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Where To Put the & Step?
by Sandi
& Dan Finch
Most dancers know that a syncopation occurs in dancing when more than
one step has to be danced on a beat of music. But just how do you do
that?
A basic three-step figure in Waltz is danced 1, 2, 3, one step on each
beat of a measure of music. In Foxtrot, the timing would be SQQ, with
two beats allowed for the slow count and one beat for each of the
quicks. In those smooth rhythms, if you add an extra step, you need to
make time to get all four steps into one measure. This generally means
adding an “&” in the count, as 12&3 for Waltz or SQ&Q for
Foxtrot. For this to work, you have to know that means taking two of
the four steps on one beat.
Each of those two steps has to be danced in 1/2 of the beat.
In Jive, you take two steps in one beat and count that as “1a.” An “a”
is meant to be faster than an “&”, so we give the “a” count 1/4 of
a beat instead of 1/2 as for the “&.” You learn that one step is
taken on 3/4 of the beat and the second step gets the remaining 1/4 of
the same beat.
Jive is supposed to have a bouncy, knee-flexing action, so it uses the
“a” count for more speed. Other rhythms, even Cha Cha, don’t have that
kind of bounce, so you find “&” counts as part of their rhythm
count.
Dancers invariably ask where to put the extra step in the smooth
dances. Would the phase III Waltz figure “Thru Chasse to Semi” be
12&3 or 1&23? The choreographer will usually tell you his sense
of timing for syncopations. The Roundalab Manual of Standards will give
you the most usual count for a syncopated figure. But you, the dancer,
might feel it differently in the music from the standard or from the
choreographer or the person next to you. Bravo, your thrill of dancing
comes from your sense of moving through space and time rhythmically.
Would you be wrong if you did it differently from the cuesheet?
Consider a scientific study done by the World Dance Sport Federation
(WDSF) to determine how some of the best dancers in the world actually
dance basic figures such as Thru Chasse to Semi. The federation, based
on amateur and professional dance organizations originating in Germany
55 years ago, promotes all types of dance, including break dancing, hip
hop, and disco, as well as ballroom.
The WDSF publishes a set of technique books looking in detail at body
mechanics for each rhythm. Its study, published in 2018, was designed
to confirm that knowledgeable dancers ignore fixed beat values and use
“shuffle timing” in response to nuances in music.
Shuffle timing is defined as variations in timing of body weight
transfer, varying from the standard of one step per beat of music. WDSF
urges that the timing and accent of the first step of a figure should
be respected, but otherwise timing variations can increase the artistic
value of a dancer’s performance.
The results of the study are surprising.
In the RAL phase III manual, Thru Chasse to Semi has 12&3 as the
recommended timing for Waltz and SQ&Q for Foxtrot. Each is four
steps in one measure of music.
The WDSF study disrupts two of our basic conceptions about
syncopations--that the “&” count shares time from the preceding
whole beat value and that a syncopated figure of four steps is done in
one measure. In its study, it found that the Thru Chasse to Semi was
danced over a full Waltz measure plus 3/8ths of a beat from the next
measure. It wasn’t confined to one measure, and the “stolen” time had
to come from the following beat value, not the preceding beat.
For those who want the dirty details, here are the average values
concluded from their study: Step one took 7/8ths of a full beat. Step 2
took 1/2 of a beat. Step 3 used a full beat, as did step 4, a total of
3 and 3/8ths beats, or a waltz measure and then some. Not anything like
the standard.
The same analysis was done on the Quickstep figure Tipple Chasse, rated
at Phase V by Roundalab and given SQQS for timing. That means it should
take one and a half measures of music to do, starting with a Slow
(which is two beats) and ending with a Slow (another two beats).
The study timed the duration of the dancers’ steps, down to
milliseconds. A beat of music in the Quickstep test took 300
milliseconds. A slow count then would take 600 milliseconds. On
average, the test couples did the first step in less time, 527
milliseconds.
The entire Tipple Chasse took at average of 1,394 milliseconds, or one
measure plus 5/8ths of another measure. That means the figure took
longer than allowed for in most technique books, given the standard of
one and a half measures.
Their conclusion: the beat value of syncopated figures--the time you
spend doing the steps--is not constant. How much time a dancer spends
on a foot depends on interpretation of the music, the characteristics
of the choreography, and the style of the couple.
What is your conclusion? Dancers who want hard and fast rules will be
disappointed. Dancing is as much art as science. Standards are written
to give you the most basic or most frequently used technique. What you
do with timing--much like what you can do with your arms--is up to you.
Try what is given--how your instructor explains it or what the
choreography suggests--then let your true self loose when the music
comes on.
From a club
newsletter, April 2025,
and
reprinted
in the Dixie Round Dance Council (DRDC)
Newsletter, June/July 2025. Find a DRDC Finch
archive here.
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