Gold Latin Continued/Dance Language: "Overturn"

After my last post, I received a clarification question that I had originally intended to answer quickly.  I soon realized, however, that the subject was really too large for a short, bulleted answer, so I’m making an entire post out of it. The question was:

“Can you add when overturns are permissible for syllabus to your Gold [Latin] blog?  I believe I saw a lot of them in Gold [at DCDI] and wanted to check with you when they can be used.”

For those only interested in the short, bulleted answer, please scroll to the list at the end of this post.  Otherwise, please keep reading for some clarifying material.

 

As has happened in the past, I really can’t start answering the question until we nail down some terms.  I used the word “overturn” in my Gold Latin post, which was perhaps not the best choice, but this situation is another where we don’t have solid terminology that always refers to the same thing.[1]  What in the world is an “overturn?” 

In general, the Latin syllabus books give amounts of turn for figures, much like The Ballroom Technique does for Standard figures.  The Latin books also include a note towards the beginning of each book that says, “… in most cases a little more turn may be made to develop rotation … When a precise amount of turn is not given between steps it denotes there can be acceptable deviations to allow for individual speed of turn and expression.”  Not the most precise instructions.  While “acceptable deviations” is fairly open-ended, I think it’s safe to say that this provision allows for a SMALL amount of extra turn – 1/8, maybe ¼, not anything more obvious and significant. 

There are some instances where the Latin syllabus actually uses the word “overturn” for its own purposes.  A good example is in the Jive figure Fallaway Throwaway.  At Bronze, specific amounts of turn are given in the chart.  At Silver, Fallaway Throwaway gets upgraded to the Overturned Fallaway Throwaway, which turns more, but does so still with specific amounts detailed in the chart figure.  Then at Gold, we get the Development of Overturned Fallaway Throwaway, which adds further turn, but again, a specific amount.

The above example is not what I was referring to when I said “overturn” in my previous post, nor do I think it’s what my question-asker was referring to.  The tendency is for Gold dancers to put noticeable, extra amounts of turn over spins and occasionally three step turns.  A better word for what I’m describing might be “overspin,” though that could also cause confusion because a three step turn isn’t technically a spin.  For the purposes of the rest of this post, I will use overspin for lack of a better term.  Finally, when I say extra spin or overspin, I mean what most of us would probably call a “double turn.”  Double turns are not, usually, truly double; they are typically about a turn and a half, maybe a little less or more, whether on one foot or over several steps.

So to (finally) answer the question posed to me, here is a list of figures where overspins are specifically provided for (these are all for the Lady, except for two of the three spin endings of Fencing):

Jive

1. Change of Places R to L Development (Allowed starting at Silver)
2. Spanish Arms, Spin Ending (Allowed starting at Silver)
3. Rolling Off the Arm, Spin Ending with R to R Hand Hold
4. Simple Spin Development (?)

Rumba

1. Fencing, Spin Endings (Man and Lady’s Solo Spin, Lady’s Under Arm Spin to L, Man’s Solo Spin to L)

Cha Cha

1. Cross Basic Development
2. Hip Twist Spiral
3. Follow My Leader
4. Foot Change Variations

Samba

1. Three Step Turns

Paso Doble

1. Traveling Spins (PP and CPP)
2. Fregolina Ending
3. Chasse Cape, Lady’s Spin to R Ending

Please note that, for the most part, these figures do give specific amounts of turn for their overspin actions.  As stated in my previous post, you still may not simply embellish turns by doubling them. 

    

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[1] For further examples see the section of this post about elements/steps, and this post discussing open/closed.