Monday, February 8, 2010

Amalgamations And Their Nicknames



In ballroom dancing, a brief term or nickname is often used for a certain popular sequence of dance figures or what is known as an amalgamation. The nicknames are quite useful in a way because, instead of naming all the figures in the amalgamation, a few words would convey the message just as well. Brevity is the soul of wit, so they say. Recently I happened to read an interesting forum discussion regarding a foxtrot amalgamation known as the Prince of Wales in dance-forums.com. Unfortunately there was no discussion on how this amalgamation came to be known as the Prince of Wales. I also could not find any information regarding this amalgamation in the internet.

According to what was discussed in the forum, the Prince of Wales is a Curved Feather to a Back Feather followed by a Feather Finish. This is a beautiful routine and is one of my favourites but the footwork can be a bit tricky and has to be properly executed. Another popular Foxtrot amalgamation which was discussed in the forum was a Feather Step to a Reverse Turn (incorporating Feather Finish) followed by a Three Step. One observant forum participant mentioned that he has seen this combination used often by beginners as well as by professionals. He has even christened this amalgamation The Three Impossibles. Another participant calls it the Golden Variation.

Two Walks And A Link is a well known amalgamation used in the Tango. The amalgamation consists of 1) Walk on LF, 2) Walk On RF, and 3) Progressive Link. In the Waltz there is an amalgamation known as the Eighteen Steps. As the name suggests, the amalgamation consists of eighteen steps and is made up of 1) LF Closed Change [three steps], 2) Natural Turn [six steps], 3) Reverse Turn [six steps], and 4) RF Closed Change [three steps]. The term Eighteen Steps is popularly used in Malaysia and this amalgamation is great for practising the fundamental steps of the Waltz. I do not know whether this amalgamation is similarly named as such in other countries.


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