Swing Dance - Part IV - Lesson II - Retro Swing: The Underarm Turn

These Swing dance lessons, like most dance lessons, are progressive. It is important that you have learned what comes before. Fortunately, you have only missed one lesson. So, if you have not yet learned The Basic Step, please do so before you continue with this lesson.

Lesson I - The Basic Step

If you have already taken Lesson I, please read on.

The Underarm Turn

So now that you have learned the Basic Step, it is time for you to add some elements to your dance. in this lesson, we will begin with The Underarm Turn. (There will be an address at the bottom for a video of what is covered here.)

The Underarm Turn is one of the easiest elements you will learn. It is called The Underarm Turn because the follower does a turn under her own arm. What is important here is that it is crucial for the leader to let his follower know that he wants her to do an Underarm Turn. So, how does he go about that? Does he try to scream it to her over the top of the music that is playing? "Okay, I want you to do an Underarm Turn... NOW!" No, of course not. That would be silly. And impractical.

The leader leads the follower through it with subtle changes in hand placement. This will be true for everything you learn here. The leader leads with his hands. Sure, his body position will change at times, but it will be his hands that
tell the follower where to go and what to do.

Before we continue, I want you to recall the count that you learned in Lesson I.

1 pause
2 pause
3 4

There is also, as you may have noticed in the first video, a pause between 4 and 1. I bring this up because it
is crucial for the leader. Knowing when to lead is as important as knowing how to lead. In general, all your leads will
begin during that pause between 4 and 1. You must begin your lead right before your follower is about to take her 1 step. This is the only way she will know that she will be stepping somewhere other than her usual place.

You should be in your basic position at this point, as you learned in Lesson I.

The Basic Position

To begin to lead The Underarm Turn, the leader will move his left hand out and upward. He will do this with an diagonal motion that will start from his waist high, normal hand position to about the heighth of the follower's forehead. Remember, he will do this so that he leads her for her 1 step. At the same time, he will add a bit of pressure with his right hand to the follower's back where his hand is resting.

Forehead Level

It is important not to shove her... do not push her through the turn. The slightest bit of pressure is all you need apply. In fact, as she steps away from you, you should let your hand separate from her back. Notice that both dancers' elbows are still bent. You do not thrust your arm out... you do not extend it very far.

Now the follower at this point will take her 1 step out in front of herself. She should come to a point where her forehead is about 4 inches from her right hand. The leader should take his 1 step in place.

Stepping for one.

This next part can get a bit tough for followers when they are first learning this step, but trust me, it gets easier with practice. For your two step, followers, as you are beginning to lift your left foot to take that step, you should push off of the floor a bit to allow yourself to spin on your right foot. You will lift your right hand at this point just enough to allow yourself to go under your own arm. When your rotation is complete, you will put your left foot down for 2. Essentially, your rotation will happen during the pause.

Stepping for 2.

Leaders, it is very important that you do not hold your follower's hand so rigidly that she cannot move your hand with hers when she is trying to go under it. Further, you must allow her hand to spin freely in yours during this turn. If you do not... you may hurt her.

It is very important for the leader to let the follower know that this element is complete and that they will be returning to the basic step. To do this, the leader will, after the follower has turned under her arm, begin to lower their connected hands back to the original position, waist level. Do not force it. Do not do it in a fast, jerky motion. Do it as a progression so that it is in position in time for the 3 step.

As for the leader's footwork for 2, you should step diagonally up and right. When you take this step, you should also turn your body in a ¼ circle to the left so that your body is now square with where your follower went. (This part will be much more apparent when you watch the video.)

Both leader and follower will now take their 3, 4 where they are.

Stepping 3,4 or "rock step".

You will only be connected at this point by the leader's left hand and the follower's right hand. There will be some space between you.

For your next 4 counts, which will be your basic step, you will be working your way back to one another. Don't rush it. You have time. When you meet back up, you will now be back in your basic position.

Back to Basic!

Now do another basic step or two... and you are dancing!

For a video of what we have just covered, use the address below. (Please ignore the bad lighting and the little kick at the end.)

Lesson III will be posted soon. I will be teaching you The Reverse Turn.
 

If you need some music to practice to, try Brian Setzer. There are shoes that are good for Swing dancing. My favorite are Bleyer's. They are not always readily available because people who buy them end up wearing them out. However, there are other great Swing dance shoes out there. Ladies, I suggest flat sole shoes.

For information on the history of Swing dance, please visit Swing Dance Part I.

Watch the video! Please vote on the helpfulness of this guide at the bottom of the page, then copy and paste the following address into your browser to view the basic step in action followed by The Underarm Turn.

smg.photobucket.com/albums/v14/onebighoax/?action=view&current=swing015.flv

Special thanks to my son, Jason, and his girlfriend, Jamie, for their help with the pictures and the video. They are, as I once was, Swing dance instructors for South Florida Swing Dance Productions, Jensen Beach, FL.

Special thanks to Michael & Michele Succato, owners of South Florida Swing Dance Productions, from whom I learned nearly everything I know about Swing.

Special thanks to Swingtastic, of which I was once a member, for allowing me to have been a part of one the most wonderfully, family oriented performing Swing dance troupes on the face of the planet.

I reserve the right to be human and err. Nothing here was written to intentionally misinform or otherwise mislead.
© 2006 Trina Hoaks