HERE'S HOW TO DANCE
THE ROCK 'N ROLL!

When Rock and roll emerged as Popular music about three or four years ago, there was no new dance to fit the new and tremendously strong double beat. Everyone danced their own version of the traditional Jitterbug, Swing, Lindy, or New Yorker, gradually changing these dances to fit the Rock and roll rhythm by accenting the double beat with each step.

The words Rock 'n Roll give us a picture of a boy tossing a girl through the air - pretty wild dancing. These tosses - or lofts, as they're called - don't actually make the dance. It's the new accent on the double beat that does it. To learn it, first pick up the general tips here, then study the pictures and captions beginning with number one - and practice.

If you have records to practice to, fine. If not, here's what you can do. The R&R beat sounds like ABOOM-CHICK, ABOOM-CHICK, ABOOM-CHICK. Just say this loud and strong while you practice.

First learn the basic step (photos 1 through 6), remembering that whatever variations there are in the Rock and Roll, they all stem from this one simple step: TOE-HEEL, TOE-HEEL, ROCK-STEP, to the ABOOM-CHICK beat.

If you say and dance it to an exact rhythm, just as if you were counting 1-2-3-4-5-6, your rhythm will be perfect. Practice the basic step, with and without a partner, and remember:

* Hold your partner solidly, but otherwise stay loose.

* Dance low to the ground, with your knees slightly bent.

* If the boy dips the girl's hand a little on the first step, both dancers will start together.

After you've mastered the basic step, try one of the two variations suggested here, the "open position", and the "wrap-up". Both are simple, and both involve the same basic step you learned first. Whatever you try, watch out for:

* Staying on the back foot too long on the rock Step. The beat is quick-quick, so shift your weight immediately and start the basic again.

* Taking steps that are too big. Boys especially should step in place.

* Tightening up.

* Practicing too hard. Take it easy. Work a little while, take a break, and then come back to it.

After you've mastered the basic and its easy variations, and feel confident enough that you do them without having to count to yourself, enough that you do them automatically, you'll be getting the real fun out of dancing the Rock 'n Roll and you can start to invent you own variations. Just remember the TOE-HEEL, TOE-HELL, ROCK STEP rhythm, and nothing can go wrong.

Okay - so dance!

THE DANCERS are the popular Universal-International stars of Summer Love, Judy Meredith and Troy Donahue, who thought it would be fun to dance for the camera - they called it the easiest on-camera job they'd ever had.