How to spin dance move
Super spinning tips and how to turn better in dance -
Lots of teachers (and other advanced dancers) get annoyed by non-teachers trying to teach people how to dance. I’m not going to do this, because if you want to dance well and improve it’s about getting good basic dance lessons, and practice.
But so many people struggle to spin and haven’t ever been taught. Here are the tips I was given via different teachers through the years. Tips from 13 years of ballet classes and 2.5 years of salsa where we were taught turning and spinning drills from a Guinness world record holder for spinning.
Hopefully some of these spinning tips will help you in both turning and spinning better as you dance.
1. Know the difference between a spin and a turn
A turn is stepping as you rotate, in modern jive that’s usually via a ‘return’ or travelling return. A spin should be on one foot and can be a free spin or aided by the leader.
2. Learn to spot
If you get dizzy when spinning, learning to spot is essential. It’s all about practice so that you’ll do it automatically. Essentially you’re leaving your eyes looking at one spot in front of you as your body turns, then when you can’t leave your head behind anymore, you whip your head around so your eyes are looking back at your spot again as the rest of your body follows. You can start slowly and build it up. This video is a simple beginner technique for starting out.
There’re plenty of YouTube tutorials and guidance on how to spot while spinning, and it does help reduce dizziness especially during multiple splns. I find spinning is easier than continuous turning in one direction because spotting is easier when you’re preparing to spin in one place.
3. Spin and turn on one foot
To spin you need as small an area as possible on the floor. Using two feet will act as a brake and make you unable to turn.
4. Turn on the ball of your foot
I’m naughty at this because I do get lazy and tend to relax into my heel when I turn, but you should be turning on the ball of your foot. Your heel needs to only be slightly off the floor. But having your weight over the front of your foot will keep your body in the right place for turning without wobbling off in a different direction.
5. Don’t lift your spare foot up
When spinning, sometimes you see people lift their spare foot in the air (usually, bending at the knee, I presume it’s a natural reflex or they want to keep the spare foot out of the way). This will make you wobble and can also catch your partner or anyone else dancing closely. When doing a basic spin, you want to keep your spare foot next to your anchored foot, just above the floor. This keeps your body centred over your legs and should help keep you upright.
It’s much hard spinning with one leg raised.
6. Think down into the ground, not up in the air
Lots of dancers lift up when trying to spin. This could be because they’ve done ballet in the past which is about pirouetting on your toes in a releve position. But it’s more likely that we often turn under the leader’s and our raised hand, so the body tends to follow upwards as well.
Yes, you need to straighten out your body and think open rather than tight and leaning over, but if you keep your knees slightly bent and think about drilling into the floor, you’ll be more balanced and grounded. It will certainly suit a more grounded dance than one like ballet which is much lighter and in the air. You’ll also move less when you’re spinning.
It’s hard to explain. But if you’ve done any latin dancing or salsa, where you need to feel the floor through your feet to get the right hip action, the grounding and turning into the floor rather than upwards, is the same sensation.
7. Have good posture
To spin well, you need to engage your core. You need to stay relaxed and not tense up your shoulders, pull your tummy in and tuck your bottom under.
Then keep your arms in a suitable position. The easiest position for a free spin is to bring your arms towards each other in front of you, at chest level, in an oval shape. Bringing one arm to join the first helps with impetous in a spin, but also keeps posture and position right. Oh and flailing arms isn’t a good look.
This clip shows a comfortable arm position and the posture needed (salsa – they do a lot more spin technique than modern jive! but you can still get tips on arm, body and foot position)
8.
Don’t look downIf you look down your weight balance will move and you’ll be more likely to fall. Look straight ahead for a steadier turn (or spot if you use that technique).
9. Don’t rush
So many people panic when they have to spin and try and go whooshing off really fast. But if you’re spinning or turning to music, you want to fill the beats you’re spinning on. If it’s a slow track, you’ll have longer to do one rotation. There’s no point whizzing round to find there’s still half the beat left to go.
10. Practice
It’s all about practice. Start with a single spin, and work up to multiple spins if you want. If you can do free spins yourself, it’s easier to then be led into aided multiple spins or turns. This clip shows the use of a clock method (admittedly for salsa spins with the prep, but the idea is the same for modern jive).
Tips for leaders
Most spinning is done by the follower, but these all apply to leaders as well.
Plus if you’re prepping your partner for a spin, there’s things to be aware of.
Don’t ever force the follower into a spin. You can prep for one (either raising the arm or prepping the follow for a free spin), but only they can do the spin.
Ensure your prep is accurate. If it’s a free spin, don’t prep the spin too far out from the follower’s centre, otherwise they will be off balance and the spin won’t work. If it’s an aided spin, raising your hand and the follower’s, to just above and in front of the follower’s head. Not really high above their head otherwise they’ll struggle to keep connection. And not below the top of their head otherwise they’ll have to duck which is a totally different move.
Own your spin
[bctt tweet=”The person spinning should always be the one in control of the spin ” username=”whatabout_dance”]
A final point to remember is that you don’t have to do multiple spins. Yes sometimes it’s nice to throw some in if the situation is right and the music calls for it.
For example, I can do a double or triple (when I’ve been practising for a while), but I rarely do more than a single in freestyle. Because I’d rather have an immaculate single spin than try a multiple spin when the lead or prep doesn’t feel right, or the floor isn’t smooth enough. I’ve never had a leader moan that I’ve refused to do a double when he’s led that. I’ve usually had people compliment me on my spins.
How do you get on with spinning? How were you taught?
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tutorial on the spin and drop dance move
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Dance movements with hands
To move well in a disco, it is enough to have a sense of rhythm. Add to this dance movements with your hands and now you are already rocking to an unfamiliar melody, in an interesting company. To make all this a reality, it is enough to spend half an hour and rehearse a couple of “chips” in front of the mirror.
Waves with hands
Waving remains out of time and out of fashion, it is the ability to imitate wave movements with hands. We start with the right hand.
Bend your elbow and bring your palm upside down in front of you, so that the palm is parallel to the floor, and you look at it a little from above - down. The elbow and shoulder are relaxed, the tension is only in the fingers. Now try to repeat the movement of the wave, smoothly raising your palm up and describing an arc, lowering it down. Focus on the palm of the hand, fingers, forearm, elbow and shoulder are in a relaxed state and move inertly behind the hand. Start with a large amplitude and gradually reduce it to learn how to make a wave quickly. It will take 10 minutes to master this movement. Wave with both hands at the same time, pointing the palms towards each other, and when they cross, let the crossed wave go up, this is a full-fledged dance movement that looks good even without connecting the legs.
Criss-cross
To occupy hands during the dance, you can perform cross-cross movements. Extend your left hand, clenched into a fist, in front of you, but not evenly, but slightly at an angle, so that the hand goes slightly to the right.
Now extend your right hand, clenched into a fist, so that the letter X is formed. To make this movement work, you need to add a little dynamics. For example, crossing the right hand with the left, return it several times to its original position (to the beat of the music), then raise the crossed arms above the head and open the cross, lowering and pulling the hands to the belt with clenched fists, as is done in karate. Or you can open your arms and lower them through the sides, describing an arc, performing tactile movements with your legs.
Women's hand dance moves
Girls will definitely want more smooth hand dance moves, we have some recommendations for them too.
Yula
The movement is performed when there is enough space around, as it involves rotation. Raise your arms above your head, leaving your elbows "soft", which means they can be slightly bent so that the arm is relaxed and supple. The palm is collected in a weak fist with index fingers released, which look up.
At the same time, the left and right wrists begin to rotate from right to left along a small radius. After the second circle, the amplitude increases, and the forearm begins to rotate after the wrist, after 2 turns, both hands, rotating in the same direction, describe a circle above the head. Such a movement requires practice and self-confidence. It is ideal for breaks or slow songs where the footwork is constrained by a slow rhythm.
Look at me
The simplest and most popular movement that girls love to do to any music is stroking. A straightened palm is placed, for example, on the neck and led down, through the center of the chest and from the solar plexus to the side, leaving the arm bent at the elbow at the waist. In this performance, the movement will be called “look at my chest”, if you do the same with both hands from the waist, rising along the sides to the chest, from there to the neck, change direction there, slightly return to the sides, go to the back and finish the movement with your hands on pope, then it will turn out "look at my figure.
" Such options are quite frank, and it is better to use them either in a purely female company, or for a personal dance for your man. If you run your hands only over your neck and play with your hair at the same time, then you get the “look at my hair” movement, which can be performed at any disco, with any leg movements. By the way, “look at my hair” is included in the female style of many social dances, for example, salsa and bachata.
Dance Spins - Technique Recommendations
Everyone involved in dancing (and especially in such styles as salsa, rumba, Argentine tango, etc.) will be interested to know some of the subtleties and secrets of performing dance steps. This is especially true for such a complex element as rotation. Let's talk about how to rotate the partner correctly so that she does not fall and fly away)). And the girls will be interested to know: how to keep up with the rotations and at the same time look great in the dance. Of course, we are not talking about single turns here, but about double, triple and more.
Spinning and spinning
As a rule, girls are very fond of showing off their ability to dance cool. And if she's really good at spinning, you can be sure that your partner can't wait for you to spin her.
You can even say this: all the girls (regarding the rotations in the dance) are divided into 2 categories - those who can and love to spin, and those who love, but have not yet learned.
That is why, while dancing with a familiar partner, if you know that she easily makes a double turn, try spinning her a third time. Don't stop there.
However, do not overdo it with rotations. It is not recommended for beginners to rotate strongly, since falls very often lead to injuries. The number of turns is an indicator of the level of the couple, and the absence of falls is an indicator of the level of the partner.
Turning Technique and Leading (partner)
- Pay close attention to what is happening around you.
This is especially true during the disco, where you can often meet a lot of tipsy personalities. If they crowd near your couple, it is better to move away. - Observe the lady's stability before, during and after the turn. If it starts to drift, then most likely the problem is in it. In this case, the number and intensity of turns should be reduced. However, if experienced partners lose stability while dancing with you, then most likely it is you. And most importantly, if the partner starts to fall, catch her, by all means!
- Be sure to consider the music tempo. There must be at least one or two scores for each turn.
- 70% of success depends on the preparation for the turn, and therefore this movement should be prepared with great care.
- Calculate in advance the number of turns performed by the partner. There is nothing worse than a partner who is not confident in himself and his plans.
- Be serious about completing the turn. When completing the movement, let your partner know that this turn is the last.
