At the 2019 Lenox Assembly, we did a workshop on poussettes, their character and variety. We worked hard on Crown the Year (Chevron poussette), Now Is the Month of July (double poussette), and Eye of the Storm (no-hands poussette). Summer Circle (straight poussette) was the light-hearted “bit of fluff” to change the mood and relieve the concentration required by the first three dances. As will be immediately apparent, we relaxed in this final dance of the workshop, horsed it up a bit, and just had fun moving to the two tunes provided to Fried by musician and tune smith Chris Dewhurst and played with such good energy by Karen Axelrod, Eric Martin, and Doug Creighton.
Regarding the character of the poussette, Fried writes in Serendipity,
“Looking around a hall full of dancers and listening to teachers and M.C.’s, I think that the poussette is still misunderstood. We have to see a poussette as an invitation.
“If I am the woman in 1st place proper and my partner and I are to dance a clockwise poussette, I am inviting my partner to join me. If the poussette is counter clockwise, my partner is inviting me…. If you are being invited to poussette, make sure that you know the invitation is coming. Wait for a split second for the inviting look and the smile….”
Fried then mentions the shape of the poussette and some of its varieties.
“In the poussette, the arms are not ram-rod straight, but they are stretched out. They do not crumple, for both you and your partner know where you are going and that you are going. Hands are held without weight. Danced the proper way, any poussette (a forward & back poussette, a draw poussette, a Chevron poussette, or a double poussette) will look elegant and will be a pleasure to dance and to watch.”
Callers often conflate the forward and back poussette (let’s not use the terms “push” and “pull,” which can so easily be misinterpreted and lead to injury) and the straight poussette. They are different. The latter appears in Measured Obsession and in the current video of Summer Circle.
-Paul Ross
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