1930s Waltz Variations: The Pivot Spin

This move comes from an undated source, a short pamphlet called The Dancing Master, by K.E. Graham, "as approved and recommended by the leading teacher of ballroom dancing Santos Casani," published in London.  Casani was active at least from the late 1920s onward, but the long, bias-cut style of the evening dress on the cover suggests to me that this source is from the 1930s.

Only four waltz variations are included in the pamphlet, and three of them are the standard natural turn, revese turn, and "change step," meaning a waltz forward along line of dance, all in the "new waltz" pattern of the late nineteenth-century, step-side-close, which is by the 1930s established in England as the standard ballroom style. 

The only unusual move included is the pivot spin, in which the dancers first pivot quickly clockwise then suddenly reverse direction and end facing in the opposite direction from which they started.  Specifically, on count one the gentleman steps straight back left along the line of dance, followed by pivoting clockwise to step right forward along line of dance then left backward.  He then steps backward on the righ foot towards the center of the room, turning a quarter counter-clockwise, then turns another quarter to step left along line of dance, followed by closing the right foot with weight.  The gentleman is then ready to step forward with the left foot.  The whole sequence could be regarded as a particularly elaborate method of changing the direction the dancers are facing.

The sequence for the gentleman, six counts/two bars of waltz music:
1 Left back along line of dance (and pivot halfway CW)
2 Right forward along line of dance (and pivot halfway CW)
3 Left back along line of dance (and pivot 1/4 CCW)
4 Right back toward center of room (and pivot 1/4 CCW)
5 Left forward along line of dance
6 Right closes to left, with weight

The sequence for the lady:
1 Right forward along line of dance (and pivot halfway CW)
2 Left back along line of dance (and pivot halfway CW)
3 Right forward along line of dance (and pivot 1/4 CCW)
4 Left forward toward center of room (and pivot 1/4 CCW)
5 Right back along line of dance
6 Left closes to right, with weight

The hardest part of the move is getting the pivots started at the end of the first step.  Failure to fully pivot back to the starting position will make the fourth step redundant -- if the dancers fail to get all the way around, they will already be angled into the center of the room and the enjoyable effect of the sudden reversal of direction will be lost.  But this is not a difficult move overall, and with a little practice, should present no problems to the experienced dancer.

 

Comments

[Forrest Outman]

The copyright for this pamphlet is 1933