Hi Patrick,
For a beginner this is not a bad dance. Your rhythm is very good, and you are not dancing on beat one which is good. Your techniques requires a bit more work however. At the moment your body looks a little too bouncy and this makes the footwork look 'uneasy.' Try going through the ball of your feet and then the heel and keeping your feet turned out a little more. This should help. On the new yorker, you need to be a lot more precise. What you should do is push forward into the lead foot a bit more. This will bring your body straighter and make the step sharper and therefore it will look cleaner. The arm position is good but try not to bring it up too fast!
In addition to this to try and make the dance sharper you can bring a little swivel into the hips. This will also make it sexier! Your leading is very good and your partner can clearly follow it, so well done. Have you tried dancing the dance out of hold? This can sometimes help with the technique.
Generally the dance is ok but needs practice! In summary:
1) Take your steps ball flat (no heels).
2) Bend and straighten the knee will achieve that cuban motion. Bring in a little swivel, it is just sexier that way.
3)You need to keep your shoulders straight, your upper body should not move.
4) Small steps.
Sorry this is extensive, but hope it is useful!
Good luck with the competition! :)
