Jai Chavan's "Dance-Sport" Email : [email protected] Or General Mailer

General: Elixir 3

The first basic sequence.

Please Note: This is a sequel to General: Elixir

5. Rock Step and Chasse Together:
Stand with feet apart and weight on the Right foot so that the Left foot is free to move. For the first count “Rock” bring the Left foot towards the Right foot first and the curve it to the front position and step on it, releasing the Right heel from the floor.

For the count “Step” transfer weight to the Right foot and retaining the Left foot in the front with only the toes touching the floor.

Next come the chasse to the side, in this case to the left side since the Left foot is free to move. Thus for the count “Big” bring the Left foot backwards to wards the Right foot and then curve it to ones left side and step on it. For the next two counts of “&” and “Small Step”, the Right foot is moved to the Left foot and immediately the Left foot is moved for a small step to the side. Here in the end of this chasse the weight is on the Left foot with the Right toes touching the floor.

This chasse ends with the feet slightly apart. Next comes the Rock Step again, for which the Right foot is moved towards the Left foot first and then immediately in the same swing curved to the back for the count “Rock”. For the next step “Step”, move forward on the Left foot with the Right toes behind and touching the floor.

Next comes the chasse, now in this case to the right since the Right foot is free after the Rock Step described just above. For the first count “Big” move the Right foot forward towards the Left foot and immediately curve it to the right side in the same swing. For the next two counts of the chasse “&” and “Small Step” move the left foot close to the Right foot and then move the Right foot to the side taking a small step. End with a small gap between the feet and with the weight on the Right foot. 

Note: In the Chasse given above should you have a problem with the count “Small Step” then replace the count with simply “Small”.

Basic of Cha Cha Cha
The above figure described above is the basic movement/figure in Cha Cha Cha, which is a standard Latin American dance.

The stepping here for every step is toe-heel irrespective of the direction of movement. Every step is taken with a strong pressure on the stepping foot. Thus when stepping the toes touch the floor first with pressure, going on to the ball of the same foot soon. Almost the full body weight is shifted on to the ball of the foot and then later the heel is lowered gently with the simultaneous relaxation of the hip. As the stepping foot is lowered the heel of stationary foot is correspondingly lifted off from the floor.

This is called as the Cuban Action with is dealt with as a special topic. There is nothing very special of this movement as each one of us does such movements subconsciously when climbing up the stairs, or when cycling up a slope or when carrying load over a slippery surface.

Here we intend to use this movement as a basic for various dances and figures, some thing like the elixir, a cure for all ills, or at least in our case a pattern for most of the dances.

Next Step:
Practice the above movement continuously without a break. One thing to be borne in the mind is that all movements should be easy and without effort, however without sacrificing the basic movement/figure given above.

The next part is to keep doing the basic figure without any break and then in the process to change the counts gradually as given below: This will facilitate doing the same steps for various different combinations of the counts.

Change the counts every after about two to three minutes by the watch. Also see the table given below for further clarifications.

1. First start the figure with the counts “Rock – Step –-- Big - & - Small Step” or “Rock – Step –-- Big - & - Small”
2. With either of the nursery Rhymes.
3. Back to the figure with the counts “Rock – Step –-- Big - & - Small Step” or “Rock – Step –-- Big - & - Small”
4. Change it to “Rock – Step –- 3 - & - 4”
5. Next “1 – 2 –- 3 - & - 4” (For Jive)
6. Next “ 1 – 2 --- Quick – Quick – Slow”
7. Next “Slow – Slow --- Quick – Quick – Slow” (For Foxtrot and Quickstep)
8. Next “Slow – Slow --- Cha Cha 1”
9. Next “2 – 3 --- Cha Cha 1” (For Cha Cha Cha and also Rumba)

Continued...