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For a long time I have wanted to create a rock solid Titanic figure for Casino, and I have collected video clips of such figures from other social dance styles for inspiration. Both walks on a straight line and in circular motion. A month ago, I decided to give the Titanic walk a serious go. It took me and my dance partner, Mona, three dance “brain storming” sessions before a good figure suddenly appeared almost out of the blue.

We are not interested in artistic one-off figures difficult to remember and execute but in realistic social dancing for the average dancer. We want a figure that is easy to lead and integrate anywhere in our dance.

Titanic Walk

1. Start with crossed handhold like the start of Sombrero. It is important for the Lead to signal that it is not Sombrero but something else: Don’t let the Follow walk on a curved line but right into you like heading for a collision. The Follow must draw the conclusion that she will be turned around 180 degree on “1-2-3”.
2. As the Follow is turned, the Lead must change hand-hold. I don’t want anything that looks like Cuban Macho Grabbing. I never grab hands in my Casino. I hold underneath my Follow’s wrists with open hands, supporting the Follow with the palms of my hands.
3. The Follow is then walked forward on “5-6-7-pause-1-2-3”.
4. The Follow has many options for her walk: The default is to use crossover steps but she can also just walk. She can use short steps with long crossovers, or long steps with short crossovers, she can walk normally all the way or just on “5-6-7”, or on “1-2-3”. She can use shimmies along the way, etc.
5. All sorts of exits are possible. At the moment I prefer to walk her out to the right, a walk-around, as smooth and natural as possible into some type of Rodeo figure. One day I might try something different.

A handful of figures

It the video we have a good example of how one can create a good long sequence of almost two minutes by repeating a small handful of figures again and again. It is better to use five figures ten times than fifty figures one time. In the next dance the Lead can select another small sample from his huge repertoire, and focus on just those few figures, like exploring a theme, making every dance different with it’s own unique character.

No ownership, no credit

If you like our Titanic Walk feel free to use it as your own, as if you have invented it yourself. Change it as you please for the better or develop your own alternatives and variations. Cuban Salsa, Casino, is almost 75 years old with millions of dancers over the years. Probably someone somewhere have already done something similar years back. Ownership or “I want credit” is a lost course and a waste of time contrary to the true spirit of social dancing and dance community.