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Class with Victor Veyrasset
- Author:
- Steve Brockman
- Date Published:
- April 5, 2005
Class Notes from April 5th Class with Victor Veyrasset
By: Steve Brockman
1) Blocks of Weight
The head, shoulders, ribcage and hips should be vertically in line. When standing in place, with the knees slightly flexed, there should be a slight crease at the front of the hips (at the hip flexors). This slight crease is created because the “hip girdle” is in line with the rest of the body and NOT “tucked under”. The abdominal muscles should be lifted and pulled up.
2) Backward and Forward Walks
The Back Walk (basic method).
The moving leg moves back with the center of balance in place.
The back heel lowers as the front (moving) leg passes.
The Back Walk (advanced method).
Same as above except the center of balance moves back as the moving leg is moving back.
For both of these methods, keep the abdominal muscles “long”.
The Forward Walk.
There are three body positions.
1) The body behind the moving foot and between the feet.
2) The body is in line with both feet as the feet are passing.
3) The body is in front of the standing foot and behind the moving foot.
Footwork of the Forward Walk
(Commencing with the moving foot behind the body)
Count “Slow” Toe, Ball, Flat (this occurs as the feet are passing), Heel
Lengthen the moving leg in front of the body, not too straight
Count “Quick” Slide the Toe
Count “Quick” Slide the Toe, Ball (as the feet are passing), Toe.
Slide the toe ahead of the body, lower the heel early.
Timing For Lowering of the moving foot. Lower at the beginning of “3” in Waltz or the second “Q” in Fox Trot. The body lowers at the beginning of three, then no more lowering. If you lower again after the three, this would be called “double lowering”. The correct rise and fall then looks like a bowl…a lowering, then flat, then a rising up. When the heel lowers properly on the forward walk, the knees will brush together as the feet are passing and this will prevent your partner from being “kneed”. The footwork on the back walk is the reverse of the forward walk except the heel of the standing foot lowers as the feet are passing..
Three Swings
Rotational, Pendulum and Metronomic
1) Rotational Swing
This can be thought of as swinging a shoe bag in a horizontal plane. Rotational swing is characterized by the “Four Ranges of Motion”.
a) Forward step with right foot, turning right.
b) Forward step with left foot, turning left.
c) Back step with right foot, turning left.
d) Back step with left foot, turning right.
The moving foot travels in the shape of the capital letter “J” as it moves forward or backward past the standing foot.
These movements are also called CBM. This action, the rotational swing, occurs between count three and one in the waltz, and between the second quick and the slow in the fox trot.
The ladies must become receptive to the idea of dancing their hip action, the rotational movement of the hips, legs and feet, and not “wait “ for the man to physically manipulate them to rotate.
Rules for Rotational Swing:
a) Our center of balance and the moving foot should be in the same alignment.
b) Our torso rotates because our base rotates.
c) Our legs must coordinate with one another (ie. time the movement of the moving foot, standing knee and the center of balance).
2) Pendulum Swing
Pendulum swing is just like a swing set at the park. The moving part of the swing (the seat) is below a fixed point. The amount of pendulum swing is proportionate to the amount of movement. If your moving a lot, you need more pendulum swing to be on balance, if your moving very little, you only need a little pendulum swing to maintain good balance.
Victor used the phrase ”sway like you are in a test tube”.
3) Metronomic Swing
Metronomic swing is like the movement of a windshield wiper on a car. The fixed point is at the bottom and the moving point is above. Victor demonstrated metronomic swing using “ballet arms”. He swayed to the left, his right arm curved over head and his left arm across his body. With his arms in this position Victor stretched up and leftward and slightly back. The correct version for stretching back was to imagine stretching up and over a high bar while lengthening the abdominal muscles. The incorrect method would be to bend over backwards from the hips.
The use of the three swings on a box step in waltz.
3 to 1 - Rotational swing and dissolve the sway from the previous measure.
1 to 2 – Pendulum swing.
2 to 3 – Metronomic swing.
Where rotational swing overlaps pendulum swing is the “axis of rotation”. The axis of rotation is the “alignment” of the head, shoulder, hip and foot on the inside of a turn and usually occurs on beat 1 in waltz or the slow in fox trot.
Victor commented that rotation conveys direction and gives a look of flexibility.
