I will be competing in my first solo dance competition at the end of this month. I will be skating the Canasta Tango and the Dutch Waltz. I already have some arm movements in my Canasta, but think there could be more and currently don't have any in my Dutch Waltz. Any advice?

Are you supposed to have arm movements? My coach has never put any into any of my dances - he's much more concerned about my feet!

Some people do them. It would be the last thing added, after everything else about the dance (timing, pattern, etc) is pretty much rock solid.

Needless to say, I will not have arm movements at AN!!

Oh, thank goodness! Then I won't be the only one! I keep asking my coach if I need a choreographed introduction, and he keeps saying it isn't important. Or, at least, not nearly as important as whether I get my feet together after a mohawk!

My coach added some arm choreography to the end pattern for the Tango, but I might not keep them. That dance is complicated enough!

You definitely don't need them. I've competed in solo dance quite a bit, and I've both won and medaled without any arm movements OR intros.

I think into/exits and arms make things look more finished, but if arms are messing up your pattern or feet, then they're not worth it.

I used the same logic recently when I removed some footwork from my freestyle. No sense in having steps into an axel when it means that I can't land the axel!

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thanks for starting this thread Synchrodancer, I've been thinking of asking a very similar question. I intend to enter solo dance in our upcoming State championships, and and have been wondering what to do with my arms.

I don't know which dance I'll be doing yet, so haven't thought about specific arm/head choreography, I'll probably ask more when I know if it's Fiesta Tango or Swing Dance.

In solo dance, in absence of any choreographed moves, how do you hold your arms? As if you were holding your partner, just out to the side, or something else?

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In tests I've just held them out to the side (mustn't let them drop). But I've no idea on the competition as I've only done the first couple of tests.

Thanks for the reassurance that arm movements are not essential in Solo dance at competition. I will see what the coach says when I have my lesson this week.

I don't have an intro onto the ice either just yet, but I am thinking I will feel more confident getting on the ice if I have a few basic steps (something I can't mess up if the nerves get to me) Even if it's forward stroking and then stopping at the right point on the ice.

Some examples, some w/ arms, some not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlB5-QRHAAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJwt7v3ntW0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAEunhy-ZFM

Do be aware that there are judges who will penalise you if you have beautiful arms but your feet aren't as good! Don't do anything if it will distract you; just hold your arms out at about waist-height, palms facing the ice.

Some judges also hate really intricate introductions to a baby dance - okay, something more than the basic 4 pushes is no bad thing, but you don't want something wildly over-elaborate involving twizzles in both directions and beautiful back edges more suited to a Golden Waltz than a Dutch one!

We have yet to settle on a DW intro that we both like, but for the Canasta we do (or I do, if soloing) starting on beat 1 of bar 5, LFO (2 beats), RFO (2 beats), LFO/RFI chasse LFO (4 beats in all), RFO/LFI chassé RFO (also 4 beats), then the final bar is LFO/RFI slide chassé, 2 beats each, leading to push into the LFO/RFI progressive run which are the first steps of the dance proper.

Do you have to have a finish after your 2 or 3 patterns? Here in the UK, the referee signals the music steward to turn it off almost before you've done the final edge of the dance, so you can't, but when we compete in France, they expect a pretty ending.

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Thanks for the advice on the intro, I might give your intro to the Canasta a go. I finish after 3 patterns, so not sure if that means they'll give me a chance to have a pretty ending or not!

At the moment my coach has only put arm movements on the simple steps during the Canasta.

Good topic synchrodancer.. I was thinking the same thing myself!!!

I'm high enough in dance that I have to solo (I test standard), so once I have the dance down to where the steps, carriage, edges, etc are all muscle memory, I add arms and just enough intro/ending to my solos for testing (and use the same for competition). Having the "extra" stuff helps me feel more like I'm performing and takes some of the pressure off on testing, where I tend to get REALLY nervous and stiff on solos.

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