Hi,

I am a beginner dancer and i have an intl latin dance competition on early april. Could you please give me your opinion my rumba video

**Video removed by user**

Thank you for your suggestions

Patrick

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! :)

I would like to thank you all for your suggestions. I will try to apply your advices.
I will let you know my result after the competition.

I will put on YouTube my other training videos for Cha Cha, Samba, and Jive.

If you want to tell me your opinion I should be very happy.

Thanks again
Patrick
Note : the link to Rumba is changed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4cfuuMQMhk

As a matter of curiosity.. are you taking instruction from a Prof. ?..

If so.. ask them about being "grounded ".. if not, seek some Prof. advice ..

Hi terence2,

Yes we are taking instruction from a Prof and mainly we are learning latin dances.

The goal of my question is just to have other advices and opinions.

Patrick

Thats a wise decision... dont forget to ask them about " grounding ".. it will resolve some of your problems when accomplished .( good luck in your comp.)

Three suggestions:

Cut out that 'bounce'. Keep your head and shoulders completely still, and use your knees and ankles together to absorb any vertical motion while you step on ball of foot to press into the floor to flat foot. Be careful not to 'dip' into the first step, on 2, but make sure that you straighten the leg as you press down the heel. Your hip should lift.

Make sure that you always lower the heel to the floor, particularly on back steps. You won't get the correct hip movement otherwise.

Make much more of your 'slow' side steps. Take the weight onto the moving foot, and then settle your body weight over the foot, so that if you were to glance down (which you won't because it will destroy your posture), you would see your big toe beneath your nose. The dance never stops moving. You need to develop a more continuous movement with your hips, to move them over the standing foot each time the weight is transferred. the dance doesn't go: move, move, stop; but move, move, move.

It would be good if more dancers offered their dancing to the critical scrutiny of others (and if you do, you will receive a range of opinions, some contradictory). Its coming along nicely, but find some better music!

Ah - snap! Nice to see some unanimity of comment, here, for once...

I agree that this is well done for a beginner. You appear to be doing a different form of rumba than my wife and I do. We do more of an American style box rumba with a QQS sequence. It is stationery often, but has grapevine, danson, fifth position breaks and crossovers, open cuban walk, etc.
On your crossovers, think "nose follows toes." It's similar advice to what Telemark is referring to that you should see your big toe beneath your nose.
The song didn't have a terrific rumba feel to it, but it was OK, I guess.
You've gotten good advice on the previous postings.
I get yelled at often by my instructor for "bouncing" so I know it is a hard habit to break. But try to get rid of that now. As you get more advanced, it will keep sneaking into your dances when you don't even realize it. I know. I still fight it to this day.
You should have a lot of fun at the competition, and should do well.

Patrick. I have not seen your video. What i would advice if you want to look better than those around you. You must have articulate feet. You must practice Rumba Walks solo as often as you can. The floor is your best friend unlike Standard we have more pressure into the floor. When bringing your rear foot from behind to under the body
your toe should be on the floor with the heel raised. You will find that with your feet side by side your knee will be further forward than your standing knee.If you want to see a demonstration of this in the Rumba Walks Google Rumba Walk Warm Up, and watch Slavik and Karina. 6o percent of Rumba is acting. Every move, every expression is choreographed and practice over and over Google Donnie. Burns and Gaynor dancing to a Shirley Bassey number to see this. Its easy to find.
A professional once told me he would rather see a person looking at their partner all the time than not at all. Look then look away. And get used to using the arms. They are part of the act. Good Luck.
One more thing On Rumba Walks a person standing in front of you should only see one leg. Not both.