How to Swing Dance in the Open Position

Once you've mastered the basic East Coast swing steps, you're ready to move on to your first turn. The most basic type of turn is where the man hold up his left hand and the woman completes the underarm turn in the course of two 8-count cycles. Once you've complete the basic lessons in underarm turns, you can move on to more complex turns for both partners.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Complete a few normal 8-count sequences of triple-step, triple-step, rock step before attempting the turn to get into the basic motion.

2. Have the male partner raise his left arm to indicate the turn while the female partner is completing the rock step. After you've had some more lessons, the male partner may not need to indicate the turn so far in advance, but at this stage in learning the turn it's useful to think ahead.

3. Have the female partner raise her right arm to pass under it for the underarm turn. Take the first triple step in the normal position, partners facing one another. Use the second triple step to pass under the arm and rotate the body at least 180 degrees.

4. Take the rock step in an open position, holding hands only on the arm that was used for the underarm turn. The female partner's body should be rotated 360 degrees from the original position.

5. Use the next triple step to reverse the turn back under the arm, and by the final triple step and rock step both partners should be returned to the original position.