Learn the fallaway throwaway in jive: send the lady into open position out of the fallaway rock. With count, connection, foot technique and typical mistakes.
The honest answer to “What is the fallaway throwaway in jive?”: it is a figure in which the lady is “thrown away” from the fallaway position into open position. The connection between you reduces to one hand, the lady moves away from the man, and afterwards both rock back towards each other. The name sounds harsher than the figure is: it is a soft sending away, not force.
Why is it so popular in beginner classes? Because it opens up the jive: away from closed hold, towards a game with distance. And because it teaches you the most important thing in jive: leading with minimal connection.
For context: jive is the most strenuous of the five Latin dances. In 18 top dancers in a simulated competition round, jive had, at 184.3 beats per minute, the highest mean heart rate and, at 8.3 out of 10, the highest perceived exertion [2]. In another study, intensity in Latin competition was even above the anaerobic threshold, where lactate accumulates (men 101 %, women 107 % of the threshold) [1]. That is competition level – in class you dance the same figure slowly.
How hard is it really? The step sequence sits after two evenings. The relaxed sending away and the precise timing take weeks (rule of thumb, no study evidence).
The jive count: 1–2 (rock), 3a4 (chassé), 5a6 (chassé). The fallaway rock runs without stumbling. Milestone: you can dance it ten times in a row without losing the beat.
In the fallaway the man reduces the connection to one hand. The hand leads, it does not pull. For context: in lab trials with connected arms, the partner with the more accurate target information led, and arm tension adapted to partner performance [4] – a transfer from an arm task, but it fits: lead clearly, hold loosely.
From the fallaway position the lady is sent into open position. The man stays quiet, the body supports the hand lead. If the lady sees the path, she takes it. The sending is an offer, not a pull.
Both rock towards each other and find the connection again. The knee gives, the upper body stays quiet. This rock prepares the next figure (link).
In jive kicks and chassés, how you land matters. In a study with 21 dancers per group, dancers who landed only on the forefoot showed smaller muscle forces around the ankle, more inversion (rolling inward) and a higher sprain risk than dancers who used the whole sole [3]. So roll through in a controlled way. Raise the tempo only when the landing stays quiet.
Jive is fast, and speed plus rotation lead to rolled ankles. In a survey of 218 Dutch DanceSport dancers, 80.7 % reported at least one injury, most often at the foot, ankle and lower leg [5]. This is where mistakes come from that only show up weeks later. Practise on a smooth but not slippery floor, with a warm-up and half tempo. Never send the lady in a direction where space is lacking. Stop immediately at pain in the knee or ankle. This description explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training.
Practise the sending without a partner at a door handle: hold it loosely with one hand, let go, send the arm away, bring it back. You feel how little force a sending really needs (little). Then use only half as much force with a partner as before. (Practical experience, no study evidence.)
Throwaway means “to throw away”. It refers to the soft sending of the lady from fallaway position into open position. The connection is reduced to one hand. It is about timing and lead, not force.
The step sequence is not, but the timing is. Jive is the most strenuous Latin dance: top dancers reached 184 beats per minute and a perceived exertion of 8.3 out of 10 in competition [2]. Practise slowly and with breaks.
With information instead of force: the hand offers the path, the body stays quiet. In the lab, with connected arms, the partner with the more accurate information led [4] (transfer, not a dance study).
In the jive kick landing is often on the forefoot. A study showed that landing purely on the forefoot goes with more inversion and a higher sprain risk than landing on the whole sole [3]. Roll the foot through in a controlled way.
Two to three times a week for ten minutes, half tempo (rule of thumb, no study evidence). Raise the tempo only when timing and landing are clean.
Link in Jive: The Bridge That Brings You Back Together