When we teach Molineta in our courses, there are always two questions from the gentlemen.
How do I take the lady to the molineta?
How can I change the direction of the molineta?
The first question “How do I take the lady to the Molineta?” is easily answered: from every, really every position imaginable.
No matter whether from forward, back or side step, whether from open or crossed step.
The only thing the gentleman has to do is open the door for the lady and then continue to turn around his own axis with his upper body as calmly as possible.
As long as the gentleman turns, the lady follows this rotation as if she were constantly going through a revolving door.
If the gentleman wants to change the direction of the rotation, there is a simple trick to make this comfortable for the lady.
Of course, to stop the lady it would be enough to simply stop and stand still.
The problem is that for the lady this feels like the revolving door is being slammed shut in her face – very abrupt and unpleasant.
It is more pleasant to stop with your feet (no longer moving from the spot), but to rotate the upper body a little further so that the lady is stopped gently.
The lady feels the stop that occurs because the gentleman stops stepping. At the same time, her movement does not stop abruptly (due to the ongoing rotation of the man´s body), but continues a little further and is caught, as if in a safety net.
So it’s a two-step stop.
As soon as the rotation of the gentleman’s upper body has reached its end, both dancers are faced with a moment of pause, comparable to a pendulum that has reached its highest point before swinging back.
This pause is a moment of silence, a kind of taking a breath together, through which the gentleman tells the lady that things are now moving on in the other direction.
By rotating his body, the gentleman has of course built up tension (like a spring), which he can now use to give the lady a lot of momentum when he swings his upper body back. – A movement that most women love.
This change of direction can be made from every step of the molineta, regardless of whether it is a side step, a forward cross or a backward cross.
However, I find the change of direction to be most organic and beautiful in a cross step.
Important for the lady when changing direction from a cross step:
Some ladie´s believe that they always have to do an “ocho” at the peak of the pendulum movement, the moment of lingering (often happens from the forward cross. The lady makes a turn/pivot to continue with a forward cross in the opposite direction).
Yet that’s not the case. If no corresponding signal comes from the gentleman, the lady simply swings back again. That is, forward cross – pause – backward cross.
This post might also be helpful.
