Enrosque Disassociation

How to disassociate (turning your upper body) properly into enrosques!

So what are the common problems here with enrosque disassociation?

• Flattening out – not turning both sides of the body together.
• Ambiguous lead – follower has no idea what (or when) to do during your disassociation.
• Losing balance – your disassociation makes you fall.
• Turning obstruction – your disassociation blocks your turn instead of helping it.

Let’s get to it!

For all steps below, we will assume you are doing enrosques while turning to your left (CCW).

1. The Step

You have to step forward before you turn.

• Don’t try to step AND disassociate all at once.
• You’ll lose balance as you’re landing in a twisted position.
• Also, because you’re changing weight with your upper body already twisted, you’ve now lost the range to lead her with that twist.
• When you step try to keep your hips under you or behind you. Don’t throw them forward (you lose balance if you do that). If anything…remember that your hips are connected to the BACK of your feet (by the ankles) and not the front (by the metatarsals).

It’s better if you step and change weight forward WITHOUT TWISTING (pretend almost like you’re walking straight forward), and then after that step you can use the disassociation to lead her around you.

2. The “LOOK” (the disassociation)

We all know that to turn, you have to look in that direction first. And you’re “looking” with your head. And after your head turns, the rest of your body “looks” as it turns.

The big question is when do you look? 

• Before or after sending the follower?
• And is the turn truly spiraling from head to feet or the other? Or does everything turn all at once?

The question is how far to look?

• Should you really turn your head and upper torso all the way to the max limit?
• Or should you turn only a few degrees?
• Is it smooth/gradual disassociation or a snap disassocation (everything at once)?

The rule is this. Step forward and THEN you “look” (turn your torso). Don’t look while you step forward. If you do that, you lose balance and fall.

3. Disassociation angle (how far to “look”)

How much should you twist?

The lead (for her to go around) has to come first; and then your upper body accompanies her. Once she starts

1. Your head and body starts off by facing her as you step straight forward into whatever enrosque entry you like.
2. Keep your upper body facing her, start to disassociate your upper body which gives her the lead to start going around you. Do not over-disassociate and leave her. (Your lower body stays in place this whole time, DO NOT MOVE IT.)
3. As she starts to go around you, the back half of your upper body disassociation really propels her to keep going.
4. Your disassociation should soon hit a limit where you can’t twist any further. At this point, your upper body stays connected to her (even “grabbing” her) and your lower body now releases the twisted tension as you do the enrosque.

NOTE: remember to keep your hips behind you when you disassociate. Many dancers will turn throw their hips forward as they look over their back, causing major loss of balance.

4. Disassociation technique

This is really the main part of the guide!

The idea is to disassociate your body as one unified piece. When you start to turn, turn your whole upper body!

• Most leads bring only their left hand, left shoulder, left torso and head – they forget the right side! This separation of moving only your left side and not the right will make you fall as it’s like you’re throwing half of your body behind you will leaving the other half in place. (I could say you might actually turn more comfortable bringing only the right side!)
• Be careful that your head is not turning first and too far – very common as well. Many leads just swing their heads around instead of connecting it to their body and using it as part of the lead.
• Don’t lead with just your left arm – pulling her with your left arm while not turning your upper body can also hinder the turn. It not only feels bad but also looks bad (as your left arm goes behind you instead of staying in front of you). Try to keep your left arm more or less in the same place and turn your body instead.

5. Disassociation exit

How to come out of the disassociation:

• Your lower body should completely turn past her.
• Your upper body will also turn past her, but still stay with her. (It’s not like you’re totally looking away and forgetting about her.)
• As your lower body turns past her, it will create that same dissociation tension again and this time you release the upper body into place instead of the lower body.

What to do as you finish your disassociation is a whole other topic in itself; I’ll cover another day.