Hello, Rebecca here from Dance World Takeover. And in this week's edition of Lindy Hop Steps
Made Easy, you're learning Scissor Kicks. [snip snip]
Dance World Takeover with Rebecca and Paul.
So, scissor kicks. Why are they called Scissor Kicks? Well, because your legs sort of move
in a scissor-y fashion.
So as you may have noticed, there's a kick, and then some steps, and then a kick, and
then some steps, and my legs cross in between each time. A little bit like scissors right?
[snip snip]
When I learned this move, I spent at least a few hours teaching it to myself after watching
it on the dance floor. So hopefully you will learn this move faster than that.
Scissor Kicks have a pretty tricky rhythm. So we're going to start by simplifying the
rhythm so that you can get the underlying movement.
Okay so basically, it's a kick, step, cross, step, kick, step, cross, step. Try demoing
that with me a couple of times. See if you can get that. Kick, step, cross, step, kick, step,
cross, step. Kick, step, cross, step, kick, step, cross, step.
All right let's talk about those kicks. I really want you to learn to do the kicks really
well. Because if you start off this move with sloppy kicks, it's going to throw off everything.
So this kick is going to be out to the side with your foot pointing forward. And you're
going to lift your knee up, and then put your foot down. Sort of like popping a balloon.
Try that on both feet. Knee pointed forward, foot pointed forward. And I'll show you
that from the side view too, so you can see that I'm not doing this kind of kick or
that kind of kick. I'm justing lifting my knee up, and putting it down, out towards
the side.
Now let's put that together again with the simplified rhythm. So I kick out the side,
step, cross, step. I kick, and I step, cross step. Kick, move in that direction. Kick,
move in that direction, cross, step. So if you ever get confused, remember that you move
in the direction that you kick.
Next, you really need to get used to bending your knees. This is not a ballet move like...
Now when you bend your knees, I don't want to see your knee caps come way out over your
toes. Instead what you want to do is sit your hips back a little bit behind your heels so
that your weight is evenly distributed between the front and the back half of your foot,
between the ball of your foot and your heel. And that way you're engaging your glutes
and your hamstrings instead of the quadriceps.
If you put your knees out over your toes, that over-engages your quadriceps, which puts
a lot of pressure and pull on your kneecaps. Causes a lot of pain. Ask me how I know.
So, again with the simplified rhythm and bending your knees. Kick, step, cross, step, kick,
step, cross, step. Kick, step, cross, step, kick, step, cross, step.
Okay so next, we want to add in the swing rhythm which is different. Right now we've
been doing it da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, and what we want to be doing is da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
So you hear the difference right? Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da sounds choppy and the timing is all even.
We want to syncopate it in a swing type way, and that sounds like da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
Okay, let's do that agonizingly slowly with the swing rhythm and the scissor kicks. Ready?
Kick, and cross, and kick, and cross, and kick, and cross, and da-da-da-da.
Practice that rhythm a lot. Do it slow, speed it up, do it slow. Make sure you're nailing
it, because swing rhythm is super duper important in lindy hop.
And lastly, we need to add some pulse. Pulse is your vertical movement, your bounciness.
So, you know, even if you get the swing rhythm perfect for scissor Kicks, it's still going
to look pretty dull, and boring, and lifeless if you don't have any bounce to it.
Okay so here it is WITHOUT pulse. Kick, and cross, and kick, and cross, and kick, and...
And here it is WITH pulse. Down, up down, up down, up down, and pulse, and pulse, and
pulse, and pulse, and pulse, and pulse, and pulse.
So even if you're working your ass off trying to do these scissor kicks, work really hard
to make it look calm, and relaxed, and easy. Effortlessness is a really key movement style
in lindy hop.
So remember to practice a lot! A whole lot! Next week, come on back. You're going to
learn the Half Break. It's a part of the Shim Sham routine, which is a super popular
solo jazz routine in lindy hop. And make sure to stick around for the end of the Lindy Hop
Steps Made Easy series where you're going to learn a brand new routine that I choreographed.
In the meantime, if you want more fun, challenging, hard, difficult things to work on, you can
subscribe to my monthly video challenges at LindyMakers.com.
Or you can get free weekly dance tips by signing up for my weekly email newsletter at RebeccaBrightly.com/hellyes.
See you next week!
[scatting]
Remember to practice lots. And wave your arms around!
Subscribe to my monthly video challenges and LindyMakers.com. That one sucked. CUT, CUT!