2015年6月8日 星期一

Turning and Spotting (part 1)

It doesn't matter what dance style are you in, you just need spotting. Spotting is used during various turns in order to attain a constant orientation of the head and eyes, so that a dancer can always remain control and not to lose balance. The spot can be the same spot, but multiple spots are also common for most social dances. 
Spotting is nevertheless important in dancing. Not only it is used in full turn or multiple spins, but also used in quarter turns or half turns, in which we often describe the spotting as a head delay action. No matter what actions or figures you apply spotting in, it is best when used with body separation.

Latin actions like three step turns and spiral turns (which are used in all five standard dances as well as Salsa, Mambo, Lambada and most other social rhythms) need spotting; figures that involves 1/4 turn or 1/2 turn like all Forward Walk Turn figures (see more at the table below) need to delay the head turn and take a spot too. 

Latin Dance Figures

When we talk about spotting, we usually focus on the spinning figures; however, a good forward turn also needs spotting to make it sharp. Forward walk turn like switch turn and alemana are in fact half turns, mostly advanced dancers make them overturned and it is closer to a full turn, in which we find spotting and a delayed head turn do really make a difference. We know it is important to spot, but how? Let's explore it in part 2


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