Quote:
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Originally Posted by ChrisA
Key points:
- rubber soles make it harder
- feet close together during spin - no flamingoes
- spin starts with upper body not legs so 'wind up' a bit in the opposite direction for a bit of impetus.
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When I first began ceroc I was continually frustrated by my completely naff spins. It didn't really start to improve until I ditched the beat-up old Ravel boots I was dancing in and got some decent dance shoes.
It took me a good few weeks to work out that you use the left foot for anticlockwise spins, and the right foot for clockwise spins. ( I think, my spatial awareness is not a strong point!)
I eventually noticed, by observing good dancers, that spins look better if you keep your feet close together with the non-weighted foot very close to the floor.
I was entranced once by watching a lovely dancer from the B'ham area do effortless triple spins- she, and others, have told me that they just practised in the kitchen at home, pushing off the doorpost, until they could do it. I've started to notice that I often use my partners' shoulders in the same way to get a bit of impetus into the spin. Am I supposed to do this? Noone's complained yet!
I don't know which bit of me leads the spin, I'll think about it next time.
Considering that spinning is such a crucial part of the dance I'm always amazed that so little direct advice is is given from the teacher during the lesson. I had to work much of this out for myself. However, Emma Pettit's style workshop at Daventry contained lots of focussed training on spinning techniques and was very useful.
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If really struggling, exercises like stand on one foot and do 1/8 turns maintaining balance, progressing to 1/4 turns etc.
I encourage practice - a minute or two per day, which is how I progressed from totally crap to occasionally Ok. They never do though  |
I think this is excellent advice. I think it would be good if half a minute of this was included in every Ceroc class. I'm bored with moves, moves, moves and would like loads more teaching based on technique, style and musicality. However, I know most of the punters wouldn't want this. Or having to do repetitive practice. But it seems to me that no worthwhile gains in the physical skills such as balance that people have advocated on this thread are going to be made without it.
Incidentally, much has been said on the forum about injuries caused by drops, aerials, yankers etc, but I think poor spinning technique can also lead to injury. Careful training of beginner blokes might prevent the horrible feeling of being forced into endless off-balance spins, spins in the wrong direction when caught on the wrong foot and the jolts and stresses caused by sudden and unpredictable changes of direction. My own ability to spin has now improved and I am more able to cope with whatever the leader throws at me but when I started it was a real problem.