Natural Turn: A Ballroom Dancer's Blog

Working with your Partner

2016-04-05T12:13:00.003-07:00

Hey all!

Ballroom Dancing is a partner dance, so everyone has to do their job to make it work perfectly. If someone doesn't pull their own weight, it can completely destroy the experience for either one or both partners.

Because of this, I thought I would write a small list of important things to focus on while partnering.

Follow the link to see more!

It is the man's responsibility to lead the lady properly and let her know what figure he wants to do next, but it is the lady's job to follow him and give him the frame and responsiveness he needs to bring her places effectively. Don't make the man bring you places ladies, he is only there to tell you where to go, and not to make you do it. Making the leader drag you is not only uncomfortable but inelegant. Learn the figures ladies! It will serve you very well in the long run.

On the flip side guys, don't drag your partners around. They are people, not objects, and they deserve to be treated with respect. Try to understand how other people respond to your motions, and try your very best to accommodate their range of motion. Very often I will see leaders asking their partners to meet unrealistic goals. Understand your partner's limits, and adjust accordingly.

Both the man and lady must hold their own body weight. If there is any leaning, dragging, or pulling, there is definitely something wrong. Work on holding your own arms up without a partner if you have this problem. Far too often I will dance with someone, and they think my arms are an armrest, causing my arms to be exhausted after dancing with them for a short period.

Also, when something goes wrong while dancing, your first reaction should not be to blame your partner. If anything, you should analyze yourself first and see if there is anything you can do to make life easier for your partner. If you are completely sure it wasn't just you, gently bring up the subject and try to resolve the issue with your partner. More often than not, issues are caused by both partners. Remember: Ballroom is a joint effort; it isn't all about you!

Ballroom is all about effective vocal communication and responding to physical cues. Without communication skills, you will have a difficult time of partnering. Try your best to develop good communication skills alongside your partner, and your dancing should thrive!

Thanks for reading! I hope some of these tips help! If you want to take lessons, feel free to contact me!

Back on the Competition Scene

2015-06-11T14:51:00.003-07:00

Hello all,

In the last few months I have been back competing again. I don't think I have competed in the last two years!

I've been practicing at a higher level with my partner of a few months. I can't believe how much I've missed it! I tend to be a highly competitive person, and I don't do many things casually, so naturally competing in Ballroom is something I enjoy, not necessarily to be better than everyone else, but to be the best version of myself I can be.

I'd say competition with yourself is pretty intense at times!

Anyways, just thought I'd give you an update about myself.

Hit me up if you'd like to start competing in Ballroom. I'd be more than glad to give you instruction!

Best,

-Aaron Mullen

Divisions of Ballroom Dancing

2014-10-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Below is a little chart I made. I hope this clears up some confusion as to how Ballroom is divided into styles and dances.

Notice how American and International both have the same names for certain dances. For example, Foxtrot is a dance in Standard and Smooth.

While this happens in several places, this by no means indicates that they are the same dance, although they are quite similar in most cases. The problem is, some genius American decided to name half their American Style dances after their International counterparts, and this proves to be quite confusing for some students, and understandably so!

Enjoy, and I hope you learn something!

Aaron Mullen

"Step" is not equal to "Figure"

2014-09-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

I want to make an important distinction between the terms "Step" and "Figure."

Step: A single weight change, or a single foot movement.

Figure: A series of weight changes/movements, or "Steps" as we call them.

Far too often I will hear the word "step" used to define what is actually a series of steps, or a "figure." I myself am guilty of this at times, so to make everyone's lives easier while teaching, I have been training myself to say "Figure" when it is proper. Using these words interchangeably can cause confusion, so I am hoping to eliminate some of that confusion myself!

-Aaron Mullen

Guest Writer Kelsey Molton

2014-09-17T08:43:00.002-07:00

Hello all,

I decided that it would be a good idea to hear about other people's dance experiences on this blog, so today we have an article from our very first guest, Kelsey Molton! I hope you enjoy her touching story as much as I did! Its nice to know that other people have been touched as deeply by dance as I have.

Also, visit her Custom Design website here!

-Aaron Mullen

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Dancing, it will change your life forever

Written by Kelsey Molton

First of all, I would like to thank Aaron Mullen for letting me guest write. Now, onto my story.

Kelsey aged 4 (middle)

   When I was a little girl, 4 years old to be exact, I got to join my sister in ballet and tap dancing. I was quite happy about this, because this meant I got to get new clothes, a duffel bag, and new shoes. I enjoyed my first lesson quite a bit, my only problem was my asthma. Of course this made me have to stop several times, and I was stuck without my nebulizer. (an old machine that us asthmatics used to use in the 90's and 00's before inhalers. Unfortunately some people still use these old fashioned things that don't work. That's another story however.)

   Even though my asthma always got in the way, I loved dancing to music, doing what my sister was doing, and making friends. The only person who found this to be a problem was our teacher, Miss Connie. One day when we came a little early, we were the only ones there at the time. My mom, sister, and myself, other than our teacher. Miss Connie found this to be a perfect opportunity to "have a talk with us." My sister Brittany ran out onto the dance floor to play, and I stayed next to my mom, to play with the crayons and coloring book that was always there. That's what I always did because I didn't want to cause an asthma attack (what my family calls them instead of flare ups). Miss Connie looked to my mom and I and said, "If you start feeling like you have an Asthma attack, pretend like you're blowing up a big balloon instead of taking breaks." "But I can't!" I cried. I could never even catch my breath when I had an asthma attack. I ran off to play with my sister, because I didn't like what she was saying. Apparently she had said other things to my mom while I was away, because my mom was quite mad when we left that day. To see my mom upset, upset me.

     I decided to quit dance class after we had our recital. Miss Connie always seemed to have a problem with me having asthma attacks anyway. I didn't mind doing the recital because of the pretty outfits we got to wear, and the makeup.

Outfit from Kelsey's first recital

After that though, I was gone. My sister left with me. I missed dance class so much that I went back about 6 months later. Although Miss Connie still had a problem with me, I tried to enjoy myself anyway. Eventually, I left again, but after the recital once again. I didn't like the second recital as much as I did before, because we had to wear ugly outfits that I thought looked like the should be for a clown rather than a ballet and tap dancer.

Outfit from Kelsey's second recital

Years later, when I was 11, I started Tae Kwon Do. I liked it a lot, until I got to my yellow belt (but that yet another story). It took until I was 12 for my instructor, Mr. Rodgers (yes, Mr. Rodgers), asked me, "Kelsey, were you a ballet dancer?" When I told him yes, he explained that I did everything so gracefully instead of tough, he figured. I did do everything gracefully actually, more like a dance than a fighting stance. Yea, that would really scare people.

To this day, I still do things with grace, and I don't even try. Dance is just a part if me now, even though I only went for two years all together. Dance taught me something... No matter how long (or short in my case) you dance for, dance will never leave you, even if you try to be tough.

Thank you Kelsey for writing this heartfelt article!

Visit Kelsey's website here!

Counting Beats per Step

2014-09-06T10:36:00.001-07:00

Hello all!

I am going to summarize three ways of counting musical beats per step.

Note: For each example below, we will be using the standard Foxtrot count, which has a single two- beated step, followed by two single-beated steps, for three steps in total.
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Method #1: This method is probably the most widely used out of all three. We say one word for every step. We use either "Slow" meaning the step is two beats or "Quick" meaning the step is one beat.

Example: "Slow, Quick, Quick"

Method #2: In this method, we are still using one word for every step, but we are using numbers instead of "Slow" and "Quick." So the first step would correspond with "One" the second with "Two" the third with "Three" and so on. The quicker the step, the faster we say the number to emphasize how many beats the step has.

Example: "One(Prolonged), Two, Three"

Method #3: This method is efficient, but I would consider it the hardest to follow for a beginning student. In this method, we just count beats, and then we simply dance to the timing we have formed. So for a slow we would count "One, two" and then the next quick would be "Three" and the next quick would be "Four."

Example: "(One, Two), Three, Four"

Method #4: A method I actually formed myself. I find it to be the best way for conveying beats per step to a student. It is similar to method #3 above, but instead of continuing with rising numbers, we reset our count at the beginning of every step. So every two-beated step gets a count of "One, two" and every one-beated step gets a count of "One"

Example: "(One, Two), One, One"

I am certain there are other methods which I have not stumbled upon yet. If I missed any, please bring them to my attention!
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Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!

-Aaron Mullen

Sway Revisited

2014-03-15T11:15:00.001-07:00

Sway is an important part of any Standard Ballroom dance. It gives a certain musicality to the dance that couldn't be possible without it. It allows us to continue moving and lets our energy flow even if our feet come to a close.

Like I mentioned in a (much) earlier post, sway is often meant to counterbalance sideways movement. Because of this counterbalancing, sway allows us to make an even LARGER sideways step than we could initially, because it prevents us from moving our weight past the catching foot and losing our balance. This larger step in turn helps our motions become more defined and flow better into the next motion, instead of stopping and killing our momentum. Sway essentially allows us to store energy and lets us release it when we need it.

Hopefully I will be making a few posts on how to best achieve sway in your own dancing! But this gives you a good idea of why it is important.

-Aaron Mullen

Teaching at Parks & Recs

2013-10-18T13:27:00.001-07:00

Just a little update about myself.

I've just recently started teaching a few group classes at parks and recreation departments in my area. So far its going well. The people are all enjoying themselves. One thing I have realized is how difficult it is to manage time during class. The problem is the large difference in skill levels of the students. Some require a lot of time and attention, while others require less. As a teacher, I would like to give everyone equal time, but that isn't always possible like I said, everyone has different needs.

I found a good way to make time for everyone. You have what I would like to call 'practice time' during class, and during this time, you make everyone practice a specific figure individually, and then you walk around fixing issues and giving out encouragement.

It's been interesting, and I hope I can continue teaching far into the future!

-Aaron Mullen

Promenade Vs. Promenade

2013-02-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

What is this? How can a thing be different from itself?

Let me clear up this confusion.

Despite what one may think, Promenade and Promenade are not the same thing.

Still confused? If you are, then this is rightly so. If you already know what I am talking about, then good for you! You're a step ahead of me!

Now, on to the actual difference.

There are two kinds of Promenade. The first kind of Promenade is a dance position. Essentially it is when the man "opens" the lady. The man turns about 1/8 of a turn to his left, and the lady turns about 1/8 of a turn to her right. This means there is a 1/4 angle between them, or 90 degrees. Less turn would be ideal, but for the purposes of this blog, 1/4 is a good amount.

Then there is Promenade in American Foxtrot. Promenade in American Foxtrot is simply a dance figure in which we use the Promenade POSITION as I outlined above.

Confusing huh? Don't ask me why someone thought it would be a good idea to name a step after the position, as it can cause some confusion.

This confusion could be overcome by calling Promenade Position another name, which is Open Position.

In the end, it is simple just to remember one refers to a step, and the other to a position.

Hopefully I helped clear up some confusion!

-Aaron Mullen

Alignment (Part 2)

2012-12-29T15:20:00.001-08:00

(If you aren't sure what is going on here, refer to the previous post)

So, alignments change in relation to where you are in the room. Remember how I talked about Line of Dance before in this post? Line of Dance is very important in defining alignment.

The official definition tells us that Alignment is "In relation to the room" which is accurate, but it is not the entire truth.

Alignment is more in relation to what Line of Dance you are moving along, and Line of Dance is indeed relative to the room.

So to figure out your alignment, all you would have to do is take the chart here and place it on the floor with the arrow pointing down the line of dance of your choice. Remember, there are only four lines of dance in a room, one going along each wall. Here is a little graphic of how the above chart could be used:

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Dance Floor

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Notice how the arrow points in the direction you want to be moving down the floor at your current position.

Don't worry, it isn't entirely necessary that you be able to read it. This is just a guide on how to use the alignment chart.

Basically, all you must remember is that the line with the word "center" must be pointing towards the center of the floor, and the line with the word "wall" must be pointing towards the nearest wall, or the outside of the floor. Once again, remember there are only four possible lines of dance.

This is very important as it helps a teacher efficiently and quickly convey the direction he wants the couple to face. Memorizing these will help you spend less time talking, and more time dancing!

So get to it!

-Aaron Mullen

Alignments (Part 1)

2012-12-21T12:08:00.000-08:00

Hello! I finally have time to write blogs again!

Now, on to alignment!

What is alignment? And why is it important? Well, the official definition of alignment is, "The direction the feet and body are facing in relation to the room."

Now, what exactly does this mean? There are eight alignments in total. Here is a graphic of the eight alignments in Ballroom:

(Click to enlarge)
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You should memorize these alignments, and in my next post I will demonstrate how to use them and understand what they refer to.

-Aaron Mullen

Christmas Time is Coming

2012-11-30T22:32:00.003-08:00

Hello readers!

So, Christmas time is nearing. Here I am, busy as ever, wishing I had a few minutes to make a nice post, but I rarely get that chance anymore.

Do not fear though! I have not forgotten you! During Christmas break when I have more time I will definitely make more frequent posts. I have learnt so many interesting things in the last few months, it will be wonderful to finally share them with you!

See you around Christmas time!

-Aaron Mullen

Offset Dance Position(Standard/Smooth)

2012-10-06T21:09:00.001-07:00

Here is a relatively simple thing to do while dancing your Standard or Smooth. Never stand directly in front of your partner. You always want to be slightly offset. This always holds true, regardless of whether you are a man or lady.

Now why is this? And what exactly does it mean? Think about it for a second. If you stand directly in front of your partner, and you take a really long step forward, you're going to step on him or her! To fix this little dilemma, we change our position slightly so that our right leg and right hip line up with the center of our partner's body. Because of this little adjustment, our right leg will tend to go between our partner's legs, and the left leg will tend to step to the left of our partners legs, instead of on top of them! How absolutely convenient! No longer is there the need to look down to check where your partner's feet are!

Couple this with a close dance hold as I mentioned in a previous post about body contact, and you will most probably avoid stepping on your partner 99% of the time!

-Aaron Mullen

Take Your First Steps

2012-10-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

So, you want to dance but you've never danced before? No problem! I have the perfect place to start!

There is this little dance called Foxtrot. American Smooth Foxtrot to be exact, but we won't delve too deep into those details right now.

All you need to start are your own two feet!

Okay, but in all seriousness, here are the two basic figures you will be using in the very beginning. I get other maneuvering steps for you later.

Forward basic:

Men: Step Forward on Left foot, forward on right, then to the side on your left, and close the right to your left.

Ladies: Step Back on Right foot, Back on Left, then step to the side on your right, and close the left foot to the left.

As you can see, the term "Forward Basic" is referring to the direction in which the man is moving. We always refer to the direction in which the man is moving when talking about ballroom. This is mainly because he is leading.

Back Basic:

Men: Step Back on the left foot, back on the right, then side on the left, and close the right foot to the left.

Ladies: Step Forward on the right foot, forward on the left, then side on the right, and close the left foot to the right.
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So, as we might be able to tell, both these figures move us to our left the tiniest bit, which brings us to the very important fact of line of dance which I discussed in an earlier post.

Practice these two figures until you have them down, and you should have a decent foxtrot.

What dance did you take your first steps in?

Leave a comment below!

-Aaron Mullen

New Poll!

2012-09-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't been keeping up with polls lately, but a new poll is up.

The results of the last poll are in. Only two people voted in the last poll, but to my surprise, both of them enjoyed International style more than American style.

I personally enjoy International more than Smooth, but I was convinced I was in the minority. I guess perhaps not.

Please vote in the new poll! It will make the results somewhat more interesting to look at!

Thanks,

-Aaron Mullen

The Importance of Line of Dance

2012-09-27T21:26:00.004-07:00

Teacher, what is this important thing you speak of? This line of dance?

Well, essentially Line of Dance is the proper direction to move around the dance floor on Standard and Smooth dances, as well as some of the Latin and Rhythm Dances which move.

Think of the dance floor almost as a two way street. Everyone wants to move in the proper direction to avoid accidents. Once you move in the opposite direction, you start running into people.

Here is a graphical representation of line of dance:

Line of Dance

The arrows indicate the direction in which we need to move around the floor, which is counter-clockwise.

At the areas on the end of the floor, we can move in two directions, while on the long sides we can only move one. The sizes of these areas will vary with the size of the floor.

You are not allowed to cross any of the lines pictured unless there is an arrow pointing in its direction. If you cross any of the lines without an arrow pointing at it, you are likely to cause a collision with another couple.

Pay attention to Line of Lance and the direction in which you are moving. It will make the dancing experience much more pleasant for yourself and everyone around you.

-Aaron Mullen

The International Tango Difference

2012-09-01T22:56:00.001-07:00

What is the difference between International Tango and all the other Standard dances?

Well, for starters, our movements are much sharper. When we move, we want to move our feet relatively quickly. Also, when executing a Link, which is essentially an opening to promenade, we whip our heads and bodies open very quickly, and stop in proper open/promenade position as quickly as we started.

But the difference I would like to focus on is how we use our knees in Tango.

As I have said before, in standard dances, we never want to get our knees completely straight. The same is true with Tango, but Tango has one major difference. There is no rise and fall in International Tango. We remain with our legs bent as I demonstrate here, and we step without rising or lowering in the ankles or knees.

Often when we do two quicks in a row, we want to straighten the knees a bit. If this happens, you will pop up. So you'll end up looking like a piece of toast popping out of the toaster! That definitely won't look good!. Try your very best to focus on staying down in the parts of the Tango with two quicks, as it is relatively easy to stay down on slow steps.

So to reiterate. Do not rise and fall in Tango! It does not fit the character of the dance!

-Aaron Mullen

Busy Busy

2012-08-27T18:03:00.002-07:00

So i just got a partner, and soon I will be going to college. It would seem I will not have as much time to write blog posts as I did for the past month. Perhaps I will push the frequency of posts down to once a week or so. It has been nice having you as readers for the past month or so since I seriously started blogging. Please continue to return, as I will still be posting about technique and my very own experiences, although less frequently.

Thank you!

-Aaron Mullen

Stepping in International Latin

2012-08-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

As I have said, stepping big in International Standard is important, but what about International Latin?

In Latin, almost the complete opposite is true. We want to take small steps almost all the time. There are certain exceptions to this, but usually we want to step small.

Why must we take small steps you may ask? Well, here is why.

As I have said, straightening the knee on every step in Latin is very important. It makes the dance look crisp, sharp, and full of energy. But how does taking small steps have any effect on this? Well, by taking small steps, we travel less. When we travel less, it is easier to get all our weight over the foot that just stepped. If we take giant steps, we have to move really far before we can get all our weight on our foot. If we can't get the weigh over the foot, then it is difficult to straighten our legs with authority and power. Sure you can straighten your legs without getting over them, but it will look very weak and very limp.

Step small, it will help your Latin technique a lot!

-Aaron Mullen

Leg position

2012-08-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

So, how should you hold your legs? Well, this is my opinion, but you can try it if you like. I strongly suggest it.

It works like this. You should feel almost like you are sitting in a chair, meaning your legs will be slightly bent. Your legs should look something like this:

I drew a few lines to help you see better what my body is doing. As you can see, I have slightly flexed knees. My weight is centered over the middle of my feet. I also have a straight back. Do not lean backwards or forwards.

Practice holding this position. It will give you a good idea of how Standard dances should feel in the legs. Eventually you will have to start moving, but that is a different story.

-Aaron Mullen

1000 pageviews

2012-08-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

I thought I would mention this minor milestone.

So today Natural Turn reached One Thousand page views!

Thank you everyone for your support. I hope you will continue to visit and enjoy my blog!

-Aaron Mullen

Smooth/Standard Legs

2012-08-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

How do we use our legs properly in the Smooth and Standard Ballroom divisions?

For starters, our legs should never be completely straight. Our legs actually need to be slightly bent at ALL times. If you straighten them, it will likely cause your next step to be clunky. Think of it this way. Imagine your leg is like a car's suspension. A car's suspension is designed to absorb shocks and give a smooth ride, correct? What happens if you don't have any shocks on your car? Your ride is going to feel a lot more bumpy! The same thing happens when you step with a straight leg. The energy of your step will not be dissipated by your knees bending, and you will probably end up having your body get jarred and pop up, almost like you are doing a pole vault. Not a good thing when you're trying to be as smooth as humanly possible. So we should always step with an ALMOST straight leg, but never completely straight.

We also want our knees to look soft for smooth. By straightening the knee we gain a very sharp look which we never want in Smooth or Standard.

Do your very best to never straighten the leg in Smooth or Standard, otherwise it might look clunky or too sharp!

-Aaron Mullen

In the Beginning

2012-08-21T14:01:00.002-07:00

To me, the introduction into ballroom is one of the most important parts of learning or teaching properly. If you don't get a good introduction, you will learn very slowly, and eventually you will have to fix many bad habits that were learnt in the beginning. Obviously, we want to start with the simplest dance of them all. Latin or Rhythm dances would most certainly get the basic ideas of changing the feet on every step and timing, but this doesn't help us with moving down line of dance. But Waltz is just too confusing, and we don't want to confuse our beginners with the Tango 'tap' step. So what is the perfect dance to start with?

In my opinion, the very first dance anyone should learn is American foxtrot. I know I rank on this little dance for not being quite as nice as International Foxtrot, but the truth is, as an introduction into dance, nothing beats it!

You see, in American foxtrot we have that simple "step, step, side, close" rhythm which can be repeated over as many times as we want. Knowing that the "side close" is the end of every basic figure can help the lady follow the man, and the man has less to think about.

Also, the lack of turns in the beginning makes it very simple to pick up and dance. Not having to worry if you are facing this wall or that wall takes another confusing element away. All the man has to do is focus on his pattern and face the outside wall. Pretty convenient isn't it?

Also, the first four basic steps we learn, the forward basic, back basic, promenade, and rock turn can be danced in any order, as in any one of these steps can be danced directly after any of the other steps, with one small exception; the rock turn should only be done once in every corner, but it still can come before or after any of the other steps I mentioned. Its pretty convenient because you don't have to worry where the step is going to put you, you just have to worry about what step you will do next.

If you are looking into ballroom, I plan on making a little tutorial on how to start with Foxtrot. But this is why, in my opinion, essentially everyone should start off with foxtrot.

-Aaron Mullen

Rise and Fall

2012-08-20T05:22:00.001-07:00

A good dance teacher always mentions it, but why is the rise and fall so important? Isn't it just so we look nice when we dance it? Well, this is true to an extent, but there are other reasons as to why proper rise and fall are needed.

The man can use the rise and fall to help lead the lady. It is substantially easier to follow the man when he is doing proper rise and fall. This is mainly because it is easier to tell where in the measure or music the man is. Consider it this way. If the man rises and falls at the proper time in Waltz, the lady will always know what timing the man is on. If he lowers and remains down on a step, the lady knows the man is dancing 1. If the man rises and remains up on a step, the lady knows the man is dancing 2. And finally, if the man lowers on the end of a step, the lady knows he is dancing a 3. So the lady can gauge where the man is in the measure just by feeling the rise and fall! Who would have thought!

If used properly, the rise and fall can also help with stride length. As you may know, in International Standard or American Smooth, bigger steps are almost always better! when you rise you will lose a little stride length, but when you lower, you will gain insane amounts of speed if it is executed properly. Why is this? Think of it like this. Say you have a folded over newspaper like so:

Se how it barely spans the width of the table? Now push it closer to the table like so:

Now the newspaper spans much more of the table although the sides of the newspaper are still the same length! Now imagine your legs are the sides of the newspaper, and the table is the floor. The lower you go, the farther you can step across the floor! Make sure you use the fall to your advantage! Otherwise it is wasted motion.

Rise and fall is useful indeed!

-Aaron Mullen

My First Performance

2012-08-19T19:34:00.002-07:00

So here is a video of my very first performance in public.

I remember working on this routine. It was a nightmare. We always messed it up, and actually my one mistake was cut out near the end.

I'm the couple on the far left. The tallest couple. It's not actually as bad as I remember.

This was was already four years ago! I can't believe its been so long!

-Aaron Mullen