Cha cha cha is a popular Afro-Cuban dance that is often danced in Latin American nightclubs. The cha cha cha music is written in 4/4 time at 30 beats per minute (120 beats per minute) with a very syncopated medium-fast rhythm. The cha-cha is generally a dance for two, which means that the one who leads (traditionally, although not necessarily the man) controls the pace of the dance, guiding the partner and deciding the patterns, while the one who follows (traditionally the woman) will try to follow the pace and movements of the driver.
Steps
Step 1. This is the basic scheme, also known as Side Basic or Close Basic
This scheme is described from the rider's perspective (the companion's part is almost identical; the most obvious difference is that the follower leans backwards when the driver leans forward and vice versa). Note that other cha-cha schemes replace some or all elements of the Basic with more elegant elements. The basic cha-cha is counted as follows: 2-3-cha cha cha or 2-3-4 and 1 if you can count the music.
Step 2. Rock step forward with the left foot. The rock step is a step in which you take a step in any direction (in this case forward), bringing all the body weight on the moving foot, but WITHOUT lifting or moving the other foot, and then bringing the weight back to the moving foot. other foot (in this case the right foot). Let's see it in detail:
- Small step forward with the left foot during beat number TWO of the count.
- We return the weight to the right foot when we count the THREE.
Step 3. Chasse to the left, or cha-cha-cha on the left. A chasse is a step in which the feet come together bringing the weight on the foot just moved, then taking a third step with the starting foot. So, the step is divided in this way: step, feet together, step - as if the feet were chasing each other. Note that "together" means that the feet must physically touch each other. In this case, we will have to do a chasse to the left, which therefore consists of three quick steps in which the driver moves to the left in two steps. Let's analyze them:
- Take a small step to the left with your left foot during beat number FOUR (ie the first "cha" in "cha-cha-cha").
- Bring your right foot close to your left foot and shift your weight to your right foot; do this on the half beat between four and one (aka the second "cha").
- Step to the left with your left foot during the ONE beat of the music. This is the third and final "cha" in "cha-cha-cha". This step may be slightly wider than the others, aesthetically reflecting the emphasis of the first pulse, although it does not necessarily have to be emphasized.
Step 4. Rock step back with the right foot. This step is like the rock step forward, except that this time we will have to go backwards with the opposite foot. Let's examine it:
- Small step back with the right foot, on the TWO beat of the music. As with the forward rock step, rest your body weight entirely on this foot, but do not lift the other foot off the floor (the left heel can rise, but not move the rest of the foot)
- Shift your weight forward onto your left foot on the third beat.
Step 5. Chasse to the right. This step is practically the same as the chasse on the left, only it has to be done on the right.
- Step to the right with the right foot, on the fourth pulse.
- Put your right and left feet together (they must touch) and shift your body weight to the left foot. This step should be performed on the half pulse between four and one.
- I pass right on beat ONE of the music.
Step 6. Repeat starting from “Rock step forward with left foot”
At this point, your left foot is hopefully able to rock step forward, after which you will have to repeat the left chase again, etc.
Advice
- Put your feet together on the chasse. "Together". Performing a hitch step instead of a chasse is for beginners. Incidentally, it is much easier to do this if the first step of the chasse was very small. Did we already say "take baby steps"?
- The Latin move is five billion times easier when performed by taking small steps (although it can be performed with larger steps).
- Cha-cha is one of the most complex ballroom dances. The patterns are complicated, if not as complicated as the West Coast Swing, and the tempo is fast, although not as fast as the Viennese Waltz. In this guide we have seen the basics, but it is extremely difficult to learn to dance just by reading the instructions. Find a dance teacher or class. Group lessons, on the other hand, could be a much cheaper method of introduction to dance.
- Practice! It takes more than 300 repetitions to develop muscle memory and it takes up to 10,000 to make movement instinctive.
- Small steps, even smaller ones. No, smaller!
- Don't look at your feet; keep your head up. Trust your sense of balance to always know where your feet are. If you really have to look at your feet, use a vertical mirror positioned so that you can see your feet while keeping your head completely erect. Resist the urge to look down. In fact, don't even turn your pupils down to try to see the floor, as doing so will unconsciously move your head up and down.
- The Latin hip move is difficult to master, and probably impossible to learn with written instructions, but you can start with the feet, which play an important role in creating the movement with the hips, and add the knees once you understand the foot movement. To begin to perform, with your feet and knees, what might vaguely resemble the start of the move, every time you take the weight off one foot, raise the heel of the foot, bending the knee but keeping the sole of the foot firmly in contact. with the floor and slide the foot into the new position, with the sole still firm on the floor, and lower the foot as you shift the body weight onto it and straighten the knee, causing the other knee to rise as the weight is shifted to the floor. other foot. In other words, you have to step with the soles of your feet, but you have to lower your foot when you shift your weight, or we can say "sole-heel, sole-heel, sole-heel", as you will hear ad nauseam say in the lessons of Cha-cha or Rhumba. The foot on which the body weight rests must always be kept flat on the floor with the knee straight, while the other must touch the floor with the sole, the heel raised and the knee slightly bent. No foot should ever completely lose contact with the floor.
- Once you have mastered the Side Basic scheme above, start mixing moves to create more advanced ones. In the instructions that follow we assume that you are the one who leads, since it is the one who leads who decides the pattern of the dance. The easiest scheme to describe verbatim is probably Passing Basic, also known as Forward-and-Back or Progressive Basic. To perform this step, after performing a rock step backwards with the right foot and switching to the left foot, make a cha-cha-cha move forward (three quick steps, right-left-right; this step must be performed at the place of the chasse on the right) and then rock step forward with the left foot as normal (and return to the right foot as usual), cha-cha-cha backwards (left-right-left) instead of the chasse on the left, and finally rock step backwards on the left foot and switch foot. After that, you can repeat this step or chase to the right (returning to the Side basic scheme). In summary, the rock steps in the Passing basic are identical to the side basic; the only difference in the pattern is that during the cha-cha-cha part you will have to go forward and backward rather than sideways. This technique is called basic passing because your feet pass each other during the cha-cha-cha move rather than being joined.
- The role of the rider and the partner are both roles that must be played always maintaining a firm connection with the muscles of the arms, back and shoulders of the partner. In this way, the two dancers are locked together in a "frame" which gives the driver the opportunity to move in unison with their partner. The follower does not necessarily have to know in advance the knight's next move.
Warnings
- In the dance hall subculture, you typically don't refuse to dance with someone who asks you to dance at a social event, nor should you be jealous if someone asks to dance with your company. Within this subculture, it is considered not only normal, but also polite, for a man to dance with the wives and girlfriends of all the dance participants, one after the other.
- There are a large number of cultural and regional variations of cha-cha, some of which are more of a ballroom style, while others are more of a street dance. Comparing the two different varieties of cha-cha is beyond the intention of the authors of this article, as well as the attempt to determine which style is more authentic or correct. This article aims to focus on the "ballroom" style of cha-cha, the American style. The international style is very similar, at least in the basic steps. The Country and Western style is less similar, but still a cha-cha.
