This is something I occasionally do for students and want to start a feature on my blog.

Today we’re going to take a look at the slow moves from Level 1: Taxeem, Arm Undulation, Bodywave, Belly Roll, Ribcage Rotation, Torso Rotation. Pay particular attention to a few things: who is leading, the shape their formation makes, their posture, transitions, and of course the moves. This entry will be geared toward the beginning ATS dancer.

The first video is from Fat Chance’s volume 1. Our dancers here are Rina Rall (green sleeves), Karen Gehrman (red sleeves), and Carolena Nerrichio. Beginning at 0:24, with Karen in the lead after a fade, there’s a very nice Ribcage Rotation, followed by Arm Undulation layered over a Taxeem. Note that the Taxeem is NOT a large move. At 1:10 begins Bodywave, which they deepen at 1:17 (Deep Bodywave counts as a second move). At 1:53, after fading back again, Carolena is now leading and initiates a Torso Rotation, also known as “Left Boob/Right Boob” in some circles. You can see Karen does this move quite a bit more deeply to the back than either Carolena or Rina. This is partly biology and partly practice, and a little personal preference. The more you practice and condition your body, the easier you’ll find it is to do moves like the Deep Bodywave and deeper Torso Rotations. At 2:17, after moving into a circle facing each other, they do Belly Rolls. You can see Carolena’s is quite a bit larger and more defined than Rina’s or Karen’s. This completes the catalog of Level One/Volume One slow moves. They break into fast moves at 3:20, feel free to continue watching, where you’ll see the Level One/Vol.1 fast moves: Shimmy, Egyptian Basic, Arabic Basic, Pivot Bump, Choo Choo. There are several Volume 4 moves in both the fast and slow as well. This is old-school, classic ATS.

The second video we’re going to look at is another FatChance performance, but quite a bit more recent (Vol.1 was filmed in the early 90s, and this is just from a year or so ago). I’ll point out a few slow moves beyond Level One this time as well. The dancers in this one are Marsha (red skirt under the Banjara overskirt), Kristine is the blonde, and Anita. At 0:16, with Marsha in the lead, there’s a Reverse Taxeem (which is a volume 4 move but of note because they aren’t as commonly seen as a standard Taxeem), then at 0:25 a Torso Rotation. You’ll see next that they like finishing a Camelwalk with a deep Torso Rotation. At 0:48 they begin some Ribcage Rotations, then at 0:53 some Bodywaves turning, which handily gives you a nice view of Marsha’s back as she does this move, and you can see it’s not a large move. At 1:28, with Kristine now in the lead, more Ribcage Rotations. Watch closely at about 2:00 in, when they flip around in formation with their backs to the audience, and you’ll see that Marsha is in fact now leading again. There’s a slow circle after this where they switch leads again, I want you to take note of how to change leads by forming up a circle during slow pieces -- your moves will still be slow, but you can still move at a steady, almost fast pace, around the circle (in some slow moves, you can also eat up space on the floor by taking very large steps). This can be tricky for beginners to get the hang of. Anita takes the lead and does a very nice Floreo sweep -- these are good filler moves, and give you a chance to be still for a moment too -- and then turns in a Bodywave, and again you can see that it’s a subtle movement. Very nice Camelwalk with a Torso Rotation afterward, and then Anita cues a very deep Torso Rotation. At 2:32-2:42 she cues a Propeller Turn, and then at about 3:02 she does a Bodywave with a level change.