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55-451: Arthur Murray mistakenly codified the Lindy coaster step into its "Western Swing" curriculum as having the follower simply continue to face the leader and step back, together, and forward toward the leader during the last two beats of a pattern. In later years, this form of swing has been termed "Ballroom Swing" to distinguish it from other forms. When dancing with a Lindy dancer using this form of

110-500: A jenkka . In general, it is faster in tempo than the Norwegian reinlender and Swedish schottis . The scottische was introduced in France in the 1850s. It rapidly disseminated from the salons to the countryside, becoming one of the most popular folk dances. It is one of the most common dance found in balfolk . The schottish Espagnol or Spanish schottische, also known as

165-409: A Highland schottische with modifications were included on lists of ballroom dances of the period. In Texas there have been schottische-like dances with names such as Drunk, Blue Bonnett, McGinty, and Douglas. Schottische variations include a straight leg kick, a kick-hop and a standing hop. Both include the traditional hop that is part of the schottische. In the southern United States at the start of

220-473: A line of communication which allows the leader to incorporate the follower's ideas, abilities, and creative suggestions into their own styling and selection of moves. In many partner dances, the leader's steps differ from the follower's. In face-to-face positions, the follower generally "mirrors" the leader's footwork. For example, if the leader begins on their left foot, the follower will begin on their right foot. In choreographed pieces and other situations where

275-400: A little weight against the leader's right hand. When the leader goes forward, the follower will naturally go backwards. An important leading mechanism is the leader's left hand, which usually holds the follower's right hand. At no point should it be necessary for any partner to firmly grab the other's hand. It is sufficient to press the hand or even only finger tips slightly against each other,

330-496: A modified version of the Coaster Step for Western Swing at Arthur Murray dance studios. West Coast Swing dancers, who use the anchor step later developed by Skippy Blair, have never used an Arthur Murray version of the Coaster Step in its place. So, the author of the heading of this section seems to be referring to a later time when West Coast Swing had already become popular and Arthur Murray dancers were still using their version of

385-442: A moment when the pairs pass; that is, the pairs that are opposite each other switch places crossing each other in the center of the circle. They continue to pass successively two by two, all the pairs. After everybody made their pass, they continue to dance by rotating in circle. Further along in the dance, all the pairs will join in the center of the circle to beat the center of the circle with their feet, and continue to dance rotating

440-550: A part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina ( chotis and chamamé ), Finland ( jenkka ), France, Italy, Norway (" reinlender  [ no ] "), Portugal and Brazil ( xote , chotiça  [ pt ] ), Spain ( chotis ), Sweden, Denmark ( schottis ), Mexico ( norteño music ), and the United States, among other nations. The schottische

495-437: Is achieved by preparing for movement before the step begins. The leader-follower connection facilitates this. The principles of leading and following are explored in contact improvisation of modern dance . Sometimes a miscommunication will occur between the leader and follower. Techniques of the recovery of connection and synchronization vary from dance to dance, but below are a few common examples. A body lead occurs where

550-413: Is also helpful for dancers to regard their partners in terms of their points of balance to help the leader initiate movements for their follower. These points of balance include the front-facing side of the shoulders, the front facing side of the hips, and the follower's center (the abdomen). If the leader wants to bring the follower close, the leader is to apply tension and draw the hand in and down toward

605-493: Is considered by The Oxford Companion to Music to be a kind of slower polka , with continental-European origin. The schottische basic step is made up of two sidesteps to the left and right, followed by a turn in four steps. In some countries, the sidesteps and turn are replaced by strathspey hopping steps . Schottisches danced in Europe (in the context of balfolk ), where they originated, are different from how they are danced in

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660-471: Is most often expressed as a close pivot. In Argentina, the schottische was introduced by Volga German immigrants (now usually called "chotis") and also evolved and mixed into chamamé , an Argentine folk music genre. In Brazil, the xote has largely developed in the north-eastern area, especially the Sertão , where it has created variations such as baião and arrasta-pé , which are usually grouped in

715-411: Is often used in place of "hijacking". However the two terms have significant differences, stemming from intentions. The first difference is superficial; hijacking is usually an occasional "outburst" from the follower, who otherwise diligently follows the lead, while a "backlead" may refer to a consistent habit. The second difference is more significant; hijacking is an actual reversal of roles, meaning that

770-424: Is when a follower is executing steps without waiting for, or contrary to the lead's lead. Both are considered bad dancing habits because it makes the follower difficult to lead and dance with. Backleading can be a teaching tool that is often used intentionally by an instructor when dancing with a student lead, in order to help them learn the desired technique. Backleading sounds similar to "hijacking", and indeed it

825-476: The forró denomination. All of these rhythms are typically danced in pairs, being xote the slower and simpler style of dancing, in which the couple alternate left-left-hop-right-right-hop steps. In the Czech Republic , the dance was also known as šotyš . It is danced in its more traditional folk variants as an exhibition dance, and also in the balfolk scene. In Finland the dance is generally known as

880-451: The chotis , chotís or schotís is considered the most typical dance of the city since the 19th century and it is danced in all the traditional festivals. Some of the tunes, as "Madrid, Madrid, Madrid" by the Mexican composer Agustín Lara , became very well known in all Spain. The authors of the zarzuelas created a host of new chotis and strengthened their popularity. In Sweden,

935-510: The Gay Gordons and has a polka feel to it. Typical tunes for a Highland schottische are " Brochan Lom " and "Laddie With the Plaidie". In the more popular ceilidh version, the man stands on the left, the woman on the right. They join with left hands joined low in front and with the man's right arm over the woman's right shoulder and hands joined above it. The man points his left foot forward, toe to

990-605: The folk music of Ireland , a schottische is closely related to the highland tune type, though possessing a higher proportions of quarter notes . The so-called "German schottische", like the highland, was chiefly popular in Donegal and in Irish exile communities, notably Philadelphia , where Donegal emigrants settled. Also known as a " barn dance ", the "German" is a two-hand dance played to tunes that end each eight-bar phrase with three lightly-accented quarter notes. Known as chotís , it

1045-544: The "seven step" gained popularity in France in the early 1900s. Germans refer to the dance as a Schottisch , which means Scottish. The Northern Rheinländer  [ de ] and Bavarian/Austrian Boarisch are closely related. A dozen variations are known, for one or more couples, some free, some in fixed choreographies, and the original name became "sciortis" in Tuscany, "sciotzè" in southern Italy, "sòtis" in Romagna. In

1100-498: The Coaster Step instead of adjusting to use of the WCS Anchor Step. The use of the references to Skippy Blair to justify the statements in this section are curious.) The name "coaster step" denotes original function of the step, which was to gradually diminish a partner's momentum through the last two beats of any pattern until the body has slowed enough to change direction or velocity easily without exerting too much force on either

1155-463: The Coaster Step, the connection between leader and follower was broken on the last beat of the pattern as the follower stepped forward and the Lindy leader remained in place. In the 1950s, West Coast Swing was popularized by Skippy Blair, who within time introduced the Anchor Step for use during the last two beats of each rhythm pattern for both leaders and followers. Technically, Skippy Blair defined

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1210-460: The United States. The European or Continental version (often pronounced "skoteesh"), is typically danced to faster music and is quite restrained in its movements. The American version (often pronounced "shodish") is often large and open, with a slower tempo than the European schottische. The first part is often expressed equally as promenades, individual or led twirls or similar moves, and the second part

1265-427: The anchor step as keeping the center-point-of-balance (solar plexus) behind the heel of the forward foot throughout the last two beats of each West Coast Swing pattern, providing wide latitude for dancers to express themselves. The most common version of the anchor step uses triple-rhythm. The forward foot remains in place and the rear foot remains in place in 3rd foot position. Weight is transferred from front to back on

1320-446: The circle in the initial position, always for the right side. Bear in mind that all the moves are made always by the pair and never by one of its elements separately, because in the schottische you can never switch pair. The Highland schottische is a combination of the common schottische and the old reel . It has two main forms in 4 beat, one being more popular than the other. Both versions are similar in starting line-up to

1375-528: The connection from the follower's side. "Unusually" meaning more than typically required for the execution of the current step (by these partners). For a follower to hijack, they must be sure that the lead will understand or at least guess the follower's intentions. Schottische The schottische is a partnered country dance that apparently originated in Bohemia . It was popular in Victorian era ballrooms as

1430-555: The dance is known as a schottis . The name may suggest an origin in the area of Scotland. This is interesting because the Norwegian word used for the same dance is "reinlender", suggesting an origin from the Rhine region. The schottische arrived in the United States from Europe and there are countless variations of the dance. After 1848, a number of old ballroom variants of schottische were danced in California. The "Five-Step Schottische" and

1485-404: The dance will best support the follower by giving clear directions. For the leader and follower to interact with each other, communication needs to occur between the dance couple. Dancers take cues through physical connection, with the follower using it to communicate feedback to the leader just as the leader uses it to suggest moves to the follower. The most accomplished dancers use connection as

1540-486: The dancer or the partnership. The Bronze Level syllabus for Western Swing included in the Dance Book written in the 1950s by Arthur Murray Dance Studios National Director, and Los Angeles basin resident, Lauré Haile, defined a "Coaster Step" as cross forward place, or back together side, or back forward back. Her written description of the step(s) does not include any swiveling. However, her written description variations of

1595-402: The first half of the routine. Instead, the man holds the woman with his right arm across the small of the woman's back and she does the same to the man with her left arm. The toe-steps are performed as usual and they pivot and turn, whereupon the man puts his left arm across the small of the woman's back and she uses her right arm. The rest of the routine is as per the popular version. In Madrid,

1650-419: The first weight change, begins to transfer back to the forward foot but is "checked" on the second weight change, and is transferred back to the rear foot on the third weight change. Skippy Blair measured movement using "rolling count" (&a1, &a2, etc.), which helps facilitate body flight in dance. Using this measurement technique learned from studying the movement of champion West Coast Swing competitors,

1705-403: The floor and slightly to the left, whilst the woman does the same with her right foot. On the first two main beats, each partner raises onto their toes and performs a Highland step, bringing back the heel of extended foot against the calf of the other (inside) leg, whilst hopping on the other foot. They then trot forward 4 steps to the beat, pivot quickly so that the man is on the right and woman on

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1760-415: The follower is in a tandem position or shadow position, the leader and follower will use the same footwork. Usually both partners move together as a unit, but in some dances the partners move in opposite directions - together and apart again. In partner dancing, dancers seek to work together to create synchronized or complementary movements. The leader is largely responsible for initiating movement, whereas

1815-498: The follower's hand following the leader's hand. Another important leading mechanism is hip contact. Though not possible in traditional Latin dances like Rumba , Cha-cha , Tango Argentino because of partner separation, hip contact is a harmonious and sensual way of communicating movement to the partner, used primarily in Standard or Ballroom dances (English / slow waltz, European tango, quickstep etc.) and Caribbean dances. Backleading

1870-440: The follower's role is to maintain this movement (though they may choose not to). This process can be described as involving the initiation of momentum or 'energy' (by the leader) and then the subsequent maintenance, exaggeration, decreasing or dissolving of this momentum by both partners. This momentum or energy may be manifested as movement (in its most obvious form), or in a range of more complex interactions between partners: It

1925-457: The hijacker leads the leader and takes control of the dance, while backleading only takes care of the follower. Sometimes the follower steals the lead and the couple reverses roles for some time. This is called hijacking (also known as lead stealing ). Hijacking requires experience and good connection, since without proper timing it may look like sloppy dancing. A signal for hijacking is typically an unusually changed (mostly, increased) stress in

1980-400: The last bar (man left/left, right/right, left/left, right). They then re-form with hands joined front and back, man on left as before. The dance, when performed at ceilidhs, usually has a jolly, light-footed, spirited feel and is often accompanied by vocal yelps, woos and hooches from the male partners. The hopping spin toward the end of the routine is often done with great gusto. It often causes

2035-415: The leader begins by taking his or her center back, indicating a backward walking move. As the partners' arms/points of contact move away from each other, they develop tension, which the follower may either break by dropping their arms or breaking the hold, or 'follow' by moving. A more experienced leader may realize (if only on an unconscious level) that the most effective execution of even this "simple" step

2090-411: The leader depends on several factors, including dance style, social context of the dance, and experience and personalities of the dancers. Traditionally, the male dance partner was the leader and the female dance partner was the follower. In the 21st century, it has become increasingly common to see partnerships that buck this dynamic, particularly in more socially progressive dance styles. Traditionally,

2145-405: The leader initiates a lead by moving their body, which moves their arm(s), and thus transmits a lead to the follower. 'Body lead' means much the same as 'weight transfer'. An arm lead occurs where the leader moves their arm(s) without moving their body, or moves their body in a different direction to their arm. While an 'arm lead' without the transfer of weight (or movement of the body) on the part of

2200-412: The leader is often a marker of an inexperienced or poorly taught dancer, the process of leading and following, particularly at an advanced level, often involves the contrasting uses of weight transfers and 'arm moves'. As an example, a leader may lead a follower back onto their right foot through the leader's own weight transfer forwards onto their left foot; yet at the same time turn the follower's torso to

2255-493: The leader's own hip; to send the follower away, the leader would guide the hand toward the follower and add compression, signaling the move away. A general rule is that both leader and follower watch each other's back in a dance hall situation. Collision avoidance is one of the cases when the follower is required to "backlead" or at least to communicate about the danger to the leader. In travelling dances, such as waltz , common follower signals of danger are an unusual resistance to

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2310-399: The leader, or a slight tap by the shoulder. In open-position dances, such as swing or Latin dances, maintaining eye contact with the partner is an important safety communication link. For partner dancers, using weight transfers is a way for a leader to communicate a 'lead' for a dance step to a follower. In another example, for a leader to have their follower walk forwards while connected,

2365-431: The left from above the hips. The leader has to communicate the direction of the movement to the follower. Traditionally, the leader's right hand is on the follower's back, near the lowest part of the shoulder-blade. This is the strongest part of the back and the leader can easily pull the follower's body inwards. To enable the leader to communicate a step forward (backward for the follower) the follower has to constantly put

2420-400: The left, both facing the opposite direction of travel. Their right hands are now joined low forward and left hands above the woman's left shoulder. They perform the same Highland steps as before but now on the opposite foot, before trotting forward 4 steps again. They then face each other with the man on the inside of the circle of travel, the man's hands on the woman's waist and woman's hands on

2475-578: The male dance partner is the leader and the female dance partner is the follower, though this is not always the case, such as in Schottische danced in the Madrid style where women lead and men follow (although this is not totally true: during the dance there is an exchange of roles, the leader becomes the follower and vice versa ). Many social dance forms have a long history of same-sex (e.g. tango ) and role-crossing partnerships, and there have been some changes to

2530-424: The man's shoulders (alternatively, the partners adopt the waltz position for their arms and hands). They now trot sideways 3 steps to the left (man left/right/left; woman right/left/right), then hop on the same foot as the third step, then trot sideways right (man right/left/right; woman left/right/left) and hop. For the last four bars, the pair spin round as they progress, hopping twice on each foot and finally once on

2585-470: The partners do not move forward at all, then pivot and move back. Instead, the woman stays in one position, performing the Highland toe-steps with the right foot for four bars, while hopping. The man meanwhile performs two Highland toe-steps with the left foot while hopping. He then moves across behind the woman on his toes for four steps, so that he is now on her right. He then performs two Highland toe-steps with

2640-550: The pleated backs of the men's kilts to fly up and outward, sometimes with humorous results. A variation popular in Argyll in the 1920s and '30s focused on showing the man's dancing abilities and as such became known as a form of "peacock dance" (not to be confused with the Asian dances known by that term and featuring performers costumed as peacocks ). For the period of the Gay Gordons stance,

2695-417: The right foot then moves back behind the woman to her left side again, whilst she performs her toe steps with the left foot while remaining on the same spot. Back on the left, he then faces the woman and they perform the second (polka) half of the routine as per the popular version described above. A simplified ceilidh variation of the popular version does not required the Gay Gordons method of holding hands in

2750-562: The second triple of the "Basic Throwout" includes the following, "On the 2nd 1-2-3 the girl can take a sharp turn LEFT... Her styling here is to be on the balls of both feet, with both knees bent and pointing to her LEFT." Although Haile used the term "Twinkle" to refer to a "back-together-forward" triple step, the 1971 edition of the "Encyclopedia of Social Dance" defined "Coaster Step" as "back-together-forward" in its description of "Western Swing". Lead and follow In some types of partner dance , lead and follow are designations for

2805-438: The strict gendering of partner dances in some competition or performance contexts. An example is a "Jack and Jack" dance contest. Partner dancing requires awareness and clear communication; this is essential both for safety and for the overall success of the dance. If following in the dance, it helps to maintain a centered readiness to the leader. This helps the follower be ready for cues both visually and physically. The leader in

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2860-426: The two dancers' roles in a dance pairing. The leader is responsible for guiding the couple and initiating transitions to different dance steps and, in improvised dances, for choosing the dance steps to perform. The leader communicates choices to the follower, and directs the follower by means of subtle physical and visual signals, thereby allowing the pair to be smoothly coordinated. The amount of direction given by

2915-467: The weight changes at the end of a six-count rhythm pattern (&a5&a6) occur on count '5', the 'a' count before count '6', and on count '6'. Most often it is the follower 's step. As of 1994, the Coaster Step was still used in "Ballroom Swing", and is an identifying feature of that dance. Note: The Anchor Step had not yet been created when Lindy dancers who used the original Coaster Step were dancing street swing, nor when Laure Haile defined what became

2970-559: Was introduced in México in 1850. In the beginning it was just a high-class ballroom dance. It became popular after a while and then a more "rustic" style was created for public parties and dance halls. It is popular in the northern states of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Durango and Zacatecas. In Norway, the dance is called a reinlender . The name may suggest an origin in the area of the Rhine – meaning that it could be from Germany or Bohemia . The name

3025-449: Was known as " Rheinländer  [ de ] " in Bavaria . In Poland, the dance was also known as "polka tremblante" or just tramblanka . In Portugal, a form of schottische called xoutiça or xote has become heavily standardized for folklore displays. The pairs in groups of four, six or eight, form a circle and dance embraced all together. The circle starts to rotate until

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