BL545

Bolero Clinic                              Clinic Page: BL545

RIFF TURNS

DETAILED DISCUSSION
Riff Turns, phase 5

Riff Turns are easy for the man but difficult for the lady. The man simply does two side closes while holding up his left hand. The lady also has only four steps but the first and third require nearly a full toe spin without losing balance. There are two full turns in the figure “Riff Turn”. The lady steps side and forward with the right and spins a full turn, then closes with her left, then does it again (i.e. side and forward with right spinning a full turn, then closing with left). As in most underarm type of turns, the man must not hold the lady’s lead hand tightly or it will impede her spin. Instead the man should “cup” his hand to allow the lady’s hand to rotate freely while still maintaining contact. One thing the lady can do to make the spin easier is to turn ¼ right face as she takes her “side step” making it more forward than side. Doing this means that the lady only has to spin ¾ right face instead of a full turn. The lady needs to remember that in any spin, the way to keep balance is to keep the head, shoulders, body, and hips all in a line directly over the spinning foot. If you lean off this alignment, you will lose balance. Another tip for the lady is to only take a small step side (and/or forward) to do the spin. When you take a large step, you have to compensate for and stop the movement when you do the spin making it more difficult. Less movement means less difficulty because there is less momentum to throw you off balance. One last tip for the lady is that she should almost immediately bring her free left foot close beside the right foot that she is spinning on. Not only does having the left foot close help with balance (having the left foot away from the body tends to pull you off balance in that direction) but also helps place it correctly when you close on the second and fourth steps of the Riff Turns.