Hartford Ballroom Blog

Step Lists For December 2015

12/31/2015

Dances Covered

Level 1: American Tango and Hustle
Level 2: Argentine Tango
Level 3: Samba
Level 4: Rumba and Bolero
Level 5: Cha cha

Level 1: American Tango and Hustle

Tango (Note- this is American Tango):

Basic
Corte
Promenade

Hustle:

Basic
Inside Turn
Pickpocket

Level 2: Argentine Tango

Keep in mind that there are 3 times of Argentine Tango: milonga, Argentine, and vals. For the month of December we focused primarily on Milonga, which is the easiest of the 3. Towards the end, we introduced something that belongs more in Argentine Tango.
Milonga:

Basic, aka "Baldosa Box" (6 steps)
Traspie ("quick-quick-slow"), can be done on any of the first 5 steps of the Baldosa Box
Side together (repeat "5-6" as many times as you'd like)

Argentine Tango:

Forward Ochos
Leader's out-of-the-way rock step to forward ochos
Forward Ochos to parada (means "stop", as in leader blocks the follower's foot and stops the ocho), to pasada (means "go", as in follower steps over the leader's foot and continues)

Level 3: Samba

Basic forward and back
Basic side crosses
Side crosses with followers' underarm turn (outside turn)
Box step
Promenade
Routine: forward and back, side crosses, promenade, box step
Counterpromenade
Bota fogo with promenade and counterpromenade (goes back and forth)

Level 4: Rumba and Bolero

Rumba:

Box step with Cuban walk
Shadow crossovers (uses right handshake), turn and loop to shadow back break
Crossover with inside turn endings:
- Right hand loop (inside turn with leader's right hand)
  - Optional: you can include Cuban walks in the right hand loop, between the loop and the final turn
She goes/he goes (inside turn with leader's left hand)
Half moon (one shadow crossover+one cross body lead), turn and loop to shadow back break (optional)
Half moon to arm hook, aida (rock-and-turn), fencing line (across-and-side), end with she goes/he goes
Open break to Copa*
Open break to triple fans, grapevine and ronde with a copa ending*

*these moves do not require that you end with a fifth-position ending. It's cleaner if you simply do a box step and slowly get back together

Bolero:

Shadow crossovers (uses right handshake), turn and loop to shadow back break
Crossover with inside turn endings:
- Right hand loop (inside turn with leader's right hand)
  - Optional: you can include Cuban walks in the right hand loop, between the loop and the final turn
She goes/he goes (inside turn with leader's left hand)
Half moon (one shadow crossover+one cross body lead), turn and loop to shadow back break (optional)
Half moon to arm hook, aida (rock-and-turn), fencing line (across-and-side), end with she goes/he goes
Open break to Copa
Open break to triple fans, grapevine and ronde with a copa ending

Level 5: Cha Cha

Sweetheart Twinkles
- open break, leader's foot fake, back break (no cha-cha-cha), 5 twinkles (4+1, 2+3, etc.), back break (with cha-cha-cha), inside turn ending while leader foot fakes.
Cuban break combination with shoulder check ending
- 2 crossovers, 2 Cuban breaks (2+3+4+1), 2 short Cuban breaks (2+3, 4+1), 1 Cuban break for follower only, shoulder check for the followers (technically check from the arm)
Bota Fogos and Cuban break combination from an outside break
- 2 outside turns, 2 bota fogos, Cuban break (2+3+4+1), 2 bota fogos (in other direction), Cuban break (in other direction), outside break
Crossover, grapevine into back break
- "run-run-run"
4 Natural Tops (aka "back spot turns")
- Original
- With an outside turn
- with follower's swivels

with follower's grapevine

Berkshire Hall Step Lists For December 2015

12/31/2015

Dances Covered:

Beginner (Level 2): Argentine Tango
Intermediate (Level 3): Samba

Beginner: Argentine Tango

Please note, there are 3 types of tango: Milonga, Argentine Tango, and Vals. This month we mainly focused on Milonga, although I introduced something that was technically Argentine Tango.
Milonga:

Baldosa Box (6 steps)
Walking into, and out of Baldosa Box
Side together (repeat 5 and 6 as many times as you would like)
Traspie (rock steps, changes the rhythm to quick-quick-slow, can be done on any of the first 5 steps of the Baldosa Box)

Argentine Tango:

Forward ochos
Leader's rock to forward ochos
Bonus: Leader's parada (means "stop", where the leader "stops the ochos with his foot), to follower's pasada (means "go", where the follower initiates the next move by stepping over the leader's foot)

Intermediate: Samba

Routine: forward and back, side crosses, promenade, box step
counterpromenade
windmill (from counterpromenade)
international combination (promenade, bota fogo, voltas, spot turn voltas)

Step Lists For December 2014

12/31/2014

Dances Covered:

Level 1: tango, hustle, and merengue
Level 2: slow waltz
Level 3: salsa
Level 4: foxtrot
Level 5: east coast swing/Charleston

Level 1: Tango, Hustle, and Merengue

Hustle

basic
inside turn
pickpocket

Tango

basic
corte
forward rock

Merengue

outside/inside turn
double turns
guy's turn
cuddle
yo-yo from cuddle
backwrap
lasso from backwrap

Level 2: Waltz

Basic Traveling Step
Box Step
Box Step With Underarm Turn
Balance Step
Hesitation
Zigzag
Twinkle
Parallel Twinkle

Level 3: Salsa

Cross Body Lead
Alternating Underarm Turn
Canopy
Shoulder Check
Routine #1: Alternating Underarm Turn, Shoulder Check, Canopy
Crossover With Underarm Turn
Crossover With Apart Turn
Cross Body Lead Into Crossover
Crossover swivels

Level 4: Foxtrot

1/4 turn Basic
Grapevine From 1/4 Turn Basic
Left Turn
Twinkle, Twinkle With 1/4 Turn
Zigzag, Zigzag With Develope
Chasse With Twinkle Beginning and Ending

Level 5: East Coast Swing/Charleston

Charleston Basic
Tandem Charleston
Overturn and Push-Out (to get in and out of Tandem Charleston)
Half-Moon a.k.a. "Rainbow"
Charleston Crossovers with Double-Kick apart turn
Half-Moon with kick choreography