(Bachata) ⭐️Beyond patterns: how to actually move⭐️ Hand change → underarm turn, master the Way of Bachata! Movement artisans Gatz & Honey @ LATIN Lunar New Year class

“Using flow means using the energy you push up off the ground. Don't just stand there — start with the feeling of having pressed into the floor.”

CONTEXTExplaining how to use the body's energy (flow) before starting a hand-change turn

“The elbow has to work as the lever, as the pivot point. The shoulder rotates fine, sure, but it's got a lot of limits on its range.”

CONTEXTExplaining the different jobs of the elbow and the shoulder in a hand change

“For the lower body, we usually take the knee as the pivot point, and for the upper body it's usually the elbow.”

CONTEXTBreaking the idea of the body's pivot point down into upper and lower body

“The elbow and the hand don't travel out together — the elbow stays fixed on one point and only the direction of the hand changes.”

CONTEXTExplaining how to hold the elbow as an axis and change only the hand and wrist direction on a hand change

“You want the feeling of supporting her right under the shoulder blade.”

CONTEXTExplaining the placement and feel of the supporting hand in a lift-like move

“As you lift, create the feeling of your body going slightly outward, then keep your elbow and wind back inward as you come up — that's how the woman's center stays protected.”

CONTEXTExplaining how to keep your partner's center stable during a hand change

“The best thing is to turn her with the woman as your reference point, so the energy never breaks.”

CONTEXTAdvice on keeping the turn lead continuous while in a hand hold

“With a turn, the basic thing is that the point isn't where you arrive out there. The whole purpose is coming back into the spot you started from.”

CONTEXTEmphasizing what a turn is actually aiming at, while explaining the underarm turn lead

“The moment you take that first step, your own belly button has to come in toward her.”

CONTEXTExplaining how to use the direction of your center — the belly button — when leading a turn

“She has to keep giving pressure into his palm. That force is what lets him turn her again.”

CONTEXTExplaining how the follower holding pressure is what makes the leader's next lead possible

“You have to lead the direction with the whole elbow line — that's how she reads the direction exactly. Don't keep doing it with just your hand; it has to be the whole elbow line.”

CONTEXTStressing that a hand-change turn is led from the elbow line, not the hand

“Don't leave the woman behind and go walking off doing your one-two-three by yourself. Wandering around solo is one of the things women hate most.”

CONTEXTA warning at the end of a pattern drill about leaders losing the connection with their partner