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The following information is published with ROUNDALAB's permission from the ROUNDALAB Reference Manual compiled by Richard & Jo Ann Lawson, 1987.

The Value of Teaching Progressions in the Teaching of Round Dancing

Bill & Carol Goss

When teaching a dance that is of one rhythm and composed of mainly standard figures, a teaching progression is of invaluable help. The concept of teaching progression is that teaching dancing requires a compilation of concepts that are based on basic ideas that have already been established in the minds of the dancers. When teaching a basics class, we would not consider teaching the fishtail before teaching the lock because a fishtail contains a lock, and that is part of the figure with which the dancer can identify. So to, it should be in every level of dancing that we teach. We often teach our classes figures in a dance in the order in which they are written, and this can be extremely counterproductive. If the dance sequence uses a fishtail before a lock, it becomes obvious that teaching straight from a routine can be dangerous.

We chose, whenever possible, to clinic figures in a new dance in an order that builds upon knowledge the dancer already possesses before teaching the routine. Roundalab should be congratulated for promoting the idea of using teaching progressions, and we are honored that they asked us to do the first rough draft for Latin dancing Phases III-VI. We've included those teaching progressions and a cue sheet for Gazpacho Cha in this syllabus, so that we can illustrate how we would go about teaching this dance to a group who has never been exposed to international Cha Cha basics. We thank Richard and Jo Anne Lawson for allowing us to use their dance as an illustration.

Gazpacho Cha is written almost exclusively with international Cha Cha basics, and if we were to arrange those basics in the dance as we have in the teaching progression, they would be taught in the following order:

  1. Cucaracha (to teach the concept of Cha Cha hips)
  2. Walk, 2, cha, cha, cha
  3. Circle away 2, cha, cha, cha and together
  4. Basic (as contrasted to a box)
  5. Fence line
  6. New Yorker
  7. Time step
  8. Hand-to-hand
  9. Shoulder-to-shoulder
  10. Spot turn
  11. Whip
  12. Basic to alemana
  13. Basic to fan
  14. Hockey stick
  15. Hockey stick to left open
  16. Hip twist
  17. Aida with rock

Before teaching Gazpacho Cha, we would chip away at these basics for 4-6 weeks, and then the dance would be nearly a cue through. In fact, with our easy-intermediate group this year, we followed this exact teaching progression, and for the last 8 months, this has been one of their top three favorite dances. The technique may seem slow, but if clinic is done for one half hour/week, and other more familiar teaches are done during the teach time, more is accomplished and less frustration is met than by giving the dancers Gazpacho Cha from beginning to end and leaving them with a vague idea of the routine and little knowledge of the basic figures.