In this International Style Rumba Technique lesson you will learn the “Flicking” technique used in most Rumba steps. Flicking is essential to improving your dancing if you want to develop better musicality in your dancing. I t will also develop quicker and sharper leg action.
Dance: Rumba (International Style)
Lesson: The Flicking Technique
Level: All Levels
[Transcript]
Are you ready to flick? Let’s get started.
Hello! Lean here from Passion4dancing.com. And today, we’re talking all about flicking. What is flicking anyway in our dancing? Well, the kind of flicking I’m talking about is flicking your legs or your feet.
So this right here if I’m doing the international style rumba walks, this is me flicking as I’m walking. Yes? So what you can see is my leg is bending and then when it strikes the floor right here, this quick action from the knee down, this is what we call – this is what we mean when we say flicking action of the leg.
Let me show you from another angle here. So I’m going to do the basic step of the international style rumba. So right here, when I go side, you see this action right here. You see how my leg straightens and my heel comes on the floor, that’s what we mean when we say flicking. So we flick to get into that foot. And then I go forward and I flick and flick and flick and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and one and two and three and flick. And you can do it on every single step.
And there’s a lot of people work on this because their teacher is telling them. And why do the teachers tell them to work on their flicking actions? Because a lot of times, people get a bit drifty. So a lot of times, I’ll show you the wrong way right now, if I’m doing the same basic steps, people do this. Two and three and four and one and two and three and four. So they kind of like drift from place to place. Instead of arriving and flicking using that knee joint to strike that leg fast and hit the heel on the floor as fast as possible. That’s your objective, is you want to basically arrive with your heel down very quickly.
And why do we want to do all this flicking? Because it’s going to make us more musical. We’re going to be better with the timing. So we’re going to accentuate the beat. So if we’re, again I’m using the international style rumba which we count, four, one and two and three and four, one. We got to step on the four, two, and three. So four, one and two and three and four, one and two and three and four, one and two and three.
So see, I’m trying to flick on the count which is going to give me a much better – a much more precise timing which we want. So if you want to be a better rhythmical dancer, you want to work on your flicking actions.
So very simply, you can do the basic step and think about it. You can also do the rumba walks which I taught a little bit. So even we’re not focusing on anything else like hips and stuff like that, you can just do this.
Just bring it in. Bend the leg. And then think about this release of that muscle and the strike up the leg on the floor as quick as you can to practice your flick. Just like you practice your flick forward, you can also flick backwards. So on the backward walks, flick and flick and flick and flick and flick.
So that’s what you want to do to improve your arrival on the beat and we call it the flicking action. Do you work on this? Leave a comment below. Let me know.
[End of transcript]Related:
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