We are sorry for the delay in undating this forum. It has taken a little time to contact and gain permission from Carlton Press to copy short quotes from Peggy Spencer MBE Joy of Dancing for Absolute Beginners and

Peggy Spencers MBE Joy of Dancing the Next Steps which we will make direct reference to.

Both of these books are published by Carlton Books.

The Closed Change or Basic Waltz step can begin  on Left or Right foot, the Lady dances the Natural Opposite.

Joy of Dancing for Absolute Beginners Pages 16 and 17 offers clear pictures of dancers dancing these steps.

We take the basic three Waltz steps. Forward on Left, side on Right and Close the feet. (It is important to close and settle the weight over both feet before moving off on the Right Foot side left close Right to Left.

Ladies: Start on your Right foot and step back.

To the side with the left and close Right to Left. Settle the weight.

Now Go back on the Left foot, side right and close left to Right. Settle the weight.

Can we suggest you do this indivually so you are confident with the steps before coming together to dance. Dance three Close Changes Forward and moving back the man leading with the Right foot  dance Three closed changes back. ( these are the same steps as the lady has just done) Repeat until you are confident.

These figures are called Closed Changes beginning on the Left or Right foot. In social dancing the men tend to lead their dancing on the Left foot. You may choose to lead on your right and that is perfectly OK.

So we can go forward and backwards so let us do or first turn.

The Man can only do this when it is his turn to step back on the Right foot.

Gentlemen Dance your three closed changes forward, then step back on your Right foot turning your body toward the centre of the room. Don’t over turn or you will start to go around the room in the wrong direction

So we step back on right (to face centre of the room, and side close.

Ladies, you have danced your three closed changes and are now going to step forward and put your Left foot in the space the mans Right foot has just vacated.

Both keep your shoulders in line as the man steps to the side on his Left foot and closes Right to Left and the Lady dances the natural opposite. Before moving on make sure your weight is settled over both feet.

Learning to keep the shoulders in line is a very important step for the beginner. It means that right from the start partners will be seen as dancing as one.

Ladies if you find yourself under your partners armpit just ask him to hang on for you.

Enjoy and we will be back.

Always remember to properly learn the tecnique of any dancing a good school is essential.

BALANCE.

Balance can start with what you have on your feet. Ladies if your heels are very high it throws your body forward and you will seek the support of your partner. This in turn puts extra pressure on the Lead. The shoes should have soft soles to allow the foot to be flexible in them.

Stand together and relax, not slouch. You are going for an interview for the job of your dreams, so it is shoulders down and back, but remember stay relaxed. Head held looking forward but not looking for the cobwebs in the corners of the room. Now lift the arms from the elbows and not the shoulders to keep that nice straight line.

When you become more confident you will be able to take up a body position that connects at the mans right hip. If both partners have remembered the rules  the partnerhip will be able to dance within their own space.

Walks.

When we walk in dancing the ankles pass close to one another. It is called walking the line. So take your partner, remember the follower leavels the right side of their body with the Leads buttons on the blouse or shirt. Hold hands a waist level and take up a CLOSED HOLD walk forward and backwards brushing your ankles as you  go.

Keeping the Shoulders parallel.

OK so you have got the walks that’s great. 

The next lesson is about dancing together. With our hold we have identified our own space, now we are going to mirrow image what the leader is doing.

To do this you take up you practice hold, and keep your shoulders parallel with your parters as you move forward and back. Indeed if your lead starts to turn you always maintain that position. Should the lady end up under tha man’s armpits then try again, this is dancing side by side rather than in front of your partner.

To try turning dance a Box. For the man that is forward on the Left, side on the Right then closed Left to right now settle your weight before moving on.. The side steps are much smaller than the drive step on steps 1 and 4. Now men step back on the Right side on the Left and close Right to Left settle your weight. The partnership should be working together at all points.

Now Leaders, dance the first Closed Change straight forward,

 as you step back on your right foot, make a quarter of a turn.

You should now be facing diag to centre of room.

Step forward with the Left and make a quarter of a turn on the side close.  Step back on the Right and then make a quarter of a turn again on the side close and you can start agian.

Your steps should always replace where the others have left, and the shoulders should always remain in line.

Don’t forget we dance with our whole body not just our feet  so when we turn we turn our shoulders and our body over the moving foot.  Good Luck and we will back next week with some more tips.

DIRECTIONS.

Our dance halls are like most rooms, either square or oblong. What ever the shape we dance around them in an anti clockwise direction, similar to driving around a roundabout on the continent. Go clockwise and you can guarantee there will be somebody there ready to bump into you.

ALIGNMENT.

This is the direction your body is in  when taking a step.

EXERCISE

Imagine there is a huge clock face sitting on the middle of your dance space. Men, join the floor and stand on the figures at 3 o clock , facing in an anti clockwise direction. The right shoulder will be nearest the outside  edge of the  floor the left to the centre of the room.

We learned the Closed Change steps in Lesson ONE.

This time Dance three  Closed Changes  Forward then  one stepping  Back until you have danced right around the room.

Start  with  the Left foot forward, Right  foot to the  side and close Left to Right etc etc. The step back will start on the Right foot.

Ok ladies it is your turn.  Stand on the clock face at 3 o clock, with your left shoulder nearest to the outside of the room the right to the centre.

Remember we start on our Right foot, so step Right foot back, left to side, close right to left and dance three Closed Changes Back followed by one forward which starts with stepping forward on the left foot. Now repeat the exercise  around the room.

Before you get together both  try this exercise  shadowing one another and keeping in time with  the music.

 When you feel comfortable with the steps,  take up a Closed Hold position but with hands joined at waist level and start to  move together around the floor.

Having completed the whole circuot of your dance space you  should end up facing in the same direction as you took up at the beginning of the exercise. There are no turns you are  moving together back ward and forward.

Learning to move around the floor with a partner,  is one of the most important lessons in Ballroom Dancing.

When you have repeated this exercise a few times  ask yourself these questions,

1. Are we keeping  our shoulders parallel throughout?

2. Are we kissing toes and stepping into  each others footprints?

3. Did we dance in time with the music?

4. Did  the man lead?

5. Do you need some more practice?

Some learn more quickly than others and very often it is the slow ones who become the best dancers.

Steps for the Ballroom is designed to allow Absolute Beginners to have a go at the basic steps of social dancing in their own living rooms. That achieved, hopefully you will feel more confident to go to a beginners class at a local dance school.

We do not seek to prepare you for the competition floor, rather that you have both the knowledge and confidence to join in the dancing at a wedding, on a cruise, or on holiday.

There are three styles of dancing, and the choice is yours.

1. Old Time ( which refers to a style of dancing rather than a period of time)

2. Modern Ballroom Dancing , of which you have the Modern Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep and Modern Tango.

3. Latin American, where you find Cha, Rumba, Mambo, Salsa etc.

Learning to dance is like learning to drive a car. It takes practice to get the feet and body co-ordinated and even more practice to do it with a partner. Each week we will take you one step forward to that Dance School to perfect your technique, then before you know it you will be dancing.

You may be able to find Peggy Spencers MBE “The Joy of Dancing” published by Chameleon books, 106 Great Russel Street, London WC1B 3LJ. Peggy Spencer is one of Ballrooms most highly respected teachers and produced many books and also teaching video’s for the absolute beginner. Unfortunately very few of us now have video players and we are looking at ways of amending this.

Firstly we need to look at the timing of our dance.

Waltz and Polka are the only dances that are danced to music that has three beats to one bar of music.

If you listen to the music carefully you will hear a distinctive stronger beat on beat one than on beats two and three. It goes something like this 1-2-3, but each beat of the music is equal in length.

In class we ask our students first to clap out the beat of the music but, be careful you are not just clapping and not necessarily listening to the rythm of the music.

Then practice their walks forward and back, dancing One Two Three, One Two Three.

It takes a little practice, but there is no rush we are going nowhere.

THE CLOSED CHANGE.

This figure is the essential ingredient of the Modern Waltz. The figure can move forward or backward without turn and can be danced starting either on the Left or the Right foot. It is  the link figure between all others.

Let’s have a go.

Men: Step forward on that Left foot (We are asking you to take a walking step, nothing more.)

Step to the side on your Right foot, about the width of the hips.

Close your Left foot to your Right foot and settle your weight over both feet.

Learning to settle the weight before moving off again is perhaps one of the most important things you will learn in dancing. If you don’t close the feet and settle your weight you will use the wrong foot when you move off again.

OK, now for the second Closed Change. This time men, step forward on the Right foot, take the left foot to the side and close the right to the left.

Remember each step has its own beat of music so the  Closed Change is 1-2-3 and so on. Now move Back with the Left foot, side with right and close with left. Back with Right side with Left and close with right.

Both practice this figure separately before trying it together in Closed Hold.

Remember the rules, We stay in closed hold, shoulders are parallel to allow the toes to kiss.

You want to do it when on holiday, at a wedding or when you really get brave in a dance hall.

This blog is all about getting you started with the basic steps and learning about timing and moving to music.

Have a look into more detail of Ballroom styles of dancing in our page review.

We hope to write this blog in a language that all beginners will understand but, please let us know if we fail to achieve this and we will do what we can to amend the dialogue.

The first thing you need to do is to find somewhere where you have enough room to practice. If you have a garage, move out the car. If you have a small flat is there an outside stair well?  I have friends who practice on their patio. What is important here is that you can find sufficient space to practice your steps over and over again. 

 In ballroom dancing it is traditional for the man to start dancing with his right foot, however I have noticed that when getting up to start walking most of us take preference to their Left, so we will start with a walk on the Left.

Remember partners the Lead is usually the man who start  on their Left foot, and the Man is always in charge on the dance floor. I realize that this is no longer an exclusively male and female role but hope, for ease of description you will bear with me.

We ladies move off on our Right Foot because we ladies are always Right!

Before you take a step, think about going into an interview room that is offering the very best job in the world. Think about your posture and how you would walk to show yourself as confident and in control.With your best interview walk and shoulders back, but still relaxed, walk forward for six steps L,R,L,R,L,R, now repeat going backwards. Easy. Never forget that practice makes perfect. It is the gentle rythm we are looking to perfect here.

Now Ladies it is your turn. Stepping back on the Right it is R,L,R,L,R,L and repeat going forward. 

This is about two people dancing as one. Can you remember the old fashioned wood pegs when one side turns so does the other.

Take your partner in front of you and join hands at waist level,( this should leave a little space between you to protect the toes,) move the lady slightly on your right. The ladies right side level about level with the man’s shirt buttons. This should allow the partners to walk between each others moving feet, and move together without difficulty.

Remember your posture, if there were any £20 notes on the floor you would have seen them first time around. Keep your head up so you can see where you are going.

As the lady walks back on her right foot, the man places his left foot in the space she has left, when the man walks back the lady steps into the mans empty space so the toes nearly kiss.

This time do it and each keep your shoulders parallel with one another.

Finally do it again, both turning your heads slightly to the left to look over the others shoulder. No,this is not an excuse to look behind and see who else you fancy.        This head position and body position gains what dancers call a CLOSED HOLD

You are beginning to learn to move together.

Music for dancing can be bought from www.maestrorecords.com or your local music shop.

As a beginner make sure you buy fixed tempo music for dancing practice.