AFRAID TO TURN OR SPIN? HERE ARE SOME TIPS AND STYLING TECHNIQUES | COMMON SPINS TO KNOW

Always check with your physician before taking up dancing, spinning or exercising as these activities may not suitable or advisable for everyone. 

Turning and spinning and having good balance are essential elements when dancing. Dancing is the creation of a flowing movement and turning and spinning are integral parts in just about all of the social dances. One must learn how to turn and spin if they are going to dance as it is a fundamental movement just like it is with ballet and ice skating.  Every time you do a side pass, or cross body lead in the Hustle, Swing, or Salsa, the lady dancer will have to either turn or spin around in order to face her partner. Even the slower dances like the Waltz is based upon traveling rotations with its pivots and natural spins. The Jive dance is one continuous turn or spin after another (every 5 seconds or so). If you think Salsa has a lot of spins, the Hustle has even more rotations and revolutions, and more so with the New Style Hustle. It is hard to think of any popular dance style that does not have a turn or spin as one of its basic movements. Granted, not everyone can spin when first learning how to dance, but just like learning how to ride a bicycle, learning to spin is acquired over time through practice and dancing experience.

If you will be embarking on this journey you will need to learn how to spin safely without hitting those next to you, or losing your balance and falling to the ground. If you are not physically strong enough for the rigors of dancing you should check with a physician to see if you have a medical condition before proceeding any further with this physical activity. 

Contrary to what some beginning lady dancers may think, it is not the leader's role to keep a lady upright and in balance while she spins. Some dancers expect their leaders to catch them and keep them from falling down, and. may even yell out to their leaders, "You need to catch me!". In reality, those that lack balance are a danger not only to themselves but to others next to them. In partner dancing, ladies must be able to support their own weight so as not to fall down, or bump into others. Although an alert leader will try his best to catch his partner if he sees that she is losing her balance, leaders are primarily focused on musical interpretation, dance flow, floor craft, and lead suitability when dancing. See http://www.salsadancingtips.com/become-a-better-follower.html. 

HAVING GOOD BALANCE IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO DANCE SAFELY: Dancing is a VERY ACTIVE exercise just like swimming, jogging, or sprinting, it requires being in 'dance shape'. To be able to dance safely, one needs to develop a strong core, have good muscle tone, leg strength, flexibility, agility and stamina. 

 Maintaining one's own balance is critical for safe dancing and this doesn't only apply to spins because there are so many other standard dance movements that require agility and balance. The grapevine, for example, requires great balance, quick and nimble footwork, so for those new to dancing it would benefit them if participated in some kind of physical conditioning and exercise program before taking up dancing. Walking and hiking regularly, or even Tai Chi helps one to strengthen certain muscle groups and develop the necessary body awareness that is required in order to partner dance. 

It is generally the beginning dancer or those that lack balance who cannot or do not like to spin.  Some may tell their leaders "Please don't spin me", some may not say anything but it is apparent that when you dance with them, they are struggling to maintain their balance and are a safety concern. If it should experience this as a leader try your best to not spin her and use other leads that are more 'dance-friendly' for them, this is where it helps if leaders know a multitude of leads. 

 Once you begin to dance with the more experienced and advanced dancers however, you will find that they do not complain about spinning and they will execute spins without any hesitation or difficulty. In fact, advanced lady salsa dancers take pride in their spinning abilities as it is both a science technique-wise, as well as an art form as it concerns their styling movements during their spin. If you watch the video below, you will see some incredible and exquisite spins.

                       Spinning is an ESSENTIAL element and is an INTEGRAL part of dancing.
                                                 


SAFETY ISSUE In addition to learning how to spin follows need to be aware of where their elbows are at all times while they are spinning. Leaders have been hit in the cheek, nose, jaw, and head from lady dancers who had their elbows extended outwards. Dancing can be extremely dangerous if the person you are dancing with is untrained. Usually, it is the new or inexperienced dancers, and especially those who have not taken any dance lessons that pose a danger to others. Remember, safety ALWAYS comes first when partner dancing. 
A follow should not be drifting all over the place when she spins. 

There are generally two types of turns or spins. One is the spot turn and the other is the traveling turn. One of the basic principles in dancing is to stay in your place on the floor whenever you finish a spot turn, thus the phrase that one must learn to "spin on a dime".  Most novice dancers have a hard time with their spot turns as they end up drifting or finishing about a foot or two away from where they first began their spin. It is like a gyroscope that is off-kilter, this lateral movement or drifting while spinning is due to lack of the proper spin techniques and not being balanced and centered. You see it with untrained dancers or those who lack balance control. As explained later drifting is bad floor craft, it is problematic for leaders and a safety concern not only for the dancer herself but for other dancers who are nearby. 


Why is it so important to spin on a dime when doing a spot turn you may ask?  When the floor is crowded dancers who cannot spin in a spot end up taking up way too much space as they land off to their side and not in the place where they are supposed to be. Consequently, they either bump or collide with other dancers next to them, or they end up in someone else's dance slot.  Sort of like a bull running wild in a china shop, spinning out of control, bumping into other dancers and hitting them off their axis shows a lack of floor craft. This has led to friction and complaints, even strongly worded arguments at times from other dancing couples. All new dancers should definitely read this article on how to avoid dance floor collisions and being more floor craft mindful or savvy http://www.danceambassador.com/Collisions_On_Dance_Floor.html. 

 If a dancer has problems with her balance or coordination and is knocking other dancers off their axis (or hitting leaders in their face with their elbows) leaders will ask others to dance who have better floor craft skills and body awareness. They do this out of safety concerns and to maintain cordial relations with neighboring dancers who share the same dance floor. I have seen certain dancers get "86d" from a club because they were a danger to other dancing couples and were constantly hitting or bumping into them.  If you happen to collide with or hit someone else, make sure they are okay and be sure to acknowledge your faux pas. To not acknowledge your mistake and continue to dance is considered poor taste and improper. 

 Leaders should also be aware of where other dancers are before leading their partners into traveling turns, making sure that there is enough room for his partner to complete the move. If the leader should be at fault by leading his follow into another dancer's space and hitting into another couple, he should apologize to his partner and to the other couple and pay more attention to his surroundings. This aspect of dancing is called having good slot awareness. Slot discipline is critical for good and safe dancing. Leaders must also give their follows enough room to travel down their own slot so as not to impede with their line of travel, and follows must not travel into their leader's slot. If a leader blocks his partner's slot, he either forces her to drift into a neighbor's slot, or she will run into or bump him.  If a follow strays into the leader's slot, she may trip over her leader's foot and fall down (and it would not the leader's fault if that happens). Lacking proper slot awareness and slot discipline is a rather common problem with many new or beginning dancers who have not taken the core dance lessons. 

IMPORTANT SLOT PRACTICE DRILL:  A drill for beginning dancers to learn how to travel and spin within their own slot is to place some chairs on both sides of a dance slot to form an alley, you then practice traveling turns within that alley without bumping into any of the chairs. If you happen to hit the inside row of chairs, and if you were actually dancing, it is as if you just hit your partner or stepped on his foot. If you happen to hit the outside row of chairs, it is as if you just bumped into a couple dancing next to you. So for safety reasons keep practicing this over and over again until traveling down the slot without bumping into any chairs becomes part of how you dance. There is a safe method to executing any kind of traveling turn and it starts with having good slot discipline. One cannot ignore this concept if he or she wants to dance safely, and not bump into others or fall down (or cause others to fall down). Disciplined spinners that stay in their slot also make dancing much easier for their leaders because the leaders know exactly where their partners are and should be. Those that drift away and are in the wrong position causing an interruption in the dance momentum because the leader must realign the slot before he can continue with his next lead.  
SAFETY RULE FOR LEADERS - BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN YOU SPIN SOMEONE AS LADIES HAVE BEEN HURT: Not everyone you will be dancing with knows how to dance. For some it could be their first dancing experience, and surprising as it may sound, not everyone who knows how to dance can safely spin or support their own weight after coming out of a turn or spin. As a rule of thumb if the person you are dancing with cannot safely execute the basic spot turn, or if you see her having problems maintaining her balance, then think twice before leading her into any further turns, or spins during the dance, particularly avoiding traveling turns. If a lady is way off kilter during the middle of her spin consider abandoning the move if you think she may lose her balance and use your free hand to bring her in and support her to prevent her from possibly falling down. Some ladies have fallen face down and suffered bruises that lasted for weeks. A dancer mentioned that while on a cruise ship an elderly lady dancer while trying to do a spin fell down so hard that she had to cut short her cruise and got off at the next port for much needed medical treatment. Always put safety first when dancing with new or beginning dancers, and especially so with dancers who lack balance control and body awareness. 

 If a lady has difficulty with her spins it is best to let her leader know beforehand as it will give him time to figure out how to modify his leads and create a safe and satisfying dance experience for her. Some ladies will say "I am sort of new to dancing", this should immediately put most leaders on notice that he should tone down his leads. Although most experienced leaders can adapt, leaders that are new to dancing may not or do not have the ability, thus ladies need to understand that not all leaders will be able to adapt to her safety or comfort level.  

 Leaders tip: Whenever a leader is leading a lady into a spin he must be sure that when he circles his arms it is around her head, sort of like drawing a halo over her head. This attention to detail keeps the lady's axis centered, it also keeps her in balance and allows her to spin with ease. Sometimes leaders will have to walk or travel with his follow when she is doing a traveling turn but takes too big of steps, he does this in order that he does not yank, or pull her off of her axis while she is spinning while traveling, again everything revolves around safety, and adapting to your partner's skill set. 

 LEADERS CAN HELP PREVENT DIZZINESS: Spinning someone in just one direction all the time may make anyone dizzy after a while, so to prevent a follow from getting dizzy try spinning her in the opposite direction to help to stabilize her equilibrium. It really does work when the leader alternates the lady's spin direction or mixes it up during the dance. If she should still get dizzy then she may not be acclimated to spinning. Leaders should also pay attention to any new person that he is dancing with and focus in on her footwork and balance using appropriate leads to create a safe dance for her. If she is having a hard time spinning and keeping up with the beat then you can slow down her spin speed by way of 'cutting', not all new dancers can spin in time with the music, but most beginners can complete a spin if the movement is cut or slowed down just enough for them. For this reason, you will never hear a rumba dancer complain about being spun since it is a very slow spin.

Excellent spinners are rare in the club scene and there is a plausible reason for that. Most dancers cannot spin because they have did not take a workshop or specialized class in it. There are certain techniques that are mandatory to spin properly, some dancers try to fake it but as they lack the proper foundation their spins are not crisp and tight, instead their spins are slow and unbalanced. Whenever there is a turn or spin in a dance class most dance instructors cannot and do not spend the time to fully explain the spin technique. Also, most lessons are taught with students repeating a pattern in slow motion, or frame by frame so it is hard to learn a spin when it is not taught in real time. Not learning how to spin from class is not due to any fault on the instructor's part but is due to the time constraints placed upon the dance teacher to complete the lesson plan on schedule and not fall behind in the course syllabus. This is why someone may have taken many dance lessons, or may have danced for years yet still not know the proper spin techniques. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a natural born spinner. So unless you have taken ballet lessons in the past learning how to properly spin actually takes many long hours of constant practicing. Advanced dancers and those who are properly trained have nice, tight and perfectly balanced spins (they also keep their elbows out of harm's way). They also have the ability to do fast rotations and multiple spins. The untrained dancer, on the other hand, does not know how to center themselves and rotate around a fixed axis. 

If you cannot spin you might be thinking, why can't the leader simply refrain from turning or spinning me? First of all, to ask that begs the question and it evades the real issue at hand. Turning and spinning are essential parts of dancing and so is having good balance. Most men dancers are social club dancers and not professionals or dance instructors so for them to alter the way that they dance can present a challenge for them. If a leader is told, "Please don't turn or spin me" most beginning leaders would question whether they could even lead that person in a dance. Although a leader could scale back his dancing by dancing in place, after a minute or so of dancing this way the dance soon becomes repetitive and a bit mundane for both parties because the leader's ability to lead has been affected.
CONSIDER TAKING LESSONS IF YOU CANNOT SPIN: There are a number of teachers in town who can help you with the proper footwork and spin techniques. The advanced, or competition level salsa and Lindy dancers are excellent spinners. Given a choice, it makes more sense to take spin lessons from a salsa instructor rather than from a waltz or rumba instructor. "Spinning is spinning no matter what dance style you are doing...good spin technique is reasonably universal, the concepts of body alignment hold for both." When you take spinning classes you will learn how to prep for the spin, how to use your arms to help 'prep' to generate power and momentum and how to develop the proper footwork when executing the spin or turn. They will also teach you how to spot your turns to prevent from getting dizzy, as well as how to land or complete your spins. None of the non-profits offer a special workshop in stationary or traveling spin techniques so you will have to take a class or workshop from one of the private dance instructors. Emily Hodges of Linda Melodia dance school now offers a special workshop several times a year in styling and spinning. If you've seen her dance socially there are not enough superlatives that describe how well she spins and dances. She spins on a dime and her technique is without question competition level quality in every aspect. (For her spin workshop info: http://www.hawaiisalsa101.com/ladies-styling-spinning/). 

The next time you are out dancing, scan the dance floor and you may spot a couple of lady dancers who are excellent spinners, they are easy to spot as they stand out among the crowd, their secret? For starters, all of them put in the work that is required to be able to spin that way, one of the keys to what they do...watch how close their feet are when they spin.


Question: Should leaders close the frame with the follow after a traveling turn, frisbee spin, or any spin from a cross body lead?  

 Answer: The long and short of it, "it depends"...see the exclusive interview below.  

An Interview with Stefan Kant (anyone who dances Salsa here in town knows who 'Stefan' is)...an incredibly gracious, thoughtful and admirable leader, who makes you feel thoroughly comfortable no matter what your skill set is.  "Typically the rationale for closing the frame (or placing your right hand on your follows shoulder blade after she comes out of a spin or turn)  or not has a lot more to do with what you want to lead next and if it requires you to have your arm free or not. In an ideal world, you don't use the right arm as a way of catching her because everyone takes classes and has been trained to have balance through the turns and the leads have been trained to guide her turn in ways that would maximize her rotational potential without compromising her axis. Of course, we're not in an ideal world. With very novice follows, especially those with little body awareness, leaders will use their right arm as backup primarily out of safety concerns. 

In some ways, I see a social dance as a kind of agreement in which the follows entrust us with the power to shape the course of the dance and in return, we strive to make them as comfortable as possible and look as good as possible. Thus as a lead, I'd recommend taking the first few moments of a dance and do material that gives you an idea of what the follow is capable of. That doesn't mean do the hardest material and then scale back. There is a lot of information that can be gained about your follow simply by analyzing simple movements or even her basic step. What is her ability to generate hip movement? Does she have timing? How does she come out of a turn and generate forward momentum, or spot her turn? With some very simple figures, you generally have an idea which patterns are feasible and which are going to require you to 'save the day.' With this knowledge in hand, you can adjust to your partner."

The traveling turn in dance. A source of frustration for many new or novice dancers (or untrained dancers who have not developed the coordination skills) is the traveling turn. Unlike a stationary turn, in a traveling turn the lady walks away from her leader, from point A to point B and does a turn in the process.  Like the cross body lead this is a basic core movement that is common in the hustle, swing, salsa, nightclub 2 step, cha cha and many of the other popular social club dances.  Often times those that fall either are too slow in moving their trailing foot under or behind them as they take their pivot steps, or they may take too big steps and this causes them to lose their  balance because they are not fully centered as they spin. Those that lack slot awareness have also tripped on their leader's foot and fallen down because they failed to stay in their own slot. Because the lady is spinning away from her partner the leader cannot catch or save her if she should stumble and fall, it also catches most leaders completely off their guard as they do not expect their partners to lose their balance and fall down when dancing and doing a basic core movement. For an informative lesson in the proper mechanics of doing a traveling turn watch the video lesson above by one of the country's top instructors Salomon Rivera. If you focus in on his partner's footwork each step that she takes while spinning away from her leader is on one line rather than on two railroad tracks. Whenever you hit clean lines like this it provides the dancer with more stability and better balance while spinning and from a styling point of view it also looks nicer because the spin or turn is tighter and centered. 

To learn how to develop good balance, see:  http://www.dance-forums.com/threads/developing-good-balance.5352/  It also helps to develop the proper core and leg strength by regularly hiking, walking, bicycling, running on the beach, or working the treadmill (assuming you don't have any medical conditions).



 TIPS AND TECHNIQUES.
BASIC TURNS AND SPINS

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