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Opposites

To go forward you go back, to go left, you go right.

Yes, sounds a lot like mumbo jumbo but its mumbo jumbo that works. Newton's 3rd law never came so much into play like it does with this level of teaching.

CC 6 years ago loved new age stuff, seeked alternative tandas and poo-pooed MATC's stringent DJ-ing codes and way of teaching. Little would I know that this dichotomy continues and permeates through most of the world, especially in these surrounding areas, these surrounding countries. Re-discovering that taste buds have changed and much as like nuevo has become incorporated in some of the stuff we do, so has my taste veered back to danceable, dramatic but still traditional (read 1950's) music. Eeps.

Tips to take away:

- Embrace by sending out the chest, seeking for the other person's heart, everything should be led by the chest. Everything.
- The arms then become a comfort blanket, changing and ebbing with the flow, but the heart is always connected. This is what makes the embrace comforting. The back-hand is at the same level as the heart too, so it becomes a sandwiched embrace which the person feels enveloping them.
- Send energy up, hot air balloon concept, watch the drop down, receive the energy upward.
- Different moves have different energies and directional force; to change weight the arc is upward then down, to shift sideways, the energy is down and to the side in a loop; for boleos, a low one is where energy is sent down, while high is the opposite
- To move forward you draw back and then send the energy outward, to bring them toward you, move the energy forward and then draw it back
- If you can do things slow, you can definitely do it fast - try everything in a controlled manner and practice!
- As a lead, remember that the follower will follow, you do not need to place, or use unnecessary force
- As a follow, if the lead is requiring you to do something rougher or you know that the floor is crowded, control the energy, you can still send the force back equally, but you do not need to snap the foot so high in a boleo if there isn't space
- For a boleo, send her to the side but keep the energy lifted, this will free the foot which then can be swept around

- With the sandwich, connect with the opposite arm, keep the embrace close, never feel 'cold'; always always seek the chest
- Sacada is an illusion, even though we say the body tells the direction, if the embrace doesn't move, the girl will not move, so you could leave the arms there and move the body away and yet she will not follow you
- To execute a good back sacada, you have to take the spot of the woman, aim for the toes, but aim for it once her weight is gone; the weight change is syncopated, together - lead - follow - together; to stop hips crashing, the guy has to move away from the girl (another contradiction to the perception that the sacada is a movement inward)
- Keep the elbows down at a natural level, also when touching the other person, you shouldn't even feel their skin, its at clothes level, no force required


It's been a good weekend :). Positive vibes!

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