Help them walk through follower’s part: full turn starts & ends with forward
Show “americano” where both do big forward ocho
Lead them in the turn a few times
Help them do the leader’s footwork: Pivot-cross inward left over right, pivot a lot (270 degrees?) while crossed, final tiny step (or weight change) with right foot
Help them walk through the turn in practice hold slowly, experiencing how the leader’s footwork functions to support invitations for the follower
Have them do it normal speed a few times
Have them try it with close embrace – how close can we stay?
Have them lead it, interleaving it with the previous 2 turns.
Tips
Turning landing feet out in open step can help it really flow easily to americano (“fauxcho”)
In “americano,” leader’s step can be a bit smaller than follower’s
Remind follower to stay close to leader. (Side step tends to fall out of orbit)
That first sacada gets “revealed” when the leader invites the follower into a big enough side step around him handward
During all the pivoting of the turn, it helps the leader to keep a little weight in both feet
Remind leader to keep opening/inviting with left side of embrace (instead of squashing left arm in)
Bonus!
Find a variation with different leader’s footwork
Watch the mission
BETTER ENDING THAN VIDEO: Instead of leader making a forward step, leader can change weight in place. Finish with shared side step.
Fixes? Questions? Feedback?
If you have suggestions for improving this mission, please submit an issue on GitHub and include the mission number. For anything else incluing new mission ideas, sharing your experience, or your interest in learning to teach this manual, get in touch via email.
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