Back sacada Impro games

The challenge of back sacadas is that there’s so much pivot.

We’ll work our way up to the big pivot in a series of exercises.

Start with a Mark’s front sacada (either leg) to Revel’s front step.
Do not automatically pivot back to face your partner after the sacada!
Mark projection toward you and step back more or less where you were before the first sacada.
Reverse it all for Mark’s back sacada.

In this exercise we just dance, with the Mark watching for moments in which the Revel’s ass is already toward him, and he can then easily mark a back sacada from these places that are already part of his dance.

The Mark decides who will do the back sacada.
The entrant will do one ocho (can be forward or back) and then the back sacada.
The receiver a will take two steps moving along a line. The second step will receive the sacada.

Mark can make continuous back sacadas to Revel’s steps in single axis giro. He makes one sacada and then uses his change of foot to pivot himself to be ready for the next one.
Partners can continuously exchange back sacadas to the other’s side step moving in a circle

The mark can make back sacadas to each of the Revel’s sequential back ochos. In between each sacada, he’ll need to make a side step to walk around her + a change of foot (without moving forward in the line of dance which will cause her to finish her step). This is a great way to get comfortable making back sacadas on both sides.

12 of the 48 sacadas require dropping the embrace (soltada) to complete the step, and these are sometimes called “4th sacadas”.
To avoid a 4th sacada, the mark needs to feel the direction of the revel’s unwinding from voleo, and direct his step to move on the same spiral as her unwind.
If the Mark feels that he hasn’t yet got enough pivot around her, he can just take another step in the same direction. Remember, he can receive Revel’s back sacada to any step, so long as it has the right geometry (90 degrees from her sacada step).

There’s no reason to panic about 4th sacadas. If you find yourself unexpectedly in one, just drop the embrace, finish your step and then reestablish the embrace.
To create a lovely 4th sacada that’s easy on the Revel’s balance, just walk in cross system/3 track. Anytime, you can show the follower a side step, drop the embrace and do a Mark’s 4th sacada. Don’t change feet before the sacada, you’re ready! Revel’s back sacadas work just fine here too!

It’s fun to experiment with ways to create exits. Try to go directly to a co-contraction special effect (voleo or gancho) without changing feet.