Learn The ISI Freestyle 5 Dance Step!

Hello skaters and welcome back. I'm so glad you're here. I am coach Julia and today I am going to be teaching you the ISI freestyle five dance step or footwork sequence. Now this is a pretty tricky one. It requires you to be able to do two different versions of a Choctaw or step two different kinds of a bracket. And two different kinds of a twizzle. I will post links to those tutorials down below so you can work on those skills and get them really strong before you try combining them into this footwork sequence. Now we are going to be using this circle as a little bit of a reference. Let me show you what this diagram looks like in the ISI rulebook. So here we have the ISI rulebook. I think this one looks a little bit like a jellyfish. So you have the little tentacles of the jellyfish and then the body. So we're going to imagine that our circle, our blue circle here, is right on the inside, okay? It also is a little bit of a horseshoe shape, so the Choctaw creates an indentation on each side, but the rest of it is like an open-ended horseshoe, right? So we're going to start, oh and this goes counterclockwise. Generally we don't learn them counterclockwise and clockwise, But it's a great challenge if you want to. But the required version that for your test is going to be going counterclockwise, basically around the center circle. Now if you're doing it in a competition or a test, it doesn't have to be around this circle, you can place it wherever your coach has it on the ice. But we're going to use this For a good reference so we can keep the shape in mind while we practice this test. So I'm going to run through this really quickly. You've seen what the diagram looks like. I'm going to run through it once really quickly and then I will break down the steps for you. We're going to start with a right over left forward crossover. So I am placing myself near one of our blue hockey lines, some distance between myself and the circle. I'm a little bit behind that red dot so you can kind of see on the ice where I'm standing and try to replicate that in your rink. I know not every rink has these markings, so if you don't have markings in your rink like that, just know you're going to start going counterclockwise with a right over left forward crossover. Your second step is going to be a left forward outside open swing Choctaw, that's the longest name ever, but what that means is you're going to step forward onto your left forward outside edge, cross your body, bring that foot behind and step into your Choctaw. So you're going on your left forward outside edge and stepping to your right back inside edge for that Choctaw or S step. So we're going to twist. My body is facing that wall, my leg is across me, and then I'm gonna reverse everything, reverse my arms, reverse my hips, reverse my feet, and switch edges to create that S shape for that Choctaw S step. So after that left forward outside open swing Choctaw, we're going to step out onto our right forward outside edge. So you're left, sorry, left forward outside edge. So you've finished and your left foot should be in front, okay? Your Choctaw, you're on your right back inside edge, your left foot is in front. We're going to basically check open and step onto it on a slight outside edge so that we can keep moving counterclockwise Around the rink so we have one nice quick step out. We're then going to switch and do a one and a half twizzle On our right forward edge. Okay, so we're from the Choctaw so you can see how that flow goes So we're going to do our Choctaw Move open step switch feet one two Three so those three turns create our one and a half twizzle So it's a right forward inside twizzle and I want you to think of it as moving down Past the wall, okay, you can have a little bit of an angle on it We're not going to come out with a measuring tape when you do your dance step for a test or competition But think of it moving kind of down the wall so we can make this dance step as large as possible Okay, so we have that right one and a half twizzle and that leaves us ending on our right back Outside edge in a little bit of a check position Okay. So now our body is still going to face that wall. We're going to step forward to begin our bracket. So once all the way through from the beginning to that twizzle, we have our crossover, we have our Choctaw or S step, step out, and our one and a half twizzle. One, two, three. Okay and then we're going to step forward so our hips and shoulders should be facing the wall. The next thing we're going to do is our first of two brackets. This is going to bring you around the corner okay so you're starting facing the wall and when you're done you're going to curve to create the top the cap of that jellyfish or horseshoe. Okay so you're going to step forward onto your left forward Outside edge for a left forward outside bracket. Your upper body should be facing your wall at this point. And your foot, your free foot, that's going to be right, right, is going to tuck behind me. So it's going to be behind me. So that when I turn and check my upper body, that free foot can go in front of you. I go over the free foot placement on brackets in a tutorial. So make sure you check that tutorial down below to get the placement correct on your free leg. But basically, it's going to go behind and then right on top of your tracing in front of you when you're done with this bracket. Okay, so once again, we finished our twizzle, we're going to face that wall, nice strong core. Check. And this is going to start bringing us across to the top of our jellyfish or horseshoe. Now this is where some people get a little bit confused because you're facing backward and your upper body is away from your circle, okay? So we're looking out from that blue circle that I'm using as a reference. So the next thing we're going to do is we're going to actually bring our hands down Face the other way and step forward so it's kind of like there's a sneaky mohawk in between. You finished, you're going to swoop your upper body around and step forward, okay? And then look back away from your circle. So let me show you what that transition is going to look like one more time. So once again, once we finish that twizzle, we're going to step onto our outside edge, Forward outside, check that bracket. Rotate our body around so we can see inside, do a little mohawk, and now we're going to get ready for our second bracket, which should happen right at the top of our pattern. So you want that second bracket to be right in the middle of the ice, the point of it. It should be going away. Right in the middle of the ice. So here we have this blue pipe. We also have all of our curling diagrams. So that curling line is right here. So we know that this is the true center of our ice. So you wanna aim your bracket as close to you as you can to that true center. So it's two brackets in a row. We have our left forward outside edge bracket, swing around, step onto your right forward inside edge, foot to the front, and bracket. So that second one, Right forward inside edge with your free foot in front and you're gonna bracket to your right back outside edge with your foot behind So after that second bracket, we have a backward twizzle coming, but there's a little tiny grapevine step right in between So we're coming from our right forward inside to right back outside Bracket now your right left leg is a little bit tucked behind because of the way you check out of a bracket We're gonna work with that So your left foot is tucked behind and you're gonna step onto it in a crisscross, all right? So we're going crisscross behind, step open, crisscross over, all right? It's a great find. So we're going left behind, right out, left over. You should have learned this if you passed your freestyle two footwork sequence because you have the same skill in both levels. So in that grapevine we have that second twizzle that I mentioned, this one is going to be going backwards and it's just a single twizzle, so we have two turns. So you have done your grapevine, one, two, three, so your left foot should be in front, you're going to step open and push back onto your right back outside edge for a single twizzle which means it's two turns, one, two, so you're going to check out on that second Second turn, okay? So we're going one, two, three, step out, twizzle, check. And you can see where I am in reference to the circle. I have come fully around the circle, and I'm approaching the center of our ice. Okay, so we're just going to cross the center with our last step. So you checked out from your twizzle. You're going to step towards your left shoulder and do a crossover right over left. And then tuck under, okay? That tuck under is really important because it's gonna set you up for the last step in this dance step, your final Choctaw S step. So you finish your twizzle, you're gonna do one right over left crossover, leave that foot behind and tuck under so you can get onto your inside edge. All right skaters, after that crossover tuck under, we are ready for our final skill. And in most people's opinion, it is the hardest part of this footwork sequence. It is going to be a left forward inside to right back outside Choctaw. And I have posted a tutorial again for this, so I will put that link down below and you can learn this Choctaw. So we are going to come from our left forward inside edge, extending that right leg in front, Before you step, you want to check your arms back so you're switching directions to where you want to be in a moment. You're going to step into our little triangle. I talk about that in the tutorial. And then... no speed here, you're going to hold that finished checked position on your right back outside edge. Now again, talk about this in the tutorial, but your upper body checking before you step is very important. And if you want to pass this test, you need to end it clean, you need to end it strong. So really focus on your upper body position, not just your feet. So coming from our crossover, we have right over left, Tuck under. This is our prep position. Check your upper body and now you're going to check back onto that outside edge and that is your finished Freestyle 5 Footwork Sequence for ISI. All right skaters, I hope you found that tutorial on that ISI Freestyle 5 footwork or dance step helpful. Again, these footwork sequences that I'm getting into are a little trickier, so make sure you spend the time working on the individual steps, the Choctaws, the Twizzles, the Brackets. Make sure that those are really nice, really strong, really clean before you try to combine them into this footwork sequence. Alright, have fun with your practicing. If you enjoyed this video, please do give us that thumbs up. And as always, I'm looking forward to reading all your comments in that section down below. If you haven't done so yet, then hit that subscribe button and the little notification bell so you can see all my videos when they come out. Happy skating and I'll see you next time.