Standard Practice

A quick, healthy guide to those "Oops" moments in practice.

#JustStandardThings

Your Contra Check lands right on the climax of the Tango

Having a Natural Turn immediately after the crescendo of the Waltz

A judge sees you check and change directions beautifully to avoid another couple, but really it was in your choreography

When the Waltz has a super long intro with no beat, so you guess and go for it, then find out once the percussion starts that you were right

Your Pepper Pots and Scatters line up perfectly with the percussion/dominant instrument

Partner says they want to try a slight adjustment in the frame, then everything just FITS

Getting through the whole Viennese Waltz without a sore shoulder

Some couple cuts off your exit, so you're forced to make your line EXTRA ELEGANT

There are three couples in front as you switch to promenade, and you've got a running-from-promenade figure, and there's JUST ENOUGH SPACE to make your floorcraft look BOSS

Getting through your whole routine in the Semi without any unplanned stops or changes

The other couple's feather crashes just a moment before yours

You took 4th or 5th, but some judge marked you first in Waltz

Exiting the Fleckerl together at the same time

Being in the middle of a reverse-turning figure as the music fades

Getting one wide open long wall at your favorite part of your routine

That floor is just the right mix of sticky, slippery, and springy

Travelling coach frames up with you, asks you to make an adjustment, then exclaims, "Yes! Good!"

Nobody in the way for your Reverse Wave

That more-complicated, cooler-looking figure is somehow easier and fits better than that one part of the routine that you hate

Somebody got that perfect picture of you in split-weight position

The progressive link felt TIGHT and STILL

Working on Travelling today, and the studio's almost empty

Seeing a pro smooth dancer take closed frame and going "psh"

Ballroom Lifestyle

The Bronze Smooth Syllabus Is Insane

Ok, so I haven't seriously danced smooth competitively in about a year and a half. I jumped from maybe starting Silver to Novice/Prechamp due to landing an incredibly awesome partner (yay being tall). When it came time for routines, we actually made up the majority of our choreography ourselves, then had our coaches tweak/rearrange the routines to make them a little more continuous. A lot of what we used was actually syllabus, just with more "interesting" frames and styling. I was chatting with a few open-smooth friends of mine the other evening, and I realized that almost nobody else in the room knew more than half the smooth syllabus.

Most people, I've come to realize, basically learn the international syllabus, then maybe any combination of the following: Underarm Turn, Explosions, Butterflies, Fan, MAYBE some Shadow. But there is so much more! And beyond all this cool stuff, there are plethora of steps in BRONZE whose International equivalents are considered Gold steps. So let's take a look at some

BAD@$$ BRONZE AMERICAN SMOOTH STEPS

I have cited a few of the rules in case you were freaking out about adjudication.

Disclaimer: Yeah, not everyone places these steps in their syllabus, and there are a bunch of syllabi floating around. To the best of my knowledge, the majority of these steps still fall within the syllabus restrictions. Many competitions and syllabi - including the official NDCA syllabus[1] - will not use a comprehensive list of approved steps, but instead use a list of "restrictions", ie, "No Fallaways", "No lines except Corte", etc...

The Moves

Tango - Rock and Corte

Here's a very gentle video of the figure:

But you can style the heck out of this figure. It's basically a "Quick-Quick" Contra Check (provided it's not too "liney"[2]), followed by a Back Corte. 

Waltz, Tango, and Foxtrot - Promenade Pivot

That's right, a pivot. In Bronze. In 3 dances. And don't let the video title fool you - it's Bronze according to the syllabus.

Granted, it's only one (no continuous pivots[3]), but it beats closing, rock turning, then opening back up to promenade in my opinion.

Waltz - Promenade Hesitations

You may not think these are very interesting, but #1, it's basically a Challenge Line, so you can make it cool, and #2, it's something other than Chasse from PP.

Tango - Twist Turn

Sure, it's also Bronze in International Tango as well, but this is still a pretty cool step. Must more interesting than Closed Promenade Turning Left, if you ask me. It also gives the follow a much easier signal to change her head from Promenade to Closed.

And if you're nervous about the other steps thusfar, this one is actually in the NDCA syllabus by name[4].

Viennese Waltz - Fleckerls

Yup. You heard me. Fleckerls. As in, the last syllabus figure in the last standard dance (V Waltz)? Yeah, that's a Bronze step in American. Granted, you can't chain the Reverse and Natural together using a Contra Check (although V-Waltz is the only dance where Picture Lines are not explicitly restricted, it is implied by Picture Line being permitted in Silver[5]) - instead, you would use a Whisk/Fifth Position Break. But still. Fleckerls.

BONUS: In syllabus, you're allowed to have the lady curtsy once before starting[6].

Don't forget Silver

And although this post is about Bronze Steps, let's not forget that there is more to Silver than just adding shadow position. There are a host of line figures, the change of place, Cobra Fans, Continuous Pivots, and more!

Conclusion

So just remember, if you're trying to get to Open and fast as possible just so you can do some lunges, a bit of separate work, and maybe an few aerial rondes, make sure you stop and smell the syllabi along the way.

Appendix

NDCA Rules:

http://www.ndca.org/news-and-resources/news/competition-related-announcements/step-list-and-elements/

1. Restriction 2

2. American Tango - Bronze, Restriction 5

3. American Waltz - Bronze, Restriction 5

4. American Tango - Bronze, Figure 13

5. American Viennese Waltz - Silver, Restriction 2

6. American Viennese Waltz - Bronze, Restriction 10

UPDATE:
Here's a great resource that includes many steps that fall into the restrictions, but are not explicitly named in the syllabus:
http://www.wright-house.com/dance/ndca-american-smooth-syllabus-ballroom-dance.html

Bro-Am Ballroom Competition

How to Talk to your Follow

Similar goals and talent are all well and good in a dance partnership, but communication is key. Remember this chart as you mentally prepare yourself to minimize interpersonal stress for a productive practice.

Misc Funnies

Occasionally, I'll post something on facebook, but forget to post it on my blog. Here are some of my miscellaneous ballroom funnies that may not have made it in here yet.

Enjoy!

Friend sent me the original. I thought it was missing a stage..

Pretty sure this is what judges do once they're watching the same couples for the 4th or 5th round

Anna Mikhed shares her opinion of her split with Victor Fung, then retires shortly thereafter