As a lead, your job is to architect the high-level structure of the dance. Align the dance to the music, hit the phrase changes. This article builds on the original Hitting the Music in West Coast Swing article, describing a more concrete structure for how to build contrast in the dance by utilizing acceleration and texture when delivering phrase changes.

This article is under construction and may be subject to change.

Macro-Musicality for Leads

Macro-Musicality for Leads
- Major Ones
- Minor Ones
  - Future Pattern Additions

Major Ones

Basic Formula for Hitting a Phrase Change Like a Champion

Royston’s Maxims

“Anticipate, Accelerate, and Deliver.”

– Robert Royston

To cite some sources, Robert Royston taught this concept in a workshop where he explained his methodology for hitting a phrase change. I’m just putting actual patterns and methods to the abstract concepts of anticipate, accelerate, and deliver.

Anticipate

Build anticipation between yourself and your follow. Get yourselves on the same page. You, your follow, and the audience all hear something coming in the music. Acknowledge that you hear it and prepare for it.

Accelerate

Build contrast by accelerating in the lead up to the phrase change. Get the audience wondering “are they going to hit it?” as they watch.

Deliver

Hit the phrase change and build additional contrast by texturing the ending to match what the music changed to.

The Phrase Change Equation

Synchronization & Planning + Turn Entry + Base Turns + Transition to Texture + Marinate = Success

Synchronization

This is where you as the lead come up with a plan and communicate that you have a plan to your follow. This communication comes from body language and facial expression.

Turn Entry

The turn entry is whatever pattern gets you into a position where your follow is prepared for an inside or outside-turn. This can be as simple as a left-side-pass (LSP), or a right-side-pass (RSP), or as complicated as a Maxence-style hustle-whip with a behind-the-back topspinner into a duck-turn.

The Base Turn

High-level, there are two types of turns in WCS. Outside, and inside. We will be using one of these two types of turns to accelerate. This will be our base. Outside and inside turns can be led from either the left-side or the right-side of the follow. In general, it is best to have the follower on the audience side of the leader. So, if the audience is on the leader’s left side, he wants to lead a either left-side inside or outside turns.

KISS Principle: To reduce initial leader cognitive load, while practicing stick to left-side-pass inside-turn or right-side-pass outside-turn variations with extra spins for acceleration.

The Transition to Texture

The transition to texture is the pièce de résistance. It is the final moment where you transition out of the turn and the audience watches with baited breath, wondering if you’re going to make it in time for the phrase change that they all know is coming. You complete the ending on 1 and then groove it out to match the chosen texture.

Texture Options

Dynamic Stillness
- The music calls for a pause, so you take a breath and utilize very subtle motion in your stillness.
Slow Continuous
- In between dynamic stillness and fast continuous is when the music calls for slow, but constant motion to match the vibe. 3 Fast Continuous
- When the music is bumping and you need to keep the energy up to match.

Marinate

To marinate is to let the moment sit in the sauce. You just accelerated and nailed the phrase change. Let the audience absorb it. Acknowledge that you’re a champion by grooving to the texture, and then possibly on (1, 5) changing the texture slightly to add a little bit more contrast. Afterwards you can continue with celebratory sugar push or something else simple.

The Equation In Practice

Terminology

We are using the terminology developed in the original Hitting the Music in West Coast Swing article. We are assuming measures of 8 beats each, with 4 measures constituting a phrase. We will use (measure, beat) notation to denote what measure and what beat we are referring to. For instance, (4, 1) is the 1st beat of 4th measure.

Steps

By (3, 1), choose a texture based on the next hit coming in the song
Given the texture, choose a turn entrance -> base turn -> texture transition
- Note: It is better to do turns on the side matching the audience. ie, if the audience is to your left, do turns on the leader’s left side. They don’t want to watch you spin her, they want to watch her spin
Give your follow the “hey, I’ve got a plan” eyes/body language
Align yourself to optimally arrive on (4, 5) at the beginning of the turns
- For instance, if doing a simple LSP with an inside-turn, you would have to begin the LSP on (4, 3), because the first two beats of a LSP are the turn preparation
  - You need to know how many beats each of your turn entrances takes up so that you can pad the (4, 5) arrival time
- (4, 1) is too early to begin the turns because you turn your follow for a full 8 turns and it looks like you didn’t count properly and jumped the gun on the phrase change
- (4, 3) is still a bit much, but you can make it work if you start the turns slow and accelerate (which your follow may hate you for)
- (4, 5) gives time for a double or triple turn if your follow can whip it
- (4, 7) gives no time before the ending
Accelerate into the turns (don’t do a single turn when you can do two or three–add contrast by changing speed)
At (4, 7) transition into the ending and deliver the phrase change with the appropriate texture
Marinate. Bask in your own glory. Do not immediately start dancing into another sugar push on (1, 1). Groove for a little bit and then you can get back into the swing of things on (1, 7) or even (2, 1).

Entrance Options

Recall, these are your options to get your follower prepped for the turns you’re about to lead.

Left Inside-Turn Entrances
- LSP (2 beats)
Right Outside-Turn Entrances
- RSP (2 beats)
- Any Whip Variation into an Outside-Turn on 5 (4 beats)
Right Inside-Turn Entrance
- Any Whip Variation into an Inside-Turn on 5 (4 beats)

Note: Whip variations generally switch the side the follow was on before starting the turns. For instance, if the leader starts a standard Whip into a Right Inside-Turn with the audience on his left, the follow will end up on the leader’s right with the audience also to his right, as desired.

This list is currently underpopulated since I am sticking with easy LSP and RSP variations to begin with and this was just off the dome without much thought. I’ll have to brainstorm more entrances.

Transition Options

These are your options for exiting the turns and transitioning into the texture that you want to hit

Dynamic Stillness

Left Inside-Turn Endings
- Duck Turn into Dip
- Send Out into Follower Hook-Unwind Turn Styling
- Handshake Hold Topspinner into Dip with Monkey Bar
Right Outside-Turn Endings
- Handshake Hold Duck-Turn into Under-Arm Dip
Right Inside-Turn Endings
- Duck into Facing-Each-Other Side-by-Side

Slow Continuous

Left Inside-Turn Endings
- Handshake Hold Leader's Drape to Backward Walks (Moonwalk Styling Option)
- Send Out into Follower Hook-Unwind Turn Styling
- Handshake Hold Topspinner into Dip with Monkey Bar
- Handshake Hold Topspinner into Circular Walks
- Directly to Crowd Charge (can style with Leader's Drape if in Handshake Hold)
Right Outside-Turn Endings
- Handshake Hold Duck-Turn into Under-Arm Dip
- Handshake Hold Duck-Turn into Ride
- Leader's Right Arm to Follower's Right Armpit Connection into Circular Walks
- Leader's Right Arm to Follower's Right Armpit Connection into Reverse Monkey Bar into Ride
- Directly to Crowd Charge (can style with Leader's Drape if in Handshake Hold)
Right Inside-Turn Endings
- Duck into Facing-Each-Other Side-by-Side

Fast Continuous

Left Inside-Turn Endings
- Handshake Hold Leader's Drape to Backward Walks (Moonwalk Styling Option)
- Handshake Hold Topspinner into Circular Walks
- Directly to Crowd Charge
Right Outside-Turn Endings
- Directly to Swivels
- Leader's Right Arm to Follower's Right Armpit Connection into Circular Walks
- Directly to Crowd Charge (can style with Leader's Drape if in Handshake Hold)
Right Inside-Turn Endings
- Duck into Facing-Each-Other Side-by-Side

Minor Ones

Easy patterns to acknowledge the minor 1 and display your follow to the audience.

todo!()

Future Pattern Additions