Transcripts
1. Intro to Cha Cha: Hello, I'm Daniel,
and I'm so excited that you chose my course
to learn the cha-cha off. I've been doing ballroom
dance for 15 years. So being in a studio like this
goes right at home to me. When I started in middle school, char, char was the first
dance that I learned. And it has been my
favorite ever since. The church I originated in the 1950s as a natural
outgrowth of the Cuban mambo. It's become the most
popular Latin dance in the United States. And the secret to the
cha-cha successes. It's infectious rhythm,
which is slow and staccato, much like sensational,
whose number, this rhythm encourages
the dancers to inject their own feeling
into been dancing and let their personality
shine through the chat jazz, dance to music retina
for, for speed. In the course, we'll go
through several steps. We'll start with the basic. After the basic step, we'll learn about crossover
breaks with a walk around turn will end the
butterfly step, the chase parallel breaks across body lead and end
with the sweetheart. With all of these
steps will learn some fun variations as well. You'll be learning both
the lead and follow parts. So no matter who your partner is or if you're doing
it on your own, you'll be able to confidently
dance cha-cha steps. The class project will involve your dancing and
cha-cha demonstrating the steps we learned
in the course as either the lead or
the follow-up or both. This is the first Skillshare
course that I've taught. I'm excited for us
to learn together.
2. Basic Step: Starting off, here's a
demonstration of a cha-cha basic. I'm leading and my
partner is named Corinne. But we'll take turns
leading and following. Stepping forward with
their left foot, they'll replace back
with their right, then goes side together, side back with the
right or to the left and side together side
forward with the left, back with the right
and side together, side back with the right, forward with the left
and char, char, char. Now we'll see it follows part. Follow, goes back,
right and forward, left and char, char, char, forward, left and
right and char, char, char. So you can see they mirror each other with
that side together, side forward, left, and back, and side together,
side together. Here's bleed following
back and char, char, char c, they
mirror each other. And Cha, Cha, Cha,
Cha, Cha, Cha. Now, I'll lead forward
and side together, side, back and side together, side forward and side together, side, back and side
together side. There's another angle forward
and side together, side, back and side together, side forward and side together, side by side together side. Notice how it's important
that our feet stay turned out and that we step never on a
He'll lead in the cha-cha. Now this variation is what we
call the progressive basic. So as you can see, I'm leading. I'm going to step forward with my left foot
like I normally do. But then instead of going
side together side I pass my feet and go back with the right and pass my feet and I
watch Korean do it. She goes back with the right, four with the left
passes her feet, and forward with the left, back with the right
passes her feet. She has always got a
great smile back forward. Pass the feet. So as you're progressing
across the floor, passing the feet every
time, watch that. Together. Forward and back, back, back, back and Ford, Ford, ford follow, goes back
and forward, forward, forward follow good of
sport and back, back, back.
3. Crossover Breaks with Walk-Around Turn: Okay guys, moving
on with our class. We're going to
show you how to do the crossover breaks with a walk round turn and
continuous walk around turn variations
at the end. Karen and I are demonstrating
the full step here. Starting with the fall apart. They're going to
step forward with their right foot onto and then go side
together, side ending. They do a walk round term. So it's like they're
a basic where they're stepping forward
with that right foot, but they're coming through their partner side
together side, then walking around,
doing a full turn. It's really fun.
Here's the leads part. Bleed is going to
step forward with our left foot and side together side I shuffled
there but you get the idea side
together side here. I do it again. Forward, right? And side together side. I stepped through,
do a full turn face. But my partner again, forward and side together, side forward and
side together side. Now I'm going to turn to
the side here to show you how to lead and then
out of crossover breaks, I stepped forward and
as I come to the side, I bring my hand down. That lets the follow know that there we are going to move
into crossover breaks, a step forward and back, right? And Shaw, Shaw, shy, you see that lead back. And then we can go into crossover breaks now
for coming out of it. So we go out and I grabbed
her with an alligator hand. If you can kinda see, my hand is wrapped around
The follows left hand. Kinda like that. And then I push her away
to give her a full turn. Cha Cha Cha. Here's Karen doing that. She goes alligator hands
and we turn around. Cha Cha Chao one more time. Back and alligator hands forward and alligator hand the pausing you won't
do in real-time, but it's just helpful to see how that we hit that
window moment before we go into the walk-around term window and turn
shot shot again, you could do a basic after that. So let me show you the whole
crossover breaks section. I go forward and we're doing a basic but then I
switch to the hand. Now she knows to go forward and Cha Cha Cha forward again. And Cha, Cha, Cha,
last one here. We're going to walk around, turn around, face each other. Now back. I go forward, left. It looks like a basic till
then move their hand down. She goes forward and Cha
Cha Cha one more time. And Cha Cha, Cha dum. Cha Cha Cha, walk around,
Char, Char, Char. Now here's a variation where you can continuously
walk around turns. So if you really like
these three sixties, you can just do them
over and over each time. I'm going through and giving her that lead to walk around. And here's chlorine, ethylene. She's giving me those
alligator hands were walking around
over and over. And when we're done, she
just puts up her friend.
4. Butterfly: This is a step called
the butterfly, and it builds off of
the progressive breaks that we learned last time. The lead is going to step
forward with their left foot, back, side together side. It's like we're going
into a crossover break and side together side we both open up and then we give each
other a high five. That's the lead that the
follow will receive to know that it's a butterfly
instead of a crossover break. Watching that one more time. Basic and chop, chop, chop for lead and shot, shot, shot forward. Hi five freeze. So now we're going to step back. So the lead steps back with their right foot and follow
with their left foot. Cha Cha Cha, opening
up with a big smile. One last opening up and
shot alligator hand. Walk around, turn,
and that's good. Moving on. Let's see that from
another perspective. Here's Karen leading
and Cha Cha Cha back and Cha Cha Cha forward,
high-five, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, forward, high-five, chop, chop,
chop, chop, chop, chop. Showing you a side view. You can see that
high-five actions. So lowering my hand like we
would for a crossover break, what's on there that high-five. Back and high-five for and alligator hand walk
around, chomp, chomp, chomp. One more with Karen
leaning forward and chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop. She gives me a high-five. She goes back and five, we end. Here's the full
butterfly at speed. Forward back, Cha
Cha child lower. Cha Cha Cha forward and Cha
Cha Cha same direction. And Cha Cha Cha forward and Cha Cha, Cha turnaround,
chop, chop, chop. Okay, Here's an
advanced variation of the butterfly with
three cha-cha us. So we start off
with the first half of the basic, lowering the hand. Like we were going
into a butterfly. We open up once. High-five Cha, Cha, Cha. Now here, watch the feet. Go back and chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop,
chop, chop, chop. So that's three cha-cha
Charles in a row. And we open up like it's the last one to end
with a walk around, turn. Char, char, char. We'll watch Karen do
that one more time. I bleed. So she goes forward
and chomp, chomp, chomp, back and
shot, shot, shot. We both open up and high-five. Now she's going to
give me a little push to know that I need
to keep going. Locked behind their
side together side forward and
side together side, I'll walk around, turn. That's the variation.
And it's really fun.
5. Chase: The chase is kind of
a variation on the progressive basic that we
covered in the first lesson. Notice Karina and I are
demonstrating it here. The false step. We get to be a little Latin knee with our arms since we
don't have connection. So that's pretty fun. Starting
off showing you the lead. Notice how I stepped forward and back like I'm doing
now, progressive basic. And then I go back. I'm going to push her
away with my left hand. And then she knows that
we're starting to chase. We can show that one more time. I'm going to switch places and current is
going to be the lead. Will step forward, back, progressive, basic,
then back forward. She pushes me away. That's how the chase
starts and then we're gonna chase each other
across the floor. Here's the good side
view of the Chase. I go forward, backside, backside, back and
forward, pressure away. One more time. Karina's the lead. She goes forward and back, back, back, back and for, for, for pushing me away. Then we start the chase
forward and back, back, back, back, forward. I push her away. Now we chase each other, facing each other across. And every time we're
doing that Cha, Cha, Cha, but we're just
passing your feet. Now you might be wondering, how will I get out of this step? Well, whenever you
want to be done, just have that lead
lift up their hand. And you can go back into
a progressive basic, and then into a normal basic, back and side together side
and then into whatever. Now with me as the
follow back and forward, forward, forward, forward
and back, back, back, back and forward, forward, forward, forward and back, back, back, back and forward, forward, forward, forward, and
we go back to frame. Here's the variation that
you might like to watch. So we start with the progressive basic back and we
start the chase. Now watch, I did a full
term and so does Corinne. So every time we turn around, we're doing a full turn
square facing away from each other instead of
towards each other. And we want to end it. We just take that frame again, is currently leading forward
and chop, chop, chop. She turns and shot, shot, shot. I turn full shot shot, shot. Here it's really a chase. Like you're chasing
your ex girlfriend or boyfriend or whatever.
6. Parallel Breaks: Now with this one, the lead will start
with the first half of a basic chart charge back. And now he'll hook in
front of the follow. The follow is always
hooking their leg behind. Here, Corinne hooks
her right leg behind. And then to end, we do an under arm turn
and back to a basic. Now here we'll watch it
again with Karina's to lead. So she steps forward and the
first half of the basic, the frame doesn't change. But she hooks in front
and goes bang and shot, shot, shot, I hook behind. And Cha, Cha, Cha. Now watch closely. Krenz
is going to step back, which is breaking the pattern. But that's the lead. I have to step under the arm. Once again, focusing
on that arm, lead out of it. Char, char, char, notice I lift the hand and I hook behind shot, shot, shot forward
and Cha Cha Cha rows. So I lift the arm for her to step through
as I hook behind Cha Cha Cha Forward and Cha
Cha Cha, one last time. She goes under the arm
and char, char, char. Here's the full
step, twice more. With Karina's lead. She hooks in front forward
and Cha Cha Cha forward. And Cha Cha Cha forward and
cha-cha, she lifts the arm. I go under Cha Cha Cha with
me if the lead, I go forward. And the first half of a
basic facts and Chas, Cha, Cha, Cha, Cha, Cha behind and shouts out
your cheeks behind. And then I go behind as I lift the arm to
send her through. And that's the
7. Cross-Body lead: Cross body lead, starting
with the basic forward, back side together side, follow, goes forward and back
side together side. Now the leg goes
forward, immediately, turns 90 degrees to the
left side together side, then hook and stepped
forward and pass the feet. The follow goes back and
forward and side together. Side, cross in front and
side and back, back, back. I am the lead. I lead Karina cross my body. So here we do a basic
forward and side together, side back and forward, forward, forward and side together, side hook to get her out of her way so she
can come across. Here. It is again, forward
and side together, side, hook and side
together side. The fall goes back
and side together, side for the cross. I do. Back, back, back, back
and side together, side forward across
back, back, back, back and side together, side forward across
backpack back. Here's me as a fall. Again. Notice how I cross her body. That's why we call it
a cross body lead. Now here's a fun variation. I'm going to take grin and I'm gonna do a
cross body lead, but I'm going to switch us
to write to write handhold. So like a handshake that allows me when I
hook and polar by, allows her to do a full turn and then show off her bright
smile to the audience. Or whoever you're dancing for. See how we check together. So the follower has
to do a full term, whip their hair back around
for check and side together, side forward, whip it around. So that's the last one. So I raised my hand to end it. Here equals speed. Cha Cha, Cha, dum. Cha Cha Cha. Follow,
goes to Cha, Cha, Cha. So the lead doesn't change
their their part at all. That's a follow,
just has to do doing the extra half turn
for this variation. You don't have to
do the variation. You can just do stick to
a normal cross body lead. Here's me doing
it as the follow. I go full turn. Cha, Cha Cha, side
together side, full turn, Char, Char, Char. Side together side, full turn. Cha Cha Cha Lun current
wants to end it. She'll just take my hand and
place it into her left hand. Here it is again,
Ford and Cha Cha Cha. And turn Cha, Cha Cha. So you can style
it with that arm. See how she does a pretty online that can
look really nice. Cha Cha, Cha, Cha, Cha Cha. I want to end it. So I
put her hand in mind. Me one more time. Cha, Cha, Cha. I don't do pretty
arms like Karin, but I can get some styling and now you can have
your hand on your, on your waist like I do. But that nice sharp turn
really gets, good luck. Here's one more time
with me is the follow. Cha, Cha, Cha. This time I do like a
chicken wing almost. That can be kinda fun. Right there you saw
the chicken wing and see how she placed
her hand on my back. That helps give
that follows them.
8. Sweetheart: The Sweetheart. Now I slow the video
down a lot so that we can get the detail on
the following currents. The leader. We start with the first
half of the basic, like we have on so many steps. Chlorines going to put
my right hand into her right hand For a right
to write handshake hold. Now we're both going to step
back knee with my right, her with her left. Now she turns me and
creates a window that we can look through each
other as we go step back me with my left,
her with her right. And then we go to
side together side. We look through the window menu, you stepping back
with my right or with her left side together? Side again. The lead steps back
with their right and right, left. Right. And then the follow me
snaps back with my left, right, Sorry, side
together side. And the last one,
we've both step back. Korean places that shoulder
on that hand on my shoulder. That signals to me that
we're just going to cross our feet forward. Check again, cross
our feet back. One last check back. For 2.3. Char, char, char. We're back to frame. Now we'll play that a little faster so it might
be a little clearer. But I wanted you to
be able to watch that in slow. Mom did. Cha Cha, Cha. We both hooked back with
our right in that right to the right hand hold to
start this, sweetheart. See how we're hitting
these window positions. On the last one, we go back and then we shuffle
forward, back, shuffled back. And I'd bring her back to frame. Here's Karina's the fall again. Cha Cha Cha. We freeze. That's that
rights. Right hand hold. We can freeze it and look
through the window. The window. Cha Cha Cha. Back and last one, pass the feet forward
and back, back, back and back to frame. Here it is again, 4D and Cha, Cha Cha, back and Cha, Cha Cha, right to write back
and Cha Cha Cha through the window
and Cha Cha Cha window and Cha Cha Cha window China and
Cha Cha Cha window. Back and pass the feet
forward and back, back, back, back and
back. Two frames.
9. Class Project: Okay, We've made it
to the final project. Now for your final project, I just want you to dance. Throughout this course,
you've learned many steps. You've learned the
basic crossover break, parallel breaks, sweetheart,
cross body lead, current and I are demonstrating some lead and follow right now. You just saw the continuous
walk around turns. And between every step. I like to throw in a
basic because it helps ground us and
honestly as bellied, you kinda have to think, well, what do I wanna do next? So for your final project, I want you to upload
a video of you dancing as either the lead
or the follow or both. And you can do this with or
without, without a partner. You don't need a partner
to enjoy ballroom dance. But I want you to upload it
to the class discussions. If you feel comfortable and just show us the
moves you've learned. You've see Krenz got those choo-choo train
arms with the Chase. Growing your own styling, throwing your own hip
action, make it Latin. A few tips to remember. As far as technique goes, is never stepping onto a
He'll lead always stepping onto IT TO also keeping
your feet turned out. Your feet never turn in. And then also never
parallel and cha-cha out. Keep them around 10.2
if you picture it like, like driving or
o'clock, of course. Finally, as you can
tell this song, we always stepped forward
so that 23 Cha Cha Chao, a common mistake is to
step forward on one. So make sure you're stepping
forward on the two. We're ending here
with that sweetheart. It's great to have a smile. Dancing with partners. Always so fun. And I'm really excited to see your
final projects. Thanks guys.
Daniel Riddle
