I know nothing about Smooth except that an expert New Vogue Dancer won the American Smooth four years running, or was it five, before she with her partner retired undefeated.
I would think a lot of skill is required to come from an open hold into a closed hold or the other way around. I may be wrong so I will ask. In the normal closed position, is it more square, and that the lady is not as far to the mans right as it is in the International style. It just appears that way to me.

You must be talking about Toni Redpath, my American Smooth teacher. The principles of connecting I mentioned before were learned largely from her.

The smaller position you observe is related to social dancing, it's not an American thing. American style is often associated with social dancing, which might account for the confusion. But proper smooth technique in closed position is identical to standard. I would only diminish my position for social dancing, and I would do that in either smooth or standard.

Regards,
Jonathan

Jonathan. Its a small world isn' t it. I saw Toni right from when she was very young. And as an adult when she partnered Paul Richardson. They were both living on the Gold Coast Paul is still up at the top in Latin. Did she ever mention New Vogue to you.

"It's up the the leader to invite the lady all the way into contact, or to stop his invitation short of that.

The follower could if she wished decline to come closer than she's comfortable with (socially or posturally), and he should note and respect her response.

Regardless of role, you shouldn't be pulling someone in, and you shouldn't be thrusting your body at someone who is holding a little space in their frame."

Very nicely expressed!!

In the beginning of smooth routine we are dancing with no connection at all. We are dancing apart facing each other, he dancins forward, I backwards and our connection is all in our eyes. I am watching his movements and rise and fall, matching that until we reach the point that we take a one hand hold and connect. Of course we both know in advance what the count will be, what the steps are.

Anyone care to comment or have thoughts on this connection?

Sounds nice!

Is it a competition routine? At what level?

Depending on how many bars you dance in that way, if it's for a comp, you should work out a plan for floorcraft issues. If he stops and does a hesitation because there is someone behind you, can you follow that with just a visual connection?

Sure, we call it Visual Lead & Follow, one of four types of leading & following as categorized by the writers of the ISTD technique manuals. The other three categories of lead & follow are weight changes, physical, and shaping.

Visual lead is actually quite common in show and competition choreography. Couples use it in intros and interludes. There are even some examples of it in social dancing (e.g. "The Chase" in Cha Cha). However, it should be used judiciously, and with the following points in mind:

In a choreographed routine, there is no specific limit to the amount of non-connected dancing you can do. However, too much time spent side-by-side or apart non-facing makes it impossible to maintain any degree of true leading & following. Even when dancing choreography, there should almost always be interaction between partners, and sense of cause and effect. If you have a particular piece of choreography that's questionable, the best thing you can do to heighten your awareness of each other is turn off the music and dance through the piece, having the leader vary his pace, even stopping completely upon occasion. It's ok if it's difficult... That's what the exercise is helping. But if you find it impossible, you may want to rethink your choreography.

For competition routines, you must consider the possibility that you may be interrupted, or worse, blocked from your partner by someone else. Always have a back-up plan. If you're good at improvising, that's fine. But you may want to at least have a general outline for two or three escape plans.

The choreography itself can be planned in clever ways. The smartest time for apart position is at the beginning or the routine. People generally set up on the floor with an awareness of others, and so space is established early on, making it less likely that someone will get between you. Also, people tend to travel much less in those first few measures -- Everybody else is doing an intro, too.

If you do have an apart group in the middle of your routine, tandem movement, especially straight linear travel, is the least likely to get divided. The person in front is most likely to be interrupted, so make sure the person in the back always has his partner in his line of sight. Circling movements are good, too, but be sure to establish space for at least a measure before breaking apart. Erratic and unpredictable movemets when apart are the most likely to cause problems with other couples.

Social dancing has the fewest examples of apart position because it relies most heavily on complete and unrehearsed lead & follow. Most examples of extended groups danced apart come with pre-defined conditions. One such example is the Chase in Cha Cha. In The Chase, the couple is dancing in a small space to a pre-defined non-traveling pattern, making it compact and predictable for those around them. The space between partners is small enough that it's difficult for an outside couple to accidentally break into. The couple is close enough together to quickly be able to rejoin, should anything go wrong. Some couples choose to improvise during this time, but those that do choose lead-and-follow do so one measure apart: The follower simply imitates the leader one measure later.

The Chase isn't the only example of leading and following while apart, but it is by far the most common (well, at least in America). The reason I bring it up is because the qualities I described above are what make it successful. These are the things to keep in mind when you want to successfully lead and follow while apart on a social floor in less common circumstances, like, say, social Foxtrot.

Regards,
Jonathan

I would expect a male social dancer with even a minimum of etiquette to allow enough space in position to make his partner feel comfortable. If he lacks the sensitivity to judge her space requirements intuitively, I hope he would simply ask.

Of course the dance world is not without its socially inept. But if you're unlucky enough to find yourself being clutched by a clueless partner, chances are you're not really worrying about the quality and technique of your connections in and out of position. This is not the calibre of dancer that would give you the opportunity to achieve such standards in your dancing. So in that situation, all bets are off anyway... at least where connections are concerned.

Most advanced ballroom techniques can be applied to social dancing, and in most cases improve the situation. Better balance and floorcraft mean fewer accidents. Certain practices shouldn't be applied in full, such as the degree of movement, breadth of position, etc. But neither should they should be copmletely tossed out the window. By using good ballroom technique and simply adjusting the volume knob to a level appropriate for a crowded social floor, you can open the door to many more options not availble to the street dancer with little to no ballroom training.

Regards,
Jonathan

What is the best way to re-establish body connection with your partner without "bumping"? Thanks, everyone!

Interesting dialog...I feel that connection is achieved through the hands AND the body when both partners are doing their job. Some teachers use constant body contact as a tool, but there are limitations to that. The more progressive professionals seem much more open to forgiving the previously dreaded "gap". Look at Luca and Lorraine doing a tango (I don't think this is a new concept). Obviously you need to know what you are doing, but I believe higher quality dancing can be achieved with some allowance to lose contact when appropriate. As for the social dancers uncomfortable with the body connection...I say try it for a bit...give it a chance (though not connecting at the HIPS...that IS awkward) You may like it as you improve.