Closed Kick Around

For this move, the leader uses his closed position hold to force the follower's weight onto her right foot and he keeps it there so that her left foot (and his right foot) remains free throughout. The kicking and rotation can be repeated as often as desired; the leader can exit at any point by moving the follower's weight onto her left foot.

The leader can also follow this move with its inverse: forcing the follower's weight to remain on her left foot (with his on his right foot), then rotating clockwise as a couple with the left foot kicking on the odd beats of the music.

left side view right side view facing view
1. M:BL1L W:BR1R Start from an closed position, with the leader's left hand holding the follower's right hand. The leader takes a step backward on his left foot, turning slightly to his left. The follower takes a step backward on her right foot, turning slightly to her right.
2. M:RR W:RL The leader replaces his weight on his right foot. The follower replaces her weight on her left foot.
3. M:eSL1R W:eFR1L The leader steps slightly to the side on his left foot, turning slightly to his right, using his right hand to bring the follower around to face him. The follower steps slightly forward on her right foot, turning slightly to her left. The leader also leans slightly left, and uses his right hand to keep the follower's weight on her right foot. (image: lean to leader's left)
5. M:KsR W:KsL The leader performs a kick to the side with his right foot. The follower performs a kick to the side with her left foot.
6. M:HoRL2L W:HoRR2L The leader hops in place on his left foot, turning 90° to his left. The follower hops in place on her right foot, turning 90° to her left.
7. M:KsR W:KsL The leader performs a kick to the side with his right foot. The follower performs a kick to the side with her left foot.
8. M:HoRL2L W:HoRR2L The leader hops in place on his left foot, turning 90° to his left. The follower hops in place on her right foot, turning 90° to her left.
1. M:SR W:SL The leader takes a step to the side on his right foot, lowering the follower's weight onto her left foot to exit. The follower takes a step to the side on her left foot, returning to a normal closed position.
 
 
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Welcome

Welcome to an incomplete book about Lindy Hop.

I wrote the text here five years ago, based on my notes from when I was originally learning Lindy Hop in the mid-1990s. My original plan was to take a large number of illustrative photographs, which would make the bare text much more comprehensible.

However, that was five years ago and I've not gotten as far as taking a single photograph. So rather than waiting any longer, I thought it worth releasing the text as-is, in case it's useful to anyone else.

I'd interested to hear any feedback, but unfortunately I can't promise to do much about it.

And maybe one day I'll get as far as illustrating the book, and creating the originally-intended printed version:

This book is dedicated to the memory of Frankie Manning (1914-2009), Ambassador of Lindy Hop.

David Drysdale
November 2012

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