Making the Most of Your Balboa

Introductions

Whether you’re dancing balboa, taking classes, competing or teaching, enriching your dance vocabulary is helpful in inspiring others and preserving the dance art. We look towards sharing that passion with other friends and family within the community.

Beginner Pure Balboa

  • Single time basic (downholds)
  • Double time basic (upholds)
  • Come Arounds
  • Closed to closed
  • Closed to open
  • Open to closed
  • Paddle turn
  • Shuffle step

Beginner Bal-Swing

  • Come around to Lolly Kicks
  • Lolly Kicks
  • Inside turn
  • Outside Turn
  • Basic Exit from Lolly Kicks
  • Out and Ins
  • Come around from Out and Ins to closed
  • Promenade

Note: As a beginner dancer, you are practicing connecting and dancing to a medium tempo song. You might feel like not having a lot of dance moves. Look to different level dancers for inspiration on variations, dance with them and ask them how to do that footwork styling. I encourage you to retake beginner lessons until you feel comfortable enough to progress – this is very normal to do! Follows – Focus on your connection with your partner and build up your sensitivity to the amount of body pressure you’re using to connect with; feel when you are lead backwards, forward and in circles. Leads – Practice doing uphold and downhold basics on your own and then with a partner. Do the first half of the downhold basic and an uphold basic for the second half, then try it with uphold the first half followed by downhold on the second half. Do a series of quick and slow steps and build up your timing to get in and out of these ad-lib steps.

Beg/Int Pure Balboa

  • At least 1 shuffle style
  • Ad – Libs in place, forward, side and back
  • At least 1 basic styling variation
  • Mixing ad-libs and basics
  • Pulse Matching

Beg/Int Bal-Swing

  • Lolly Kicks with Throw-out exit
  • Out and Ins, rotating both directions
  • Crossover breaks
  • At least 1 Lolly and/or Out and In styling
  • Swivel Steps

Note: By now, you’ll feel a little more confident moving around in pure balboa and in bal-swing but maybe a little shaky transitioning between the two. It is easy to cut short on the flow of your movement like Lolly Kicks. Follows – Allow your hips to rotate through to the end of stretches like Lolly Kicks and Throw Outs. Leads – Keep your arms engaged but rotate your hips to create the stretches and compressions of your Lolly Kicks. The Throwout will happen from your hips rotating, resist the urge to push and pull with the left arm. For Out and Ins, use this mantra in your head to slow down your variation: out-Out-in-In. The bolded emphasis is to reach max stretches on the second Out and second In.

Intermediate Pure Balboa

  • Multiple styles of shuffling
  • Dance to phrasing of music in pure balboa
  • Able to dance with different kinds of pulse.
  • Crab-walks and Hangmans
  • Triple Steps
  • Drags and contrabody movement in closed
  • Lead/follow rhythm and weight changes with subtle visible movement
  • Posture, forward and neutral connections

Intermediate Bal-Swing

  • Smooth transitions between pure balboa and bal swing
  • Smooth transitions between bal-swing variations
  • Spin and turn while balanced, maintaining turn speed
  • Comfortable with elbow catches, turns and redirects on both inside and outside turns
  • Maxie’s Swivels and Maxie’s Stop Step
  • Texas Tommey/Apache
  • Few styles or slides in Lollies, Out and Ins and Throw-outs

Note: You’re looking for ways to spice up your dance! Fortunately, you are in the level that instructors have a wealth of knowledge to impart onto you. Build strong habits: revisit your basic steps and connection in front of a video or a mirror. If you’ve learned your ABC’s as a beginner, imagine the difference in clarity with your experience since then. Push yourself to dance to fast songs (above 190bpm) and slow songs (under 150bpm) to both DJ’d music and live music. Leads – Bal-swing variations will look more controlled if you reconnect with your partner earlier. Try placing your right hand on your partner’s back as soon as you see it coming out of a Throwout. Follows – Explore the three P’s: Pulse, Pickup of the feet and Posture. Keep two aspects the same while changing the other to create a new experience.

Int/Adv Pure Balboa

  • Developing a personal style
  • Developing new stylings and variations
  • Smoothly dance without visible pulse and still be rhythmic for entire song
  • Dance with constant, clear pulse for entire song
  • Forward and backward lilt basic, box basic, triple step basic
  • Mixing basic rhythms between up and downhold timing
  • Matching or complementary footwork variations
  • At least one dynamic change of a variation

Int/Adv Bal-Swing

  • Developing a personal style and self awareness learning skills
  • Developing new stylings and variations
  • Smoothly dance without visible pulse and still be rhythmic for entire song
  • Dance with constant, clear pulse for entire song
  • Has started to create new moves or styling
  • Can do a full spin on one foot in either direction and mix it in smoothly
  • Maxie’s Slide
  • Multiple turns

Advanced Pure Balboa

  • Demonstrate musicality and phrasing at 120 – 150 bpm
  • Maxie’s triples
  • Mix triples into the basic at different times
  • Add syncopations without any undesired effect on upper body flow
  • Can lead or follow drags with various hesitations and speed-ups
  • Follow-only crosses in closed (can lead or follow)
  • Ability to be musical with individual footwork stylings on demand
  • Multiple shuffling styles and ability to variate between them while dancing
  • Can easily add texture and shuffle variation to all pure balboa variations
  • Pivot steps in both directions
  • Incorporating Laminu/Slow balboa
  • Comfortably compensate movement, flow, or variations with different skill levels of dancers

Advanced Bal-Swing

  • Ability to demonstrate musicality and phrasing at 120 – 150 bpm
  • Double and triple turns with flow, finesse and balance
  • Lead and follow turns at different rotational speeds
  • Multiple turns while adding texture and styling
  • Dynamic changes in flow during Out and Ins and redirects
  • Ability to use counter-body movement appropriately in Out and Ins, throw outs and other movements
  • Leads – Leading follows to hit musical breaks and accents
  • Follows – Initiates breaks and accents without disrupting flow
  • Two to four stylings or syncopations easily accessible in Bal-swing basics
  • Hal’s Roll and the Flying Hal
  • Comfortably compensate movement, flow, or variations with different skill levels of dancers

Note: This list is inspired by champion instructors Jeremy Otth and Laura Keat and have been modified to be used as a gauge for class auditions on the local and national dance circuit.

Back to Top