Touch and Go

The Outside Turn, And Two New Tools 🧰

Same handholds again, this time on the Outside Turn. From the parallel handhold: 5 6 7, 1 2 3, 5 6 7, prep on 1, keep hold, she turns on 2 3, and back to basic.

This module introduces two concepts that come back again and again later.

Touch And Go 🤲

A touch and go is letting go of a hand on the first spin and taking it back on the second spin.

We use it mainly on Double Right Turns, but it is needed here too, because the Outside Turn is a turn and a half.

What makes it work is not the release, it is the recovery:

• be aware and looking for that hand
• the hand stays in the frame, so you know where it will be
• you take it back on 3, then finish the turn

If you let go and stop tracking it, you will be hunting for her hand while the music carries on without you.

Drop And Catch 🪂

The second one, and the lesson calls it a very important concept.

Put your left on top on the wrist, then let go. Gravity takes it down, and you catch it underneath on the other side.

The same idea comes back with the Combs: you put the hand there, let go, and it traces round so you can catch it on the far side.

What It Is Actually For 🎩

Here is the clever part. From that position, the geometry is fixed:

• spin once to the right and you finish left
• spin again and you finish in the window

The drop and catch reverses that. You go in from the same place and come out with the right on top, in a left cross position, instead of the window you would otherwise have been stuck with.

On the walking turn it happens fast. She turns on 2, you drop and catch on 3, and she finishes on 6, 7. It is almost instant.

For The Followers 💃

If the spins themselves are the problem: bend your knees, balance your weight forwards, and engage the core.

For the moment he lets go, Maite is specific:

Hold the position. Keep your arm there, elbow bent, and wait. Then he can take your arm again.

What he is waiting for is your arm to relax and settle in the basic position, not lower, because that is where he is going to recover it. So when he releases during the turn, you keep the arm exactly there and he catches it again.

💡 Drill it: Practise the touch and go slowly enough that you can see yourself looking for the hand. Speed comes from knowing where it is, not from grabbing faster.

🎯 Community

Practice without judging yourself. Every dancer started exactly where you are. Be patient. This lands in the body over months, not days. Record yourself. You will see things you cannot feel. Post it in the community tab, or on Instagram tagging the page.