23 Mar
2006
23 Mar
'06
5:58 p.m.
On Mar 15, 2006, at 8:33 PM, Camilla Streeter wrote:
Take your partner and form one big circle around the
hall. Hold
hands and everyone face the center.
Take your right foot and CROSS (big voice) in front. (Stay on
that foot-exaggerated motion, until everyone has successfully
crossed their right foot in front.)
Take a small STEP to the left.
Maryann Taylor has been using this method for years, with
one important difference: the dancers do not
face the center of the hall as though they were doing a Greek
line dance. Instead, they hold hands in the circle and turn their
bodies just slightly to the left. The resulting movement is closer
to the way your feet would be working in a swing.
Another method I have used with success is to have partners stand
opposite each other in the hall and 'scooter' their way towards each
other
and either hook a right elbow or catch each other in swing hold
(I demo it first). So they get the feet going (right in front, pushing
off the left, going as smoothly as they can and in time with a beat)
and
then they catch each other and swing.
I don't talk about feet until I've talked about frame within the
swing hold, which I think is the most important part of the swing.
But I agree with Tom; the buzz step is too fun and too prevalent not to
introduce. They may not get it right away, but they will eventually.
-- Lisa