly to his right.
Reverse Semi-Closed Position (RSCP)
In the classic phase 3 waltz, Dream Awhile (Ellis, 1965), there is a
sequence that starts in SCP and goes, Pickup to RSCP; Twinkle Out to
SCP; Twinkle In to RSCP; and Twinkle Out to SCP. What makes this more
difficult than usual is the Reverse Semi-Closed Position. This position
simply feels awkward and uncomfortable to most dancers. The reason is
that most men tend to pull their right shoulder away from their
partner. If you stand in Closed Position and then ask dancers to go to
Semi-Closed Position, most men will pull their left shoulder away from
their partner as they turn their body to face LOD. But this is bad
technique. The men should be maintaining the top frame and even while
turning their hips and head towards LOD, they should still keep their
shoulders and upper body turned toward their partner. The same is true
for Reverse Semi-Closed Position.
When you turn to RSCP, the man's hips and head turn toward the right,
but the shoulders and upper body should not turn and still continue to
face toward partner (i.e. maintain upper body frame). If the man does
not do this and pulls his right shoulder away from partner, two bad
things happen. First his right arm will stretch across the lady's
chest. The second bad thing is that the lead arms will get "scrunched"
(uncomfortably compressed and bent). Both bad things disappear if the
man simply turns his upper body leftwards towards his partner. So to
properly go to RSCP, the lady simply turns head, body, hips, and toes
partially toward her left, while the man turns head, hips, and toes
partially toward his right but keeps his body and shoulders turned left
toward partner. There should also be a slight sway to man's right which
will elevate the lead hands above the heads and lower the trail elbows.
Note that the lady still remains slightly to man's right.
Tim
Eum has
prepared many Round Dance Tips for Calls 'n' Cues,
WASCA, for his weekly Rocket Rounds email reports, and for
other
publications. DRDC is
grateful for permission to collect and reprint. A Tim Eum archive.
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