What do you teach on day one of a beginner series?

This is my normal lesson plan for the first hour of a balboa series:

  1. Greetings, introduction, and 1 minute history of balboa
  2. Solo quick steps (stepping on every beat)  – have students move these around the floor
    • provides an immediate success for students
    • I may add additional technique tips particularly if the class is multilevel (shuffling, keeping feet under, etc)
  3. Solo slow steps (stepping every two beats)
  4. Introduce connection – try moving around with slow steps (talk about what the follower should feel with weight changes)
  5. Solo gather/swing steps
    • Introduce checkmark position of feet (left foot forward and outside)
    • Idea of pendulum
  6. Get in lines to introduce basic pattern (helpful for leads and follows to see footwork)
    • Try with music
    • Quick, quick swing step, quick, quick, swing step (make sure they are only doing 2 quick quicks)
  7. Try uphold basic with a partner
  8. Solo rhythm for downhold – students walk in circle (quick, quick, slow forward and then backward)
  9. Students get behind teacher to learn direction changes for downhold basic
    • Discuss driving forward/backward on the slow
    • Discuss not stopping on slow (remind them of how they were moving in the circle) – introduction of flow
  10. Try downhold basic with partner (remind followers to wait to step on the slow until they feel their body move)
  11. Changing up between downhold and uphold – go over the difference between the two basics (explain that on counts 3 and 7 you are either stepping or not stepping and follower should feel this) – both basics are the same on counts 1,2 and 5, 6 – follower does not know until count 3 which basic the leader is communicating
    • Leader chooses a basic in their head before they start and then leads that pattern (without switching in the middle) – practice this and discuss what followers feel
    • I also mention that we have two basics because Maxie and Willie each had a different basic but we use both rhythms all the time in balboa
    • Also mention to follows that they are trying to become sensitive to their partners rhythm but it is ok if they do the opposite basic (they are only off one count) and advanced follows sometimes choose to purposely do a different basic
    • Discuss confidently stepping or driving on count 3 so that a hesitant downhold does not feel like an uphold
  12. Switch between uphold and downhold without stopping (switching on the 1) – I may give them a pattern the first few times  like 2 upholds and 2 downholds to make it easier on the leaders brains – then I give reign to switch when they like
  13. Finally, I teach the frankinbasic if there is time which is switching between uphold and downhold within an 8 count (example: quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, gather)
  14. With any extra time, I start teaching the idea of pivoting on the slow to get students prepped for the come around