
Merengue Tutorials
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Subroutine
Libraries: Expansion Pack
Your
subroutine library should already be populated with several examples
drawn from the Extras section of the previous tutorial, but here are
a few more to keep you out of mischief.
Please
Note: The sequence descriptions are in outline form to encourage
you to exercise your own interpretation of the pattern. Areas of uncertainty
in the sequences often give rise to the most interesting variations.
Although they are not inherently harmful, please practice these sequences
slowly and with safety foremost in your minds.
Subroutine
1
This was the first subroutine I learned, and I still use variations
of it today. It's gotten me out of choreography jams more times than
I can count. The partners perform an orbit, clockwise throughout.
- Sequence
1 consisting of Permutations 2.6 and 3.3 in alternation. You may begin
with either permutation, but should end with Permutation 2.6
- Neutral
turn for Lead anti-clockwise, handhold at waist-level (Simple Combinations:
Core, Permutation 3.2)
- Lead's
breakthrough
- HALO
turn for Followers, anti-clockwise
Variations
During stage 1, the Lead's breakthrough in Permutation 3.3 can be delayed.
The partnership can be led to continue the clockwise orbit, Follower
walking forwards, Leads walking backwards while the Lead remains in
the cuddlehold. The subroutine can resume after a Lead's breakthrough.
After
stage 3, a simple hand change: Follower's right hand, Lead's left to
right, at waist level can be introduced (Stage 4 of Freestyle Sequence,
Combination Analysis: Case Study).
Subroutine
2
This one's a nice one to do when there's a lot of space and time to
fill. It's not fun in cramped conditions and manic merengues. Set up
with two-handed parallel hold. Clockwise orbit throughout.
- HALO
turn for Followers clockwise, Follower's right in Lead's left hand
at overhead-level, Follower's left in Lead's right hand at waist-level
(refer to Leading the waist-level HALO turn for Followers, Simple
Combinations: Extras) omitting the recovery.
- Maintain
the orbit, clockwise with Lead's right hand still on Follower's lower
back.
- Lead
releases the right handhold (on Follower's back), simultaneously beginning
a HALO turn for Leads, clockwise, with the left hand which is still
at overhead-level.
- HALO
turn for Followers anti-clockwise
Subroutine
3
Leads: a good routine to check out what's happening behind you, and
to protect against incursions from your left. Clockwise orbit throughout.
- Follower's
right in Lead's left, waist-level handhold, Neutral turn for Leads,
anticlockwise (see Further Practices, Neutral Turns For Leads: Extras)
- Hand
change Follower's right, from Lead's left to right hand; midway through
the above turn
- HALO
turn for Followers, anti-clockwise
- Right
handed loop over Lead (single handed variant of 2. Double-handed loop,
hands crossed left over right in Simple Hand Changes: Extras)
- Maintain
clockwise orbit, Follower walking forwards, Leads walking backwards.
Lead's left arm bar across Follower's lower back, Follower's right
arm bar across Lead's lower back
- Lead
becomes static while the Follower continues orbit
- Follower
is led to reorient toward the Lead as the former swings around in
front of the latter
Subroutine
4
With the flexibility in timing in the middle stages, this is a handy
one to use if you needed to cross phrases.
- Anti-clockwise
orbit for Lead, Follower on the spot. HALO turn for Followers clockwise,
Follower's right in Lead's left hand at overhead-level, Follower's
left in Lead's right hand at waist-level omitting the recovery
- Clockwise
orbit for Lead, Follower on the spot. Recovery of the above turn leading
at waist-level. Keep the Follower's right in Lead's left handhold
at overhead level (see Leading the waist-level HALO turn for
Followers, Simple Combinations: Extras)
- Clockwise
orbit for Lead, Follower on the spot. Permutation 2.6 into cuddlehold,
without Followers breakthrough
- Your
choice of recovery
Variation
Stages 2 and 3 can be performed as a continuous flow, and at twice the
speed to form a Follower's double turn. Remember that the lead signal
is at waist-level for stage 2 and at over-head level for stage 3.
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