Now that I've described my preferred grapevine, let's talk about how to get it started.
The way I was taught to enter a Yale grapevine was to go through "tango position", a closed position with both partners opened up slightly so they can both move forward, on opposite feet, along line of dance. At some point, the gentleman twists himself a bit so that he steps more sideways with the left foot and then crosses the right behind to start the grapevine, the lady continuing her tango position walk, which is, in effect, a cross in front as the gentleman's twist puts them into left Yale position. He then leads her into the side step and back cross as he crosses forward.
I'm sorry, but by my current standards, that is just not elegant enough. If the gentleman does all the twisting without the lady mirroring him, it feels like the gentleman is twitching peculiarly while the lady strolls along obliviously. If they both face each other on the side step, the lady ends up going forward/sideways/forward, an annoying back-and-forth. And it does not even have the virtue of being easy!
With over two decades of one-step practice behind me, here are four options I like better:
1. Through a Step Out
This one is quite simple and takes advantage of the swinging back and forth from right-hip-Yale position to left-hip-Yale position inherent in this grapevine. Think about the Yale grapevine sequence:
side step
left Yale position
side step
right Yale position
etc.
The sequence can be started either side/right Yale or side/left Yale. The latter is how I was taught, because it is easier to lead the lady into a forward cross and then use the twisting momentum of the side step to guide her into the back cross. This transition does it the other way around.
The Step Out, described in detail and illustrated in a long-ago post, starts with the gentleman going forward and the lady back, the two dancers face to face in normal closed position. He then steps out diagonally to the left, and in two steps enters Yale position, right hip to right hip. Those two steps become, in effect, the first two steps of the grapevine. Rather than the initial sideways step, the first step moves the dancers toward Yale position. On the second step, they are in right Yale position. On the third step, the gentleman leads the lady into a sideways step, and on the fourth, into a forward cross (left Yale position). She should then have the concept and be easily led into the next side step and back cross.
This transition into grapevine is elegant, almost effortless for both dancers, and nearly invisible to observers. All the things a good transition should be!
2. Through a Pomander Walk
This one is my favorite of the three.
Using a Step Out, enter the Pomander Walk (described and illustrated here). Walk around each other in right Yale position as long as you like, but do not make a flip into left Yale and reverse the walk-around. Instead, as the gentleman is coming around to toward center of the room, he should, as he steps onto his left foot, make a quarter-turn clockwise, guiding the lady to face him so that they both step sideways along the line of dance, and then cross his right foot behind, leading the lady to cross in front, continuing from there with another side step and cross in front for him/behind for her.
Like the Step Out entry, this is smooth and invisible; the lady will find herself doing a grapevine before she realizes what has happened. Speaking as a lady, I love that feeling! And it has the additional fun of all that swirling around each other in a Pomander Walk first. The only trick is making sure the transition into grapevine occurs when the gentleman is toward the center of the room and the lady toward the wall, so that the grapevine travels politely along line of dance instead of at a dangerous angle across or against it.
3. Through the Outer Edge
This one more dramatic than smooth or invisible.
The Outer Edge is a move from Vernon and Irene Castle that extends the Step Out with a side step and close. I described it in detail here, but the basic idea is, in four counts, showing the gentleman's steps:
1 Step forward with the left foot, starting to aim diagonally left
2 Step out with right foot to Yale position
3 Step sideways to the left
4 Close right to left with weight
Unlike the previous two entries, this one does not use the passage through right Yale position to go directly into grapevine. Instead, the dancers end up face to face, moving sideways along the line of dance and closing their feet together. From there, it is natural to do another side step, then for the gentleman to cross his right foot behind and lead the lady into crossing her left forward (left Yale), and continue the grapevine sequence from there. The side-close conclusion of the Outer Edge is particularly musical when used to punctuate the end of the phrase, starting the grapevine on the first count of the next one. It's a different effect from the invisible transitions described above, which adds interesting variety to one's one-step. As can be seen in the dance clips from their film, The Whirl of Life, and as I noted in my previous post, the Castles used the Outer Edge for this kind of stop-and-restart transition, though I have no clip of them using it to set up a Yale grapevine.
4. Through the variant Outer Edge with lead foot switch
Should the dancers happen to be dancing on the other lead foot (the gentleman stepping with his right foot on the first beat of the measure, the lady on her left), the variant Outer Edge described in my previous post can be used to simultaneously start the grapevine and switch the lead foot back.
The gentleman's steps:
1 Step out with right foot to Yale position
2 Step sideways to the left
& Close right to left with weight
3 Step sideways to the left
4 Cross right behind (left Yale position)
and continue into the grapevine from there.
This lacks the drama of the close of feet and restart, but simultaneously transitioning into a grapevine and switching the lead foot is an extremely slick trick, very much in the Castles' style.
With these four options, anyone should be able to improve the smoothness of their transitions into grapevine and the overall beauty of their one-step. Enjoy!
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