Hello,

In latin dancing, is the body weight primarily over the bent or straight leg?

A while back an instructor at our studio said it was over the straight leg. Today in class, a different instructor said the opposite, that the weight is primarily over the bent leg.

To me it feels natural to have most of the weight on the straight leg, with some resistence on the bent leg.

Does anyone have any comments?

Thanks

WEll, the way that I know is that in latin rumba and chacha you always land on a straight leg, and in all the rhythm dances you land on a betn knee. So one of your teachers may have been focusing on latin, and the other on rhythm. I hope I helped! If you need anything else, you know where to go!
~tango

In Int'l Rumba and Cha Cha, with just a few noted exceptions the weight always arrives over a straight leg. So I'm going to assume you're talking about American style.

With American style Rhythm, there is much debate over how much weight should go to a bent leg. Traditionalists will tell you that you should arrive 100% over a bent leg before beginning to straighten. On the opposite end of the spectrum, teachers trained primarily in Int'l style will tell you to forget about American style technique altogether and just arrive on a straight leg. For the rest of us "moderates", the truth lies somewhere in between.

I teach that the American style bent action is mostly a matter of "presenting", not "weighting" the bent leg. Or at least, not fully weighting it. As the foot moves to its position the leg remains bent, but once the foot arrives, the leg will begin to straighten [i]as the body weight is delivered[/i], so that by the time you are 100% over the foot, the leg is 100% straight. This gives you an authentic bent leg look without actually looking squatty.

There are certain circumstances where I feel that the bent leg action (even the more progressive version I described) should be abandoned altogether. For example, on an Open Break to Underarm Turn to R, or on a Walkaround Turn to R, the step forward & across with the left foot should be fully extended straight. The following step can be done either way, and on the final side step, you return to a normal action. If you try to maintain a bent action throughout the 3 steps (particularly on the first one), it will look like open-legged Lindy Hop.

I also think that the amount of delay you apply to the straightening depends on the dance. I use straighter actions in my Cha Cha and Rumba than I do in Mambo and Merengue, which are the most grounded of all the American Rhythm dances.

The moral of the story: When it comes to American style bent action, everybody's got an opinion. Study the various techniques, then decide what works best for you.

Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com

Hi, Waltz123,
In the International Rumba I was always taught to transfer the body weight to the new supporting foot whilst the leg was straightening on a backward walk. On a different subject. At a recent class the instructor stressed when stepping forward, that the toe should be turned out on step one of the Basic Movement in the CCC. Someone asked which toe!? big or little!? Class was disrupted, while we all had a laugh! Many answers were given. The final answer which we all accepted will be given against any reply this post takes.

Thank you, Jonathan. That is very helpful.

Helene

Helene. If you were to take part in a competition in the International style of Rumba or Cha and had bent knees it would be a complete waste of time even taking to the floor. Look at the videos on this sight .

Thanks. I am studying American style at a franchise studio. I know I am a little late starting ballroom (25 years old), but I have a background competing and performing dance (mostly ballet).

I love ballroom and am getting more into it and want to dance my personal best. I have been doing pro-am competitions.

Please let me know if you would recommend training in international style instead of American. I live in the NYC area.

Thanks.

Helene,

Whether you do International or American is really personal preference. I started with American and am now doing International. I like them both, to be honest. What my teacher told me is that it is easier to go from International to American than vice-versa. I also think when you compete in American, the rules are little "fuzzy" and open to interpretation a little more (as Jonathan somewhat alluded to in his post above; I don't think the judges make a big stink on how bent, or unbent, your leg is when you land on it in American style). The upside of doing American is that it is more often available in social situations than International (at least in my neck of the woods).

Keep in mind, too, that International Latin = cha cha, rumba, samba, paso doble and jive. American = cha cha, rumba, bolero, swing and mambo. Maybe there are some you like better than others?!