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JIVE!
- Author:
- Dave Watson
- Date Published:
- May 5, 2005
The Jive is a “Pulse” dance. On the “Triple-step” action, we create this pulse by lifting up through our leg and ankle of the supporting foot, and lifting the knee of the free foot on an imaginary count of ‘uh’. We then direct the free foot downward to the floor directly under our body. When we finally land on this foot, this is the count of 1. We now “fall” to the side of the first foot, and “trip” ourselves into taking two more changes of weight; uh, 2. (Obviously, this is a very shorthanded way of describing this action, but, for those of you who were in the class, you’ll understand.)
COUNT:
CLOSED BASIC: (Closed Position)
Both partners begin by dancing a normal Back rock in Closed Position:
Gentlemen will dance back left / forward right – Lady will dance
back right / forward left 1, 2
NOTE: Remember that ‘Closed Position’ in Jive frequently actually means Promenade Position. Therefore, when dancing a normal Back Rock in Closed Position, partners will really be turned to Promenade Position and their Back Rocks will be taken slightly behind their supporting foot (CBMP); rocks will basically be parallel to on another.
Man dances a “triple-step” chasse’ to his left – Lady to her right 3 uh 4
Man dances a chasse’ to his right – Lady to her left 5 uh 6
Natural Underarm Turn (From Closed Position):
Both partners dance their normal Back Rocks 1, 2
Man now dances a chasse’ to his left and lifts his left arm to lead Lady to
Turn to her right under his raised right arm
Lady dances her chasse’ to her right and begins to turn to her right under the Man’s raised right arm 3 & 4
Almost all of the Lady’s turn (approximately ¾ turn to the right) should happen on the last step of her chasse’ (right foot) as a true spin on the count of ‘4’.
More experienced dancers will actually lead the Lady to turn slightly toward the Man on the chasse’, (“tuck-in” action) and then lead the Lady to turn more sharply on her right foot on the count of ‘4’.
Releasing his right hand from the Lady’s back, and turning ¼ turn to his left to
face the Lady, Man now dances a normal chasse’ to his right
Lady dances a normal chasse’ to her left facing Man 5 & 6
Couple is now in Open Facing Position and Man has Lady’s right hand in his left hand (one-hand hold).
This pattern may also be danced in Open Facing Position with a one-hand hold.
REVERSE UNDERARM TURN: (Begin in Open Facing Position with normal One-Hand Hold)
Both partners dance their normal Back Rocks to begin 1, 2
Leading Lady to rotate to her left, and dance under his raised left arm, Man
dances a chasse’ to his left turning ¼ to the right
Lady turns ¼ turn to her left, and dances a chasse’ to her right passing under
the Man’s raised left arm 3 uh 4
Leading Lady to continue to turn till she faces him, Man dances a chasse to his
right, and turns another ¼ turn to his right to face Lady
Lady continues to turn another ¼ turn to her left to face Man, and dances a
chasse’ to her left 5 uh 6
Both partners dance their normal back rock to finish the pattern and/or to begin a new pattern.
HAND-CHANGE SPIN: (Begin in open facing Position with a normal one-hand hold)
Both partners dance their normal Back Rocks to begin pattern 1, 2
Man dances a chasse to his left (leading Lady to dance a chasse’ in place),
Man will spin to his left on his left foot, on the last step of the triple-step
(on the count of 2) – At this moment, Man will place the Lady’s right
hand in his right hand, and start placing the hands behind his back
Lady dances a chasse’ in place 3 uh 4
Man now dances a chasse’ to his right, continues to turn to the left to face the
Lady, and changes the Lady’s right hand back into his left (normal hold)
Lady dances a chasse’ to her left 5 uh 6
Both partners now dance their normal Back Rocks to finish pattern and/or to begin a new pattern.
SHOULDER TAPS: (Begin in Open Facing Position with normal one-hand hold)
Both partners dance their normal Back Rocks to begin pattern 1, 2
Both partners take a step toward each other (Man left foot – Lady right),
And turn away from one another (Man turns to his right – Lady left) 3
Both partners now tap their free foot (Man’s right – Lady’s left) away from
their partner 4
Both partners chasse’ away from one another and return to normal Open
Facing Position 5 uh 6
In class, we will replace the normal back rock with the back hitch kick.
BACK HITCH KICK:
This is just one of many figures that fall into a category called ‘Break Endings’. Simply put, they are replacements for the normal back rock. Although, frequently, many Break endings are lead, many others, such as this one, can be danced by the Lady without the Man asking for it. They will not always work in every situation, but you will quickly learn the best times to dance them. For learning purposes, we will attach it to the end of our Shoulder Taps figure.
Both partners sharply extend their free foot (Man’s left – Lady’s right) back so that
the leg is straightened, and the toe is pointed and just barely off the floor 1
Both partners now shift their lower body weight forward and press just the ball of
that (previously pointed) foot tightly under the body &
Both partners now fully replace weight to their forward foot
(Man’s right – Lady’s left) 2
CHICKEN WALKS (SUGAR FOOT): (Ending to Reverse Underarm Turn version)
There are many ways of dancing in to the Chicken Walks. We will place it at the end of the Reverse Underarm Turn.
Begin with the normal Back Rocks 1, 2
Couple will then dance the next 3 steps of the Reverse Underarm Turn as described
Above 3 uh 4
Continuing to lead the Lady to turn to her left – Man now leads Lady to
OVERTURN by slightly turning her wrist clockwise – Man will
Dance a forward Lock step (right / left / right) behind Lady
Lady will overturn to her left as she completes her Reverse Underarm Turn
And she will dance a forward Lock away from the Man (left / right / left) 5 uh 6
At this point, Lady is in front of Man – back to front – with her right arm held behind her. Couple is ready to begin the actual Chicken Walks (Sugar Foot).
NOTE TO MAN: You cannot MAKE the Lady overturn. You merely indicate to her that this is something you’d like her to do, and then you Hope & Wait for her to do it.
There are also many variations on the timings that are used for this figure. We will use S, S, Q, Q, Q, Q. (Note the change from numerical counting.)
Man now steps back with his left foot, and leads Lady to turn to face him and
begin her Outside Swivels
Lady swivels on her left foot ¾ turn to her right (Body turns less [1/2 – to face]),
And she steps side & slightly forward with her right foot S
Man now steps back again (right) to lead another SLOW Sugar Foot for Lady
Lady dances a SLOW Sugar Foot (Outside Swivel) to her left foot S
Man now steps back for 3 QUICK s (left / right / left) to lead the Lady t
dance 3 QUICK Outside Swivels
Lady dances 3 Quick outside Swivels (right / left / right) Q, Q, Q,
Man leads Lady to dance one more QUICK Swivel as he closes right foot to left
Lady dances one more QUICK Outside Swivel to her left Q
NOTE: The Chicken Walks (Sugar Foot), is another pattern that falls into a special category called ‘BREAK ENDINGS”. Hence, it will REPLACE the normal Back Rock that is usually used to end a figure and/or begin a new figure.
Another Note: if the couple were to continue with an Open figure (such as another Reverse Underartm Turn, then the Man would continue BACK on his last QUICK. Since we will be continuing into a Closed Position figure, however, we want the Lady to begin closing the distance between her and the Man. We do this by having the Man close his feet on his last QUICK.
Man is now ready to ‘pick the Lady up’ back into a normal Closed Facing Position. We will continue into a Closed Whip.
CLOSED WHIP (LINDY TURN): (Begin in Open Facing Position – normal One-Hand Hold)
There are many ways of entering the Closed Whip – it can begin in Closed or Open Facing Position. We will begin in Open Facing Position having just completed the Chicken Walks.
NOTE: Normally we would begin this figure with the normal Back Rocks. HOWEVER, since we are commencing this figure immediately after the Sugar Foot (in this instance), we will not need the Rock Step, and we will go straight into the chasse’ action.
Man dances a chasse’ to left turning approximately ¼ turn to the right around
the Lady, and facing her – regain Closed Facing Position
Lady dances a small chasse’ to her right and forward, turning approximately
¼ turn to her right – regain Closed Facing Position 1, uh, 2
Remaining in Closed Facing Position, and continuing to turn strongly to the
Right, Man crosses right foot behind left, then left foot to side
Continuing to rotate strongly to her right, Lady will dance side and slightly
forward left, then forward (& slightly across) with her right 3, 4
Man now dances a chasse’ strongly to the side right to lead the Lady to stop
Rotating, and prepare to exit
Lady dances a chasse to her left 5, uh, 6
Both partners now dance their normal Closed Position {read: Promenade Position;
See NOTE above under Closed Basic} Back Rocks to finish the
pattern and/or begin a new pattern 7, 8
Passing Changes:
Couple will begin in Open position with a normal one-hand hold. HOWEVER, Man will have turned his body approximately ¼ turn to his right so that he is sideways to the Lady and not facing directly at her. Lady is still facing directly at the Man.
Both partners dance their normal Open Position back Rocks 1, 2
Leading the Lady to pass directly across his front -- back to front -- , Man dances
a chasse’ to his left and releases Lady’s right hand
Lady turns ¼ turn to her left and dances a chasse’ across the Man (back to front)
Couple will attain Lady’s left hand in Man’s right hand hold at completion
Of chasse’ 3 uh 4
Both partners now dance a forward Hitch Kick:
Point free foot diagonally forward (no weight) toward partner, then
quickly switch foot positions to end forward on the other foot
(Point / Ball / Change) – {See: NOTE at end of Back Hich Kicks above} 5 & 6
Man now leads Lady to Pass across his front the other way (still back to front) as
He dances a chasse’ to his right – release Lady’s left hand
Lady dances a chasse’ (back to front) across Man – get Lady’s right hand in Man’s
Left hand 7 uh 8
Both partners now dance a Hitch Kick on the other side 1 & 2
Repeat counts 3 - 2 (two more Passing Changes w/ Hich Kicks)
3 uh 4, 5 & 6, 7 uh 8, 1 & 2
Finish with a Reverse Underarm Turn as described above
