Hyperreal

Just back from JJ’s – my first proper dancing of the new year… Had a fun time, but there was something missing…

And I don’t just mean a few of my favourite dancers, though that must have been a part of it.

Just don’t think I was connecting with my partners as much, and I think my dancing suffered a bit as a result…

Anyway, this is going to have to be quick as I have an early start in the morning, and I should be in bed!

Moves… Bit complicated tonight, or that might just be due to me not having a great night (or maybe the cause of it? Nah… )

• Shoulder drop blocks/hesitations – same as the beginner’s move, but with repeated “out to the side” bits. I’ve been doing this move since I was a beginner, though tonight I learnt that I need to be clear in my lead that I’m not going to drop – I need to put some tension into the handhold to make it clear that I’m not going to drop yet…
• Catapult turns. Like a standard catapult, but when the woman’s behind you, in the lean away, let go one hand and turn to face her, turning her as you do so. When she comes round turn back to the lean position. Now do it the other direction. Can keep repeating this as long as you want, and do whatever catapult-like exit you want. We combined this move with the shoulder drop by going straight into the turns rather than returning to, and dropping from the shoulder.
• Half pretzel – classic move.
• Basket wrap and spin. Standard basket entry, but on exit, left go L-R and step her out to unwrap – step with her first and then step back. Then wrap her back in and this time for the exit, go flat-hand L-R to signal a spin – the spin is led from the RH though. We combined this move with the half pretzel by going straight from the R-L exit of the previous move into a wrap in for the first basket.

Each of these moves as well as being a test of the man’s lead, is a test of the follower, and her tendency to anticipate, as each move is has a subtle variation of what the average follower might expect.

That’s all for tonight… Might write more in the morning…

Also thinking about going dancing on Thursday this week…