PATTERNS AND ROUTINES FOR AMERICAN RUMBA copyright Jonathan Tyrone Rowell, 2003 Timing: 32-36 mpm Notes: 1) American Rumba has two acceptable rhythms: QQS (1 2 3-4) and SQQ (1-2 3 4). This has no effect on the acutal timing (S,Q, &) of any figure's individual steps. 2) The Rhythm QQS is assumed throughout this document. 3) Rumba patterns occur in two main groups: Box and Slot. Bronze 1) Box Basic - as the Left Box in Smooth. Starting LF free, side-together-fwd, side-together back (opposite for woman). No rotation or up to 1/4L per measure. 2) Box with UAT R - Perform a Box Basic, lifting L2R hold on last step. Woman will take six steps fwd, turning R under the arms making approximately 3/4 of a turn (Big wide circle better than small and tight). Man dances another box, turning 1/4L to face partner. 3) Cross Body Lead - man opens from his partner on the Basic, stepping side-replace-together/fwd, and then 4-6 of the Box. Woman will walk fwd across man's line at right angle and pivot to end RF back. Pivoting may occur stylistically at different moments of the Cross Body Lead. Hold is maintained throughout. 4) Fwd and Back Rocks - after 1-3 of Box, fwd-replace-replace, fwd replace-replace and end side-together-back. Back Rocks occur after 4-6 of Box. 5) Progressive Walks - after 1-3 of Box (or when in Open Position) walk six steps fwd (back for woman) and end with 4-6 of Box. Alternatively, may be taken backwards after 4-6 of Box. 6) Side Steps - may be taken either to L or R and initiated with either foot. Side steps to R started with RF often a transition between Box and slot rumba. 6b) Side Step with turn L - after Cross Body Lead or Box Basic, you may spin turn woman L as you initiate a Side Step to the R. 7) Fwd and Back Breaks - aka Bolero breaks. The pattern look is identical to the International Rumba Basic and should be avoid when possible so as not to give the impression that you don't know your style differences. Substitute the Open Break for the Fwd Break. 8) Side Breaks - aka Cucarachas. As per the international move 9) Outside Breaks Fwd/Back - as the American Cha Cha Outside/Parallel Breaks. May be done in Closed Position or Double Hold 10) Prom Breaks - aka 5th Position Breaks or Hand to Hand. As per American Cha Cha. 10b) Prom Finish - a transition from slot to Box rumba. Do a 5th Break with LF (RF lady), and lead woman across your line and turn her to face, then step fwd. finish with 4-6 of Box. 10c) Slip 5th - an advanced Prom Finish, man will do a Slip Pivot to turn the woman more (1/2L overall rotation of couple). LF back in 5th position, RF back toe to left insole then pivot. End LF fwd. 11) Open Break - Guy rocks back with LF, Lady back with RF. Couple separates with only L2R hold. Finish with a side step. 12) Tap Transition - transition from slot to Box rumba. Useful only as a training method, in my opinion. After dance something in slot that ended in RF side (4). Tap LF (RF for lady) on 1 without weight. Continue with a Box figure. 13) Cross Over Breaks - aka New York(er). as American Cha Cha 14) UAT - as American Cha Cha. May turn follower to R or L. 14b) UAT RLR - Amalgamation in Cha Cha that is acceptable in Rumba. Series of three underarm turns. Personal variation is to do this with a double hold, wrapping the follower into hammerlock position on the first turn. 15) Switch Turns - may be done to either L or R as American Cha Cha. 16) Left Side Pass - as with American Cha Cha. The cross body action is "slot" style rather than the "box-style" figure above. May be done with a spin (silver at some comps) 17) Half-moon - as in American Cha Cha. May be done with spin (sometimes silver) 17b) "J-Turns" - a variant of Half-moon that I've come up with. with a double handshake hold with R2R over L2L: NY to LSP, UAT R (thereby switching order of hands), half-moon with spin (switching hand order again) 18) Right Side Pass - as in Bolero/Cha cha. Open Break to turn woman L as she passes by man. Guy walks goes fwd turning to R and ending with RF side. 19) Cuban Walks - in open LSP, man walks backwards and lady fwd. Joined hands (L2R) should stay relatively in place as the couple rotates about the axis through them. End after a Left foot slow step (side) by J-hooking the joined hands to pivot follower to her R. Man walks back or in place while woman comes forward on the next measure. Continue with a Box. Alternative version is for man to wait on his LF, slow shifting to RF, as woman comes forward. He reverse combs her R arm over his head. 19b) Cross Body Lead to Cuban Walks - Perform 1-3 of Cross Body Lead but release follower with the R hand before her pivot and take 3 fwd. Man dances 4-6 of Box then into Cuban Walks. Woman steps as she normally would in a Cross Body Lead. 19c) Duck Out to Cuban Walks - from the slot, perform an UAT R on 1 2. After lady has turned, man turns himself under the arms to end in open LSP. Continue with Cuban Walks. 20) Back Spot Turn - aka Natural Top, Performed after an Open Break for 1 or three measures. 22) Fwd and Back Spot Turns - the Fwd Spot Turn is aka Reverse Top. This amalgamation routine is initiated with 1-3 of the Cross Body Lead. The Reverse Top is done 3 measures, then open break, then Back Spot Turn for 1 measure. Reverse Tops are generally considered Silver, but there is wiggle room in Bronze American Rumba and Mambo if you stick to this amalgamation. 23) 2-way UAT - In and Out, and Stop and Go. 24) Parallel (shadow) breaks - as Cha Cha and Mambo, may be ended with Spiral 25) Promenade Walks - after 5th breaks, 2 measures - Progressive Walks in PP 26) Reverse UAT from Open Break - ?? Possibly another name for Right Side Pass 27) Cross Body to Outside Breaks - amalgamation that takes the Cross Body Lead and turns in a little more such that the man will RF break fwd outside his partner. Continue with additional Outside Breaks. 28. Outside Break Finish - the easiest of the transitions back to Box rumba, many leads an Outside Break with his RF fwd OP. Instead of turning after the break, he steps RF back and slightly side to square up with woman. continue with Box figure. 29) Paseo - as with Cha Cha. After a Cross Over to LSP, couple steps through then side then back. They then side check and step back through in the opposite direction from which they had been travelling. Man walks three steps, turning woman to her R on the first two (Sinead turns). 30) Open Box - I've seen this one done alot in Bronze Competition, particularly by NYU, but I've never seen it written down anywhere. Basically, you are doing the basic box with rotation to the left, but with continuity styling (see Smooth dances - e.g. Waltz Open Left Box). 31) UAT R to Advanced Hip Twist - Mambo variation that used to be acceptable in Bronze, might not be now though. Similar to doing the Advanced Hip Twist in Int. Rumba, but ended with a Scallop turn rather than Fan. 32) wrap around - possibly Rumba's Cuddle/Sweetheart. 33) Picture Window - ?? 34) Open Flourishes - ?? Routines Master of Bronze Syllabus Routine (78m) Box, Cross Body Lead, 103 Box, Prog Walks Fwd, R Side Step, Open Bk, UAT RLR, Right Side Pass, Cross Over LR, NY L to Paseo, Slip 5th, 4-6 Box, Box, Box with UAT to Prog Walks Back, Side Breaks LR, Box, Cross Body Lead to Fwd and Back Spot Turns, 5th Breaks RL, Stop and Go, Open Break, Switch LRL, Open Break, UAT R and hand change, half-moon, NY L, UAT R to double shake, "J-turns", Shadow Breaks (RLR), UAT R with hand change, Outside Breaks LRL, Outside Break Finish, Box, Cross Body Lead to Cuban Walks, 1-3 Box, Fwd Rocks, 4-6 Box, Back Rocks 1. (2m) Box 2. (6m) Box, Box with Turn, Box 3. (6m) Box, Cross Body Lead, Box with Turn 4. (6m) Box, Box with Turn, Cross Body Lead 5. (10m) Box, 1-3 Box, Rumba Rocks Fwd, 4-6 Box, Box, Rumba Rocks Back 6. (10m) Box, 1-3 Box, Prog Walks Fwd, 4-6 Box, Box, Prog Walks Back 7. (8m) Box, Box with Turn to Progressive Walks Back, Box 8. (8m) Box, Cross Body Lead to Cuban Walks, Box 9. (4m) 1-3 Box, R Side Step, Open Break, UAT R and Tap Transition 10. (6m) 1-3 Box, R Side Step, Open Break, UAT RLR and Tap Transition 11. (8m) Box, Cross Body Lead to Side Step, NY LRL, UAT R and Tap 12. (8m) Box, Cross Body to Outside Breaks (RLRL), Outside Break Finish 13. (12m) 1-3 Box, R Side Step with turn, Butterfly L, Butterfly R, Prom Break RL, Prom Finish and 4-6 Box 14. (12m) Box, Cross Body Lead to Side Step with Turn, Open Break, UAT R, NY L to Paseo, Slip 5th break and 4-6 Box 15. (12m) 1-3 Box, side Step, NY L, Switch LRL, 5th Break RL, Outside Break LRL, Outside Break Finish 16. (10m) Box, Cross Body Lead to Side Step, Open Break, Back Spot Turn (3), slip 5th and 4-6 Box 17. (10m) Box, Cross Body Lead to Fwd and Back Spot Turns, 5th Finish, 4-6 Box 18. (14m) 1-3 Box, Side Step, Left Side Pass x3, Right side Pass, Open Break, UAT R, 5th Finish and 4-6 Box 19. (14m) 1-3 Box, Side Step, NY L, UAT R with hand switch, half-moons x3, NY L, UAT R with hand change, 5th finish and 4-6 Box 20. (20m) 1-3 Box, Side Steps, NY L, UAT R to double shake, "J-turns" x3, NY L, UAT R with hand change, 5th finish and 4-6 Box 21. (14m) 1-3 Box, Side Step, NY L to Paseo, 5th Break, UAT R, NY L, UAT R w/ duck out to Cuban Walks 22. (10m) Box, Prog Walk Back, Side Breaks LRLR, 5th Finish, 4-6 Box 23. (12m) 1-3 Box, Side Step, NY LR, 5th Break to Promenade Walks, Switch L, Side Break LR, Box 24. (14m) 1-3 Box, Side Step, Stop and Go x2, Open Break, UAT R, Left Side Pass, NY LR, slip 5th and 4-6 Box 25. (44m) Left Side Pass with hand change, half-moon x2, half-moon with spin and hand change, NY L to Paseo, 5th Break, UAT R, NY L, UAT R with duck out and Cuban Walks, Box, Cross Body Lead to Fwd and Back Spot Turns, slip 5th, 4-6 Box, Box with UAT to Progressive Walks Back, 1-3 Box, Side Step with Turn, NY L, Switch LR, UAT R, NY L, UAT RLR 26. (30m) Box, Cross Body to Fwd and Back Spot Turns, 5th finish, side step, NY to Paseo, 5th finish, 4-6 Box, Box, Cross Body to Side Step, Open Break, UAT R, half-moon x2, Outside Break L, Outside Finish 27. (30m) Box, Cross Body Lead to Cuban Walks to Box Turn, Cross Body to Fwd and Back Spot Turns, 5th finish, Side, NY to Paseo, Switch R, UAT R w/hand change, Half-moon x2 to shadow position with foot change, Shadow Breaks x3, Outside Break Finish Silver 1) Cuban Walk with Cross Over - ?? 2) Cross Over - ?? 3) Rhythm Changes A, B, C - ?? 4) Roll Away - ?? possibly a Rolling off the Arm type move 5) Wraparound - possibly bronze 6) Snap Turn - ?? 7) Cuban Walk with Underarm Turns - ?? 8) Counter Promenade Chasse - ?? 9) Shadow Breaks - Silver variation? 10) Back to Back- as the swing move 11) Side Pass - possible Shag's Passby 12) Fwd Spot Turn - Reverse Top. No restrictions on its use here. 13) Side by Side Progressive Walks- no restrictions on its use. 14) Side by Side to Rocks- ?? 15) Back Spot with UAT R/L- standard Silver upgrade on the Back Spot Turn. 16) back spot to spiral turn- another variation - Rope Spinning 17) Free Turns with Breaks- ?? 18) Fencing Line/Chair - Do a cross over break to RSP keeping L2R hold. If other hand free or in a R2L hold pointing away from the break it is Fencing or Fencing Line (think en garde!). If a closed/PP hold is kept, it is called a Chair. 19) Promenade and Fallaway Swivel - After 5th break to RSP, swivel to and from partner as you travel in PP (like Jive Walks). Steps are Through and Together. Finish with NY to RSP or Switch Turn L or UAT R. May be done "backwards" in Fallaway position (same body orientation, but travel is opposite direction). Steps would be Whisk and Together. 20) "Swish-Swish" - forgot this one. (Ask Brian - he remembers) 21) Spinning Paseo - advanced version where man also does a free spin. "Gold" Open Right Spiral Syncopated Breaks Fans and Turning Rocks Double Snap Turn Alternate Wraps Picture Window and Wheel Cuddle and Checks Points and Swivels Tornillo and Sway Sling Shot