“The walk" is a combination of change of bodyweight, leg and foot action timed correctly – Development of hip action (pelvic movement) and awareness of body movement above the waist line.
The complete beat of a Slow in Rumba gets divided into the count “S &” in order to time and accommodate a hip action.
A simple way to explain the timing of hip movement is: on every count of & the hip commences to move sideways, except for the 4&1&, which is a slower hip change using 2 beats of music.
This count of 2& 3& 4& 1& (totaling 8 beats) then gets divided even further into:
2&a 3&a 4&a 1&a (totaling 12 beats)
For more accuracy in order to complete the following:
the timing of change of body weight
the timing of foot and leg actions
the timing of hip movement
Timing of changes of body weight on 2&a
Count “2“= Body weight more or less remains over preceding step
Count “&”= Body weight changes towards the latter part of the beat to finish in balance over the back foot
Count “a”= Body weight remains
Timing of changes of foot and leg action on 2&a
Count ”2”= Two straight legs both heel on the floor (the timing of the knee straightening and the lowering of the heel of the foot of the moving leg are coordinated)
Count “&”= Two straight legs with the foot position of the front leg in a pointed position with the heel naturally lifted off the floor.
Count “a”= the free leg bends swiftly (fast) allowing the foot of that leg to point backwards past the standing leg (take care not to reach out with a completely straight leg with a pointed foot)
Timing of hip movement
Count” 2”= hipbone starts to level towards neutral position, then passing through neutral position at some point
Count ”&” = hipbone starts to incline sideways following the diagonal line between the two legs (please notice: pelvic bone is straight–not tilted backwards).
Count “a” = Hipbone continues a slight rotation backwards
Best Wishes and Happy Dancing!
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