Your positioning on the floor and how you progress around it may be likened to driving in a flow of traffic. The skill, experience and thinking ahead neessary to negotiate the other dancers are called floorcraft. First you need to know the basic ways of orientating yourself in the room.
The
most fundamental thing a beginner dancer need to know is the flow of
the floor traffic (line of dancing, LOD) is in an anticlockwise
(counterclockwise, CCW) direction around the room, and that the very
essential thing they need to do is to go with the flow. Assuming
that the room is rectangular, stand adjacent to any wall, making sure
the wall is on the man's R and the woman's L. The man should be in a
position to move fw with the flow of the floor traffic and the woman
to move bw. In some steps, the man will face against LOD with the
wall on his L hand side. The overall movement of the figure being
danced will, however, continue to go with the flow.
Next,
beginners should learn that the orientation of the dancers is in
relation to the nearest wall, the centre line of the floor and in
terms of zigs and zags. And so it is necessary to know what are
these. Staying on the LOD in a ready-to-dance position, the centre
line of the room will be on the man's L and the woman's R. A diagonal
line, which we call a zig, extends from the centre line to the wall
parallel to it at an angle of approximately 45 degree. Another
diagonal line, the zag, extends from the wall to the centre line at
an angle of approx 45 degree. In tbe basic waltz and quickstep, the
man moves fw along zigs and backwards along the zags in order to tack
along the room. We use this in all the Standard Partner Dances. When
you turn a corner, you will orientate yourself using the new wall and
the centre line, which is always parallel to the wall you are using.
The zigs and zags run along the diagonals between the new centre line
and the new wall as before. The flow will, of course, flow around the
corner.
This
ability to floorcraft develops with practice but can be acquired more
easily if at the very first beginning the dancers can remember these
general guidelines, the responsibility for which lies mainly with the
man.
- It is extremely important to adhere to the given orientation in the room. If you allow yourself to wander from the prescribed path, it will be very difficult to get back to it.
- If you are following a couple around a corner, stay behind and on the wall side of them. By the time you reach their position, they will usually have moved on.
- Avoid dancing across a corner if a couple are already in the corner. You risk them running into you as they exit the corner.
- Women, even though trying to help, should not attempt to lead the man.
Floorcraft
skills basically entail manoeuvring around obstacles; as you become
accustomed to moving around the dance floor, your style will become
more relaxed and flowing.
To learn more about Floorcrafting and Choreography, click here.
To learn how a Choreography is created, click here.
To learn more about Floorcrafting and Choreography, click here.
To learn how a Choreography is created, click here.