Top Ten Habits of a Smooth Modern Jiver
1. The man keeps out of the lady's way -
Imagine you're dancing on the beach. The lady is dancing up and down her
beach towel. The man is allowed on to the towel, but must step on to
the sand to allow the lady to pass down the towel - the man can also
step across the towel to the sand on the other side. This does not
mean the lady must always be oriented with one wall or the other, it's
all about the man getting out of the way rather than expecting the lady
to change course to avoid the man.
2. Stay close enough together for both partners to have their elbow bent and pointing at the floor
Too far apart means one or both partners will have straight arms - this
puts the shoulders over the toes and interferes with balance, posture
and connection. Standing closer together means the arms and shoulders
are working gently and you tire less quickly - standing further apart
means the whole body is working, especially the lower back - very tiring
and increasing the injury risk! Also, standing a long way apart takes
up much more space on social dance floors and increases the risk of
collisions with other couples. The problem starts when certain
teachers say "both step back" to students who are already standing at
the correct dancing distance.
3. Lady's basic footwork - a weight change on every beat - right on the down beat
(beats 1+3), left on the up beat (beats 2+4). This does not mean you
need to take a step on every beat as many weight changes will be made
in-place with the foot remaining on the floor, especially when changing
direction - for example, the left foot remains "anchored" in place for 3
beats in a right rock step.
4. Men's footwork - Left on down beats.
The man's footwork is more flexible and less specific than the lady's
footwork in Modern Jive. But the basic men's footwork timing for the
majority of the time is the opposite of the lady's: left on beat 1
and/or 3, right on beat 2 and or 4. When jiving smoothly a lot of the
man's weight changes are in-place. However, in-place weight changes can
be replaced by an in-place pressure-step, hitch, scuff, flick or kick,
especially in cross-body moves - however, this does mean that, in most cases, the lead
changes from body lead to arm lead - see No 10.
5. Move feet "ball-flat" on to straight or straightening legs.
When stepping forward, especially when stepping forward-to-go-back in
Mambo type steps, you should peel-from-the-heel, bending the knee - then
push forward from the bent knee with the heel higher than the toes, the
toes should be very close to the floor, possibly brushing the floor.
Keep the stride short so the toes stay near the floor, land the ball of
the foot first, then the heel, then straighten the leg, finally moving
the weight over the foot - it sounds complicated but, with practice, is
easy to complete in a single beat. The, incorrect, alternative is
heel leads, landing heel-first on to soft, bending, knees - this is
correct for ballroom dances with a rise and fall like the waltz, but
wrong for if you want your jive to be of the smooth variety.
6. Continuous Ultra Gentle Connection, .
In the open hold the continuous ultra gentle connection is the minimum
tension necessary to maintain contact without gripping - both partners
are responsible for keeping this gentle. This tension level is
established at the start of the dance and adjusted, usually reduced
during the course of the dance as partners get to know each other's
dancing - it's not a wrestling match and the lady should take charge of
her own momentum, not use the man to pull herself forward or to act as a
brake!
7. Gentle "pulsing" indication lead - Gentle follow The
indication lead is applied to the lady's hand by gentle pulses of
tension or compression, respectively leading the lady forward or back.
Pulses are applied ahead of the beat so the lady's weight change is
right on the beat, e.g. on the "a" in "8-a1". The lady continues
to move in the direction indicated until she receives a new indication
lead, they man continues to maintain the ultra gentle connection with
his hand following the lady's movement - in practice the lady will
probably start to look for another lead on the 1 of the next 8 count,
possibly the start of the next bar if that, beat 5, comes sooner.
8. Lady's forearm horizontal - man adjusts his hand height to suit the lady. In the open-hold, the lady's wrist should be angled so it hinges downwards when
compression is applied - this means the lady's wrist will end up
slightly lower than the elbow during the compression pulse and
straighten during a tension pulse. In the open hold the man only raises
the lady's hand during underhand turns, lowering the hand towards the
lady's hip with gentle compression to complete the turn.
9. In the double hand-hold the man applies lead to only one of the lady's hands - this the hand which is nearest to the lady's centre of gravity or the hand on the side of the foot which is moving - which,
of course, is RLRL on the 1234 - the leading hand will change in
travelling moves as the lady's moving foot changes - which hand, left or
right, depends on which hand hold is being taken. It is always wrong to lead the lady with both hands as this risks pulling her on to both toes and upsetting her balance.
10. Use body leads - keep arm leads smooth and gentle
- body leads are easier to keep smooth and require a weight change by
the man to move his body - the lead follows the man's centre of gravity.
Moving the man's body out of the lady's way and off the lady's line of
dance (see No1) is a great way of body leading. Body leads can not be
done if the man is keeping his weight in-place and doing a
pressure-step, scuff, hitch, kick, etc - this requires an arm lead with
the hand moving independently to the man's centre of gravity. It is
harder to keep arm leads smooth and gentle but much easier if leads are
pulsed (see No7) rather than dragging or shoving using brute force! N.B.
It is possible to body lead using a pivot in-place, on one foot, during
cross-body move - however, this works better if it's followed by a
weight change, rather than the man standing, stork-like, on one foot for
2, 3 or more beats!
