Partner Dance Terms

Voice cue

What does “Voice cue” mean?

Voice cues help match rhythmic patterns of steps (or other moves) with the music. There are different types of voice cues. The most common example is the usage of "quick" and "slow" words: "quick-quick-slow" (pronounced as "quick quick slo-o-o-ow") immediately tells you that the third step takes twice the time of the first one (and of the second one). Some East Coast Swing instructors cue the basic step as " shuf-fle-STEP , shuf-fle-STEP, rock BACK ", to indicate both the rhythmic pattern of the figure (1&2, 3&4, 5, 6) and the syncopated character of swing music : every second syllable is stressed. Still another example: the box step of American-style rumba may be cued as "forward-...-side-together, back-...-side-together", to indicate the directions of (leader's) steps and their timing. Finally, for more advanced dancers voice cues are actually names of dance figures and standard variations: "Two walks , link , closed promenade " ( tango ). " Open Telemark , natural fallaway , whisk , quick wing " ( waltz ). " Dile que no !... setenta !... Dame dos con una !..." ( Spanish , used in salsa rueda ) Cues are an important element of round dances . In square dances they are called calls and called by a caller .

See also

Definition adapted from Glossary of partner dance terms on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Nearby terms