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Stuart M
10th-September-2008, 01:24 PM
Anyone got any tips specific to the cha cha? For reasons too long to explain, I'm learning it at the moment.

And the constant repetition of the Wheel Cha Cha while practising is making my ears bleed - I mean, it's one of the corniest bits of music in existence!

Chicklet
10th-September-2008, 01:43 PM
The secret is in sporting REALLY tight trousers Stuart, think you might have any of them lying around?

Filthy Monkey
10th-September-2008, 02:14 PM
Those reasons wouldn't happen to involve a certain Miss Murphy, would they!? :)

Have a look here (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/International_Latin_Technique/Cha_Cha_Cha)- There are some really useful tips.

Sparkles
10th-September-2008, 02:15 PM
The secret is in sporting REALLY tight trousers Stuart, think you might have any of them lying around?

:yeah:
And sequins.... LOTS of sequins :whistle: :cool:

Princess Fi
10th-September-2008, 02:19 PM
Wiggle

...


Lots

...

Worked for me while I was learning!

David Bailey
10th-September-2008, 02:34 PM
Have you done any Latin before? (e.g. salsa)

If so, then I have tips for the transition.

If not, you're on your own :na:

Tessalicious
10th-September-2008, 03:04 PM
The one tip that a ballroom 'taxi' gave me a little while back that helped me most was that you shouldn't think of the hip movement on the 'cha-cha-cha' steps as side to side. Instead, visualise (and try to do) it as a figure-of-8 motion, where the hip that is moving forward is the one you're putting your weight onto and therefore popping out.

This really helps you to get used to controlling your hips and not having your shoulders or upper body involved. Once you can incorporate this on the cha-cha-cha, you can also bring it in on the other steps.

And don't say this is a girly thing - because the person that taught me this is a guy!

Stuart M
10th-September-2008, 03:46 PM
The secret is in sporting REALLY tight trousers Stuart, think you might have any of them lying around?
They're still around Chicklet. Well, I've gone up a waist size so they're ALL tight now anyway...

Stuart M
10th-September-2008, 03:50 PM
Those reasons wouldn't happen to involve a certain Miss Murphy, would they!? :)
No. Who do you mean?

:confused:

geoff332
10th-September-2008, 05:08 PM
Don't move your hips. If you do latin properly, the hips mostly flow in naturally from doing everything else right (especially from getting your footwork right). You can accent the hips later, once you've got the rest working and you have the time to add them in.

Get proper latin shoes - ones with a small heel. With cha and jive, you need to get the heel on the ground: latin heels get it down a lot sooner. These shoes are also great for modern jive, so they're well worth the investment.

Drill. You should be able to do cha basic and cha locks without thinking (this is what buys you the time to accent the hips). This means hours of practice. Hours and hours.

Bend and straighten your legs. Bend during the cha steps and straighten to provide the accent on the beat. Between this and getting your heels down, you've got most of the basic technique, which shapes the dance. It also gives you most of the hip movement.

Keep your steps small. For a cha basic, the cha cha is almost on the spot, the third cha steps open - but only steps a little further than your shoulders. When you get properly fast music, more complex steps, or double timing anything, you need small steps.

Related to the previous point: keep your feet under your body. It helps you control your centre of gravity, your balance, and forces you to keep your steps small (this is, incidently, some of the best advice I can give for modern jive as well).

You need an excellent frame. Cha is a snappy dance and if you don't have really good tension in your frame, you lose the snap (and it looks rather pathetic).

Don't bounce. All the latin dances are basically flat: you move your hips, but not your shoulders (well, you put shoulders in, but they are disassociated from your hips; this applies to jive as well...). Good technique gives the appearance of bounce, but this is almost entirely an illusion. The bounce is below the rib-cage; above, you're very flat (that could be horribly mis-construed...).

Smile.

Filthy Monkey
10th-September-2008, 05:27 PM
No. Who do you mean?

:confused:

Karen, who goes to the class in JJs on Tuesday. She was looking for somebody to do cha cha in an inter-company decathlon thingy. Could be that you've been roped in by somebody else and are the competition!! :grin:

Stuart M
10th-September-2008, 05:32 PM
Karen, who goes to the class in JJs on Tuesday. She was looking for somebody to do cha cha in an inter-company decathlon thingy. Could be that you've been roped in by somebody else and are the competition!! :grin:
Ha-ha!

Yup, I've been roped in by someone else for (probably) the same event!

Haven't been on Tuesday nights for a while - that's when my cha cha lessons have been taking place...

Kazibaby
10th-September-2008, 06:27 PM
Have a look here - There are some really useful tips.

Oiiii!! Stop helping the opposition or I’ll stand on your toes :naughty:....after we win of course:lol:

rubyred
10th-September-2008, 08:12 PM
Hi Stuart M there are some videos on You Tube which might help, some offer the basic steps to get you going. :nice:Good luck :flower: Cha cha is fun to dance.:clap:

Filthy Monkey
11th-September-2008, 12:22 AM
Oiiii!! Stop helping the opposition or I’ll stand on your toes :naughty:....after we win of course:lol:

Oh, dear God! Karen's on the forum. Is there nowhere left to hide!? :grin:

Lory
11th-September-2008, 08:37 AM
Have a look here Diet On The Dancefloor - Shows - Video - Virgin Media (http://www.livingtv.co.uk/video/shows/diet-on-the-dance-floor-cha-cha.php)

I hope it helps a bit :flower: