[ducasi]

Originally Posted by Gadget

Prompted by Ducasi's posts on the thread First time impressions where he says (Another brief aside - haven't had much feedback on my impressions of the moves themselves through the weeks. Anyone want to jump in with some discussion here?)...

Hey, thanks for the input!

1) Yo-Yo; the difference between the spin and the turn is that for the spin you change to a flat hand hold in preperation, then push down to send the lady into a free-spin. The turn raises above the lady's head in a small halo & step back to finish.

So as DavidJames said in the original thread, it was a turn I was being taught, despite the teacher calling it a spin. Hmmm... Maybe my memory is failing me, but I also thought she was telling us to use the flat hand hold before the turn/spin. Whatever.

2) Cattapult; A couple of things - make sure that your right hand brushes past your thigh on the lead into it. After the lady has turned under yourr arm and you extend it behind you, mirror your other arm back as well. for the lady to catch.
- From the point when she is beside you, it is taught to draw a big (reversed) "C" at waist level to spin the lady out. I would recommend that instead of releasing the hand to your left, you actually continue the curve to start the lady turning and release the hand away from you.

I think that's maybe how we were being taught - at least, I wasn't letting go until my left hand was quite far right - actually pulling my partner back into the spin. Don't think I was doing this quite right though.

3) probably the man's turn. Just be carefull that you don't raise the arm too early or the lady will try to turn under it instead of you.

Don't think I had that problem - though I kept messing something up while dancing with the more experienced dancers, and this might have been it. Not sure, I really can't remember much from the carnage on the dance floor.

4) a basket is fairly easy if you have the right preperation into it: from a return (lady turning anti-clockwise); when her back is to you, extend your right arm at a fraction above her elbow level and take the spare hand as she steps back. This hand remains where it is for the rest of the move - just leave it.
Continue the lady like another return, but step in beside her. As you lower and step back, if you step back on your Right foot rather than left, it feels much smoother & less distorted/stretched.

Interesting you suggest this. When I was first learning, I was stepping back on the "wrong" foot, but corrected myself eventually. My main problem with the basket, I guess, is that I always forget I need to have a double hand-hold before I go into it - now I think about it, this was maybe one major factor in the disaster that was my dancing.

4a) If done well, the lady should not even notice that you've changed hands. (I use this all the time during lessons because I always catch with the wrong hand. ) When you can do it without her noticing and collect for a double handed move, then you will have it mastered.

I've found it handy too. You'd have to ask my partners to see if they noticed, but I got lots of "impressed" looks from my changing hands - again, I don't know why as it seemed so easy.

Thanks again!

Anyone else want to share their wisdom? Maybe also on some of the moves I talked about in earlier posts?