. . . So the thing to do now is to turn the girl to the outside for a change under your right hand . . . and then back in again, to play it safe. The right-girl-out, right-girl-in---it might be awkward, on this side, to turn her out and not turn her back in again.
Are we making progress? Is she letting you lead? Remember that the slow-n-smooth swing rhythm-step comes before turning, as it is the foundation for you timing. Sort of like studs in the wall of your house, there's order to a swing song: "one-two, three-four, one-two, three-four, one-two, three-four, one-two, three-four," and you let your upper bodies come "together, apart, together, apart"---and it is a relaxed beat!---you come "together" for, I believe, half-a-measure and go "apart" for half-a-measure, and, because it is a relaxed beat, you count sort of half-time in "one-two, three-four" rather than a fast eight-to-the-bar "one-two-three-four, one-two-three-four." . . . And, for easy turning---and I've said this before,---we don't grab hands, we communicate through hooked fingers: she must have turgid bent fingers if he is to keep her swinging---she can have all the hand lotion on she wants, but her fingers must be bent, and we have little use for thumbs as this is not Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.
Again, your elbows should almost always have some bend to them, for shock-absorption and so you won't jerk your shoulders out; and your right foot should be kept close to your partner's for the best balance and economy of motion---
it is your upper bodies that go "together, apart," not your feet really, as your dancing feet belong to the couple now more than to each individual. And, rather than memorizing every turn, just remember, left or right, guy or girl, in or out-
--this is how you'll be ready for even the more complicated moves to come. What we are after, I hope, is western swing the way it could be done by gentle horsemen in the heart of cow country.
Our next move on the Periodic Chart of Western Swing Moves would be the right-guy-in, but I want to modify this
46 -- Heinsian WESTERN SWING
one just a hair, in order to make it easy and spice it up both.
Instead of having the guy turn inside under his own right hand, I want you to just drop the reins, as it were, and just turn left through your left hand with no hands at all---your right hand can lead the way kind of like throwing a mild right hook. And, for the record, this right-guy-in without-the-hand is just like the left-guy-out would be without-the-hand, as you're going through your left hand instead of under it---the girl will naturally slide her right hand on the back of your belt to let you know where to pick it up again.
As you'll find out, after this modified right-guy-in or left-guy-out, when you pick up the lady's right hand again with your left hand, things will be upside down, so you'll need to do something to get the hand upright again, before she starts leading, like the left-girl-in, the first and probably safest turn we gave you. Time for some music.
. . . Still another easy turn that uses four of the eight possible simple turns is what I call the right-couple-out. You both swing to the guy's right under both his right and left hands, all four arms, taking half again or twice the time it takes to do one simple turn by itself. This right-couple-out combines the right-girl-out and the left-girl-in, two Northern-Hemispheric moves already done, . . . with two Southern-Hemispheric turns, the right-guy-out and the left-guy-in.
These four turns done all together in the right-couple-out . . .
will be our foundation for two of four possible pretzels we'll learn in the future.
So, now we are getting somewhere, as we've done at least seven distinct swing moves so far, probably in less than an hour. It would be possible now to get most people doing our first pretzel, but we're not in any big hurry. Let things soak in a bit, especially the fundamentals---and savor your moves, especially the two cradles so far. It's not necessary for the guy to be dancing with all kinds of women yet, but it would be nice to see him putting the moves in spontaneous order, in order to follow the music and to keep her from anticipating or getting bored.
The Art & Science of Western Swing--I -- 47
foundation four-count swing rhythm-step
"together, apart" with right feet planted forward start of left-girl-in
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start of left-guy-out
left-girl-cradle
The Art & Science of Western Swing--I -- 49
right-girl-cradle
start of right-girl-out
50 -- Heinsian WESTERN SWING
right-guy-in without the hand
start of right-couple-out
The Art & Science of Western Swing--I -- 51
Montana Two-step---I
An important step in our western dance repertoire, I'm proud to say, is the Montana two-step. The Montana two-step is actually known in some circles as the basic two-step; but, because of being labeled "basic," it has become an all-but-forgotten two-step---this is why, in a effort to keep it alive, I am labeling it as Montana's own two-step, as a high percentage of country music wants the basic two-step more than the "bigger-n-better" Texas two-step. For the record, a two-step is called a two-step simply because it has two kinds of steps, namely quick-steps and slow-steps; so there is a difference in the three types of songs involved---let's just say the Texas and Montana and Alternative two-steps differ mainly in the number of slow-steps each has and hence the songs they are danced to. The Montana two-step is a sort of foundation for most of our other dance steps, and this is another factor that makes is so nice and basic.
Listen to some songs perfect for the Montana two-step, and many of them come straight from Texas: "Faded Love"
by Bob Wills, "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind?" and
"All My Exes Live In Texas" by George Strait, or "The Two-Step Is Easy" by Michael Martin Murphy. See the song list in the back.
Kind of a sliding slow-motion polka-step, the Montana two-step is simple. First, without your partner, going on a big counter-clockwise track around the floor, because we are in the Northern Hemisphere, step with me: "quick, quick, slow, . . . quick, quick, slow, . . . ." It doesn't matter much now which foot you start with, because three your leading foot constantly alternates. "Quick, quick, slow, . . . quick, quick, slow, . . . quick, quick, slow, . . . quick, quick, slow, . . .
." On the same big counter-clockwise track, try to go backwards. . . . Similar to but slower than the swing beat you found a while ago, you can count to four in a Montana two-step---the fourth count has no step: "one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, quick, quick, slow, . . . quick, quick,
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slow, . . . ." ---You take your steps on one, two, and three, but not on four---sometimes it is the steps you don't take that really count, just as it is with the words writers don't use, the extraneous moves good riders or skiers don't make.
Now you're ready to do the Montana two-step with your partner. Go in traditional partner fashion: the guy's left hand holding the girl's right, the guy's right hand is at the girl's left side as the girl's left hand sits on the guy's left shoulder. Guys moving forward and girls moving backward, start with either foot as long as it's opposite of your partner's. "Quick, quick, slow, . . . quick, quick, slow, . . . ."
Put the music on. See if they guy can go backward and let the girls go forward once in awhile, to be nice and giver her some variety, but always travel counter-clockwise around the whole floor, and watch out for the other guy---your partner will tug on you to keep you out of trouble, I can almost guarantee it.
We'll wait till the intermediate session before we give you basic swing moves with your Montana two-step.
Slow Dance---I
Almost every dance lesson that's ever been has left good old slow-dancing out of the curriculum, but I want to touch on it briefly to make sure you don't forget how it can fit in.
My whole program has only three foundation steps that we develop or find everything else from: slows, quicks, and triples---it would be a mistake not to mention slow-dancing, as it helps us understand everything else that's fancier and more complicated.
A couple of classic slow-songs: "Marina Del Rey" by George Strait, "Whoever's In New England" by Reba McEntire, and "For the Good Times" and "I Won't Mention It Again" by Ray Price.
Besides slow-dancing to obvious slow-dance songs, I often use it for the first few seconds of a song until I know more of what I want to do; and it can be done in the middle of a song for a few seconds at a time when there is a lull in
The Art & Science of Western Swing--I -- 53
the music. "Slow, . . . slow, . . . slow, . . . slow, . . . ." And you may do it to a big chunk of a fabulous one-step; and you might one-step a little bit to a slow song, as you'll see.
We may even use slow-dance to give people a chance who might have trouble with their first waltz or polka---
what I call the "cheater's waltz" and "cheater's polka."
Fabulous One-step---I
This next dance step I didn't learn until about the fall of
'89, and then once I did learn it, I was reluctant to give it to my students because I wanted to keep it all to myself. You see smooth old men doing this step---that's where I got it from (---I'm talking about old men from the '80s more than now probably). This step I call the fabulous one-step is real ballroomy, and some might call it dirty dancing---I like to call it bar-room dancing. I had to start doing it finally because of those looks on the faces of those girls I saw dancing with those old men; and soon I realized that country music is filled with fabulous one-steps that are all too neglected by the dancers---and this one-step jus may be the carbon atom of western swing.
Some classic one-steps to start your list: "Milk Cow Blues" by Bob Wills or George Strait, "Till Love Comes Again" by Reba McEntire, or "Put Yourself In My Shoes" by Clint Black.
You might want to practice the fabulous one-step at home with the broom when no one's looking for a son or two, like I did, for safety and to build confidence (---I have probably the most confident broom). The one-step is fairly straightforward, but it very well could be the most dangerous step you'll have in your repertoire. Take a broom real close-like, and take a step with every beat: "one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one." For the record again, remember that the Montana two-step and the Texas two-step are called two-steps simply because they have quicks and slows, or two types of steps, in them: what makes a one-step a one-step then is the fact that it has steady and deliberate quick-
54 -- Heinsian WESTERN SWING
steps only: "quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick"---however, we won't do this for the whole song, because that would be too much, as you'll see. A fabulous one-step is slower usually than your average basic two-step; but a one-step is busier than a two-step---a fabulous one-step is a busy slow dance, with high RPMs in low gear. It's no coincidence that you can count to four in a classic one-step: "one, two, three, four, quick, quick, quick, quick, walk, walk, walk, walk." ---This is our relaxed energetic walk, and the disciplined dancer is the one who can refrain from just breaking into a runaway triple-step---as a nervous horse does not mean a spirited horse.
So, mind you, it would be difficult to do the fabulous one-step relentlessly all the way through a whole song.
Most one-step songs start out kind of quiet anyway, so I like to just take my woman and slow-dance for a half-minute or so---"slow, . . . slow, . . . slow, . . . slow, . . . ." ---And then you'll feel it or hear it when the song starts building, and the band wants you to take off with the one-step: Reba will finish the first verse or some other thing, maybe giving you and the steel-guitar player the nod to do your part; . . . "quick, quick, quick, quick"; . . . about the time your woman starts panting a little, Reba needs the stage back, so you ease her back down into a slow dance; maybe later in the song, you and all the instruments and Reba can all take off together.
My dancing is highly subjective and up to each man to interpret what he's hearing, unlike other programs, especially memorized line-dancing. Remember, I am a U.S. Dance Teacher; and, the more you try to dance with disciplined spontaneity, the more clemency you can get.
Now, what makes the one-step such an integral part of western swing is this: it teaches the man to be real deliberate about his leading, it teaches the woman to follow, and the random changes in gaits from slow to quick and from quick to slow teach the man and woman both to be spontaneous.
One-stepping is just plain spruced-up walking to the beat---
be sure you learn it real slow and confident . . . as there are a
The Art & Science of Western Swing--I -- 55
number of ways a guy could get hurt now more than ever: a defensive woman, a jealous boy-friend, your own heart on the mend.
Western Waltz---I
This beat is not really any different from the waltzes you hear in Ballroom Dance---only out here it is westernized, with more tears falling in your beer. And here we keep the foot-work simpler and less politicized The waltz is similar to the fabulous one-step in that you take a step with every beat, like walking, but waltz music is uniquely three-quarter time rather than the more prevalent four-quarter or two-quarter times. ---To me, my ear tells me that "three-quarter"
is a misnomer since you can't even count to four in a waltz, you can only count by threes---I think you have to be able to read man-made sheet music on man-made paper to appreciate why it's called "three-quarter" time, but we don't need to get bogged down in that here---the mandatory four-segmentation, I suspect, is more a graph-paper doings of the music professors than it is the doings of the true artists themselves.
Some fine waltzes: "I Still Believe In Waltzes" by Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty, "Send Me Down To Tucson" by Mel Tillis, "Tennessee Waltz" and "The Last Cheater's Waltz" by Emmylou Harris. I'm surprised no one has ever written a song called "Walt's Waltz." I almost moved to a town one time called Walzenburg, Colorado, because it has a good name for dancing, but I got the impression the locals might have told me, "You can't just waltz in here and start your own dance business!"---hey, that's another country hit: "You Can't Just Waltz In Here."
The waltz foot-work is easy: if you can walk down the street and count to three, you can waltz. Count your steps as you walk: "one, two, three, one, two, three"---the punctuation here should tell you that waltzing has the same exact timing as a walk. But notice you can't count in multiples of four in a waltz; you can only count in multiples of three---it's
56 -- Heinsian WESTERN SWING
as if they took that fourth beat and threw it in the manure pile. The thing that makes a waltz a waltz is that your first step of each three is a big step followed by two little ones:
"big, little, little, big, little, little" ---the weights of the notes in the song will tell you when to take your big, or heavy, step.
In traditional partner position, go ahead and play a waltz---be careful to pick a waltz that's not so fast, say six/eight time, that you need a calculator in order to count to three easy enough, as some waltzes are actually too fast to be a feasible dance song. The Northern Hemisphere again will want you to roll clockwise as you travel around the floor in a counter-clockwise route---your right foot should generally be between your partner's feet, and it might help if she tilts her right shoulder in toward you. . . . If you have any trouble with the waltz's timing, I recommend doing what I call the "cheater's waltz" for a while: just slow-dance with very slow shifts of weight, "left, . . . right, . . . left, . . .
right, . . ."---each one of these slow steps equals a "one, two, three." ---Hey, now I think I might understand where the four comes in: it may come in in how many measures there are in a song, not in the counting within each measure.
Western Polka---I
This beat is pretty much the same as the Scandinavian or German-type polkas you see back in places like Minnesota and Wisconsin---only out here it has more of a western flair to it. The most natural mode of triple-step I know, the polka is good clean fun---and good exercise. The songs you polka to are the same beat as most four-count swing songs . . . only faster. . . . The polka has something of a stigma attached to it: it's the one main beat in country music that makes the snobbish city-folk think of too many plaid shirts and awful shit-kickers---too much polka can give the most elegant sides of country music a bad name. A few rough-n-tough cowboys do abuse the polka, traveling around the floor at breakneck speed, scaring any visiting city-folk, and occa-
The Art & Science of Western Swing--I -- 57
sionally flying into them because of too much centrifugal force and a lack of discipline.
A couple of perfect polkas not unreasonably fast: "Ace In the Hole" by George Strait, "Carolina In the Pines" by Michael Martin Murphy, "Midnight Flyer" by The Eagles, and
"Dance, Little Jean" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. And it should be noted that a whole bunch of your Western TV
shows and classic Western Movies have the magnificent polka-beat: themes of "Bonanza," "Gun Smoke," "The Lone Ranger," "The Rifleman," "Big Country," "Silverado," and probably more.
The polka step is easy: whereas in the basic two-step your feet went "quick, quick, slow, . . . quick, quick, slow, . .
." your feet in the polka go "qui-quick-slow, qui-quick-slow, qui-quick-slow, qui-quick-slow" ---check the punctuation. It's not a step you count really, because you don't have time, it's a step you just do---but I don't recommend using it as a panacea triple-step for those slower songs the big human herd doesn't know what else to do to. . . . In traditional partner position again, play a polka, and travel counter-clockwise around the floor as you roll clockwise as a unit, much like in the waltz.
The polka is kind of funny in that: some people find it too easy, doing it any time they don't know what else to do; .
. . and some people, the thinkers, might find it to be a bit tricky. Again, like the waltz, if you have any trouble, rather than dwelling on problems and creating bad habits, just do what I call the "cheater's polka" for a while: just slow-dance, using one slow step for everyone else's triple-step. You've already been doing something of a polka-step in your swing rhythm-step----the simplest weight-shifting is pretty much at least a "cheater's polka." . . . Back in the Midwest Oktober-fests where they dance their slower polkas to big bands with names like "The Flying Dutchmen," they put a lot of emphasis on vertical movement in their legs, literally "kicking up their heels" way more than they need to; but here, in this program, I emphasize economy-of-motion, traveling around
58 -- Heinsian WESTERN SWING
the floor with quieter feet---and this will give a more of a chance to swing when the song wants us to.
For the people who find the polka too easy, one of my pet peeves is this: the poor folks who don't have enough other steps in their repertoire often do the polka-step to too many non-polka songs; then, when a real polka comes on, it's not that special step anymore---save your triple-step for songs that really warrant it. When a guy gets a female partner with this bad habit, it's hard to teach her the slower steps; if the man is particularly new to the dance floor, she will intimidate him and become a runaway, and she'll probably teach him the same bad habit of running back to the barn. Some of the folks with this runaway bad habit, have it only because they don't see western dance as an art form; there are a few people who only go dancing to get their heart-rate up---I can appreciate that, but you can get your heart-rate up without making a runaway polka out of every song.
Texas Two-step---I
Though it's not the most versatile step to know maybe, given the right music, the Texas two-step is often my favorite step to do around the dance floor, besides the fabulous one-step and the chaparral cha-cha; I like the way it feels, and I like the upbeat tempo we generally get to do it to.
Remember: the Texas two-step is not done to the same music as the basic, or Montana, two-step---a lot of people don't know that; the Texas and Montana two-steps are two different gaits, and they are meant for different songs.
Some of my favorite songs to do the Texas two-step to are: "The Lady Takes the Cowboy" by Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers, "Don't Come Cryin' To Me" by Vince Gill,
"Let's Chase Each Other 'Round the Room Tonight" and "Big City" by Merle Haggard.
Whereas the basic two-step has two quick steps and one slow, the Texas two-step has two quick steps and two slow steps, thus making it a one-sided deal because of the even
The Art & Science of Western Swing--I -- 59
number of feet and even number of steps. First, without your partner, going in a big counter-clockwise track around the floor, step with me: "quick, quick, slow, . . . slow, . . .
quick, quick, slow, . . . slow, . . . quick, quick, slow, . . .
slow, . . ." ---it does matter what foot to start with: girls start with their right foot because we need the man to start with his left, and it will always be this way in the Northern Hemisphere. "Quick, quick, slow, . . . slow, . . . ." On the same big track counter-clockwise, go backwards.
Now you are ready for your easy partner. Go in Texas two-step fashion: her right hand in his left hand, her left hand in the crease of his right elbow as he has his right hand on her left shoulder and neck---you're not too close, so you get a bigger base-of-support than in the lower gaits, for safer travel. It does not matter whether you start with the quicks or the slows, but make sure the guy starts with his left: "slow, . . . slow, . . . quick, quick, slow, . . . slow, . . .
quick, quick, slow, . . . slow . . ."---which came first? the kitchen? or the egg?
(Sometimes you might here us dancers talking about the guy leading with the left, meaning he starts with the left; but I'm not sure I like that term "leading"---when a horse is in a certain lead at the lope, for instance, the leading foot is the last one to touch the ground, not the first. But, in dancing, I do believe that, when we say a guy leads with the left, everyone understands that he starts with the left. Further, I guess maybe the trouble I had is in the horse arena: some famous horse trainers talk about a horse being in a left lead and they will tell you he starts with the left hoof, but that is absolutely false.)
I'm still not totally sure how to explain the difference between Texas and Montana two-step music. But Texas two-steps do tend to be faster; and there is a difference in tone, maybe a difference in attitude. I wish I knew more about measures and two/four versus four/four time, but I can never seem to get a straight answer out of the musicians; but I do believe that, whereas the Montana two-step is al-
60 -- Heinsian WESTERN SWING
ways right on the measure, it takes either one full measure to go one-n-one-half Texas two-steps, . . . or it takes one-n-one-half measures to go one full Texas two-step---this is why the notes seem to be accented