Hartford Ballroom Blog

Dances Covered:

Level 1: Tango and Hustle
Level 2: Argentine Tango
Level 3: West Coast Swing
Level 4: Viennese Waltz
Level 5: Bachata and Salsa

Level 1: Tango and Hustle

Hustle:

basic
inside turn

Tango:

basic
corte
promenade

Level 2: Argentine Tango

Milonga

Baldosa Box
Traspie ("rock-and-rock")
repeat steps 5+6
repeat steps 3,4,5,+6
rhythm play

Argentine Tango

Crusada with an 8-count
Crusada with only a 5-count
forward ocho
back ocho with crusada ending
calisita
parada and pasada

Level 3: West Coast Swing

Steps:

back wrap (aka "hammerlock")
left side pass with a tuck turn
whip

Styling:

tap step
sailor step
kick 'n point

Level 4: Viennese Waltz

Left turn (involves a cross)
Right turn
Cross body lead with inside turn
- end with open break
- end with open break, ladies turn, then leaders turn
Back spot turn (taught by Nate only)

Level 5: Salsa and Bachata

Unfortunately, the step list for this class is missing. If we find the list, we will update this post

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Dances Covered:

Level 1: Rumba and Waltz
Level 2: Fast Waltz
Level 3: Salsa/Bachata
Level 4: Foxtrot
Level 5: Hustle

Level 1: Rumba and Waltz

Rumba

Box
Side-together-side
Ladies' underarm turn (aka "turn with Cuban Walk")

Waltz

Box
Travel
Box with underarm turn

Balance step

Level 2: Fast Waltz

Progressive (travel) step
forward and back
1/4 turns to the left
1/4 turns to the right
Side crosses
- with ladies' outside turn
- with ladies' inside turn
Promenade
- with ladies' outside turn

Level 3: Salsa and Bachata

Bachata

Basic to the side
Forward and back
Cuddle
Pickpocket, using leader's right hand
Ladies' inside turn
Leader's inside turn
Back wrap
Hand change behind back
Rock step

Salsa

cross body lead
canopy, cross body lead, man's loop, cross body lead
out of the way
shoulder check
out of the way to shoulder check
hand flick to right handshake

Level 4: Foxtrot

Left 3/8 turn
Simple twinkle (aims down the line)
Turning twinkle (aims across the line)
Promenade Chasse (slow, quick-and-quick)
Twinkle with guy's turn to chasse
Butterfly
Twinkle to grapevine (mirror image)
Fallaway twinkle
Twinkle with guy's turn to chasse with inside turn ending
Grapevine with apart turn
Finishing twirl

Level 5: Hustle

The New Yorker (like a left side pass in West Coast Swing)
The Las Vegas (involves syncopated rhythm for the ladies)
Cool hand slide to 1/2 a sweetheart and inside turn ("cool hand slide...with a twist")
Triple right side pass
Outside turn to 1-1/2 ampersand
- switch sides to back wrap with other hand and then roll-in from backwrap to cuddle (leader needs to simultaneously change hands to accomplish this)
  - optional: guy turns at the same time
Switch sides to ampersand (a double turn)

Step Lists For March 2016

3/31/2016

Dances Covered:
Level 1: Tango and Hustle
Level 2: Salsa and Bachata
Level 3: Foxtrot
Level 4: Hustle
Level 5: Argentine Tango

Step Lists For February 2016

2/29/2016

Dances Covered:
Level 1: East Coast Swing and Foxtrot
Level 2: Foxtrot
Level 3: Hustle
Level 4: Argentine Tango
Level 5: Samba

Berkshire Hall Step Lists For February 2016

2/29/2016

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Dances Covered This Month:
Beginner (Level 2): Foxtrot
Intermediate (Level 3): Hustle

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Steps Lists For January 2016

1/31/2016

This month's dances are:
Level 1: salsa and cha cha
Level 2: hustle
Level 3: Argentine tango
Level 4: samba
Level 5: rumba and bolero

Berkshire Hall Step Lists For January 2016

1/30/2016

Dances covered:
Beginner: Hustle
Intermediate: Argentine Tango

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

Step List For August 2015

8/31/2015

Dances Covered

Level 1: Hustle, Tango, and Merengue
Level 2: Slow Waltz
Level 3: East Coast Swing
Level 4: Salsa
Level 5: Hustle

Level 1: Hustle, Tango, Merengue

Hustle

Basic
Inside turn
pickpocket

Tango

Basic
Corte
Forward Rocks

Merengue

inside and outside turns
backwrap, with lasso
cuddle, with yo-yo
pickpocket
Routine: backwrap with lasso, pickpocket

Level 2: Slow Waltz

Progressive basic (travelling basic)
Box step
Ladies' underarm turn from the box step
Zigzag
Twinkle, turning twinkle

Level 3: East Coast Swing

Charleston
Tuck turn (left hand only)
Double tuck turn (left hand then right hand shake)
Back breaks (rhythm change)
Tangle
Threading the needle
Routine: Tangle, followed by threading the needle
Hand change behind the back (2 ways)
Over the head (with or without twist choreography)

Level 4: Salsa

Routine 1: Alternating underarm turn, with loop and cross body lead, to shoulder check, canopy, and loop with cross body lead
Turkish Towel
Lasso
Backwrap with hand flicks

Level 5: Hustle

Sweetheart with three different endings (sombrero, cool hand slide, and sliding door)
J-hook to sweetheart
Butterfly to sweetheart
Diva walk
Syncopation in sweetheart
Disco hand and outside turn
Nate's pickpocket (uses right handshake)
Triple right side pass
Ladies' free spin with a left arm reflex

Step Lists For July 2015

7/31/2015

Dances Covered

Level 1: Rumba, Waltz, and Merengue
Level 2: East Coast Swing
Level 3: Salsa
Level 4: Hustle
Level 5: Foxtrot

Level 1: Rumba, Waltz, and Merengue

Waltz

basic box step
basic traveling step

Rumba

box step
chasse (aka "side-together-side")
box step with underarm turn

Merengue

basic turns (inside and outside)
merengue in closed position (travel forward, side, in circles, etc)

Level 2: East Coast Swing

Basic: single step and triple step
ladies underarm turn
hand change behind the back
cuddle
backwalk

Level 3: Salsa

Cross body lead, cross body lead with leader's loop
canopy (ladies' loop)
alternating underarm turn
shoulder check
out of the way
Routine #1: alternating underarm turn, cross body lead, out of the way
Routine #2: shoulder check, canopy
Routine #3: alternating turns, mens' loop to cross body lead, basic, out of the way, shoulder check, canopy

Level 4: Hustle

Cuddle
Right hand cuddle (aka "right hand loop")
sweetheart with either sombrero ending or cool and slide ending
parallel sweetheart (as opposed to a "sloppy" sweetheart)
pocket tuck to backwrap to cuddle
grapevine (technically grapevine to the right)
backwrap with guy's underarm turn
parallel sweetheart with ladies' turn
closed position basic
dip

Level 5: Foxtrot

Fallaway twinkle
Double spin
Hover and impetus
Open right turn (with impetus)- taught in both Bronze styling and Silver continuity styling
Twinkle with Silver continuity styling
Open left turn with silver continuity styling

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