Originally Posted by MaggieMcGee:
“Hi Ann. I'm all over the place tonight - I meant to write Ed, not Robert! Anyhow, thanks for the description. With the cha cha cha, how do you imagine walking through grease at pace? That's what would stump me. I can feel the foot movement but not at speed. I've started doing barre classes at my Pilates reformer place and the double time movements challenge me completely! Hence my uncertainty about pace. With rumba you have time, depending on music phrasing, although self consciousness would make an appearance.”
Well you keep your feet close to, preferably on the floor in both dances and keep the steps small which makes best use of time. However with rumba there is more of a slight rise and fall. In a forward rumba walk you would slide the foot forward first (point, toe turned out) and then there is a slight rise as you move the body on to the standing foot. Then once weight is transferred you can settle into the hip slowly. Cha cha is more down and dirty in that you need to keep the weight lower. For a forward walk you still slide the foot forward first but with a sharper movement and you get onto the standing leg as soon as possible and so there is less rise, and you immediately settle into the hip and so there is less finesse in the settling action (however for a
checked forward walk which you would use in a basic or new yorker you wouldn't transfer full weight). The lock/chasse steps (4 and 1 beats) are different technique and more complicated in terms of weight transfer, but keep steps small and feet close to floor still applies, even more so in fact.
Like you I do Pilates. I'm supposed to be strengthening my ankles at the moment and so lots of reformer work.
Originally Posted by
Fuchsia Groan:
“I see Ann Dancer has answered your question below. She knows her stuff.
.”
I'm not very good at cha cha though! or jive!