Turkish Towel Your Partner
Posted by: Gareth on: 22/10/2013 Category: rock-n-roll-dance-moves
When you have a pleasing partner it's natural to want to 'promenade' them. Forget the board-walk, you can do it on the dance floor and give them a Turkish towel to boot.
Rock 'n' Roll dance is generally about spins and turns but too many of those can become monotonous, so it's good to have a move or two in your routine to break the cycle. The camera captured Michael and Cheryl slipping in a quick Promenade-Turkish towel at Lorna's Dance Studio in Somerton, South Australia where they were sharpening their Jive skills.
Move Initiation
To initiate the move, Michael pulls the lovely Cheryl towards himself (what man wouldn't?), right hand to right hand. Cheryl simply performs a half-turn anti-clockwise, lifting both her hands to just above her shoulders and Michael catches her left hand with his.
Cheryl now takes a single step to her left and Michael takes a single step to his right so that she effectively moves from his right side to his left side. Michel then raises his right hand and slips under it, pulling Cheryl behind him as he does so. She now has him in a Promenade. A Victorian ballroom might have rung with raucous laughter at such a thing!
Now for the 'Turkish towel'
But Michael isn't finished yet. By extending his left arm he remains stylishly in control in a Turkish towel move. He then slips his left hand over his head, turns Cheryl through a full circle anti-clockwise and the couple face each other with hands crossed over ready for some further ado. A number of moves can follow from here.
Michel and Cheryl performed this move using back-step footwork. The move is also often used in cha-cha and other Latino styles. Many of the moves we use are common across various dance styles, so learning the move in one style can help to progress to other dance styles.