Topic: le roc move

[Justine]

ive seen all you excellent dancers do moves that i would love to learn, like the drops but do you have to be realy little to do these?? is it a strain on the mans back or is there a special way to do these moves???

[JT]

Hi Justine,

Sorry I can't put a face to the name as I've been out of LeRoc for a while, but just to let you know, no you don't have to be really little to do some drops and others the man can control how much he drops you to keep things safe!  In theory you should be taking a lot of your weight yourself and pushing yourself back up through your legs rather than the man just pulling you up, but I'm not a qualified teacher so apologies if I'm leading you up the garden path.  Put it this way, I'm the wrong side of 11 stone (it was a good christmas foodwise!!) and I've never had any complaints!  OK I know - everyone's too polite!!

Jennie

[Justine]

thankyou for that reply, do you dance at kingswood or do you goto the dances i havent been doing it that long but i think im doing ok, i realy want to progress but i was a bit scared of the drops as i thought i might be too heavy im 10.3 stone, some one did do a drop with me the other night and he used his knees and i loved it,

[philsmove]

It?s difficult but not impossible to do drops if the follower is heaver then the lead

A good follower will support most of her weight

With leans it's difficult if the follower is a lot taller than the lead

But To do Arial?s, the weigh of the lady needs to be less than the man

If you want to try some aerials ask John O Malley for a dance

[Justine]

thanks for that bit of info its giving me a bit of hope haha!!! and im no good with names who is john?? maybe i have danced with him already, i danced with a man at the bawa who was fantastic he was a teacher i think and he was tall a lovely man,

[JT]

I use to go to the Folk House a lot and then also the Elmgrove for a while, but I got married last year, moved north of the Severn and what with husband and I both selling our places to buy somewhere together ("we wanna be together!" (am I the only person who remembers that advert?!)), we haven't done much dancing in the last 6 possibly 8 months!

Anyway back to the topic!  What Phil says is right!  I don't do aerials because of safety for the main part, having said that I have done the odd dance with John O'Maley because I know he can take my weight and if I tell him to keep things low key he generally does (for John that is!).  

It's all about getting to know the people you're dancing with, most blokes won't drop you if they don't think they can for whatever reason, one bloke I know doesn't like drops because he already has problems with his back, if you don't like them tell the guy before you start dancing, but give them a go in class certainly as you'll be taken through step by step and should feel fairly confident by the end of the lesson!

[Justine]

that sounds very good advice, to be a good le roc dancer do you have to do drops or can you just leave them alone?? and still do well as i would like to get realy good at this, i know i have a long way to go yet but a few pointers wont go a miss thankyou xx

[JT]

if you don't like them tell the guy before you start dancing,

Drops that is - not the guy!! (oh heck it's getting warm in here!)

[JT]

ooh difficult question!  A lot of the advanced dancers do drops, but do you have to?  Phil Payne and Teri Long are two excellent dancers (won the South West LeRoc Challenge back in 2003) and I don't remember them doing many drops (somebody please shout if I'm wrong) and they've also done well in other competitions, so I guess the answer should be no it's not necessary.  John Gimber (the webmeister himself) is an excellent dancer and I don't think I've seen him do many drops, or do you John?  but heck he can spin like no-one else!

Don't know is the answer - this could be a whole new topic in itself!!

[Justine]

does that mean i can tell the man that i dont like him haha  i do tell the men that i  am a beginner but they all say i follow realy well, do you goto all the dances ?? i might of danced with you,

[John Gimber: Webmaster]

Hi,

No, I tend to avoid drops where possible.

I'm recovering from M.E. so my dance style is based around minimum energy usage and maximum dance enjoyment for both partners.

You don't need drops to dance well, though drops (like airsteps, tango steps, spins or whatever) all make for a more varied experience.

I tend to concentrate on simple variations of normal moves, easily leadable, with lots of unusual interlinks.  Hey, it's not a great plan, but it's the only one I've got, so I'm sticking to it!

John.

[Nick M]

to be a good le roc dancer do you have to do drops or can you just leave them alone??

You don't NEED to do them, but often a good lead will take you into a dip, a drop, a lean or a seducer in order to hit a break, or hit the end note of the tune.

If you go to classes for a while, you will get the opportunity to learn some dips and drops, and you certainly don't need to be particularly light. As Jennie says, the woman should take most of her own weight anyway. However, dips and drops done carelessly, without warning, of off-balance, can be dangerous.

see http://www.forum.leroc-in-bristol.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=1_q_a;action=display;num=1070312634 for additional tips and hints

Nick

Check our

[Justine]

thankyou for that infomation it is very handy and taught me a few things, ive saved it to my pc thanks again xx

[Elaine]

ooh difficult question!  A lot of the advanced dancers do drops, but do you have to?  Phil Payne and Teri Long are two excellent dancers (won the South West LeRoc Challenge back in 2003) and I don't remember them doing many drops (somebody please shout if I'm wrong) and they've also done well in other competitions, so I guess the answer should be no it's not necessary.  John Gimber (the webmeister himself) is an excellent dancer and I don't think I've seen him do many drops, or do you John?  but heck he can spin like no-one else!

Don't know is the answer - this could be a whole new topic in itself!!

Hi Jen - you are quite right, Phil and Terri did no drops or aeriels, but won on musical interpretation.

The answer Justine, IMHO, is that an advanced dancer hears the music and interprets it accordingly.  You may hear in the music 'breaks', variations in the speed etc and an advanced dancer will note these with his/her body movement and lead. (Follwers should also be allowed to add a flourish!)  You don't need to put a drop or aeriel in to accent a point.

Re drops and aeriels, my advice is to find someone who will do these with you on a regular basis and practice with them, but do get advice from a teacher first.  A private lesson will give you a head start and lots of safety tips.  AND DO, DO, TAKE YOUR OWN WEIGHT!!!  It is not only a safety factor but looks better as well.  It is really only the dancers at the very, very top levels who will be able to put their weight on their partner - both know what is coming and expected!

Hope that helps!


Elaine

[Justine]

thanks for that, i would rather not do drops and stuff but i thought it was a big part of it and that you have to do them, im ok now i wont do them but it looks very good but i will have to find otherways to make it look good haha!! but i see when you do a drop that you link your arms around simon do you not put all your weight onto him then??? it looks like you do. im just picking a few brains here to get some info