[cats eye]

I just have one more question...

What in the hell is a "trick & a turn"? I have judged several dance competitions and tryouts... I am aware of all of the required dance "turns" and I feel very comfortable judging those along with all of the required "leaps" and so forth... but this "Trickin' stuff" has me baffled. Please explain.

A trick is usually anything other than a leap or turn. Tricks are often similair to break dancing moves and are more common in pom routines than in a jazz routine. An example of a trick that I can give is a flying squirrl. I will try to explain but it may not make much sense. a flying squirrl begins with both hands on the gound the dancer then plies' (bends her knees) does a hand stand with the legs in a straddle position then turns her body to land facing the back with one leg bent and the other straight while sitting on her bottom. Leaps are side leaps, switch leaps, etc and turns are turns in 2nd, doubles, triples, etc. In the past years many new leaps (calyspio, bolero,etc) and turns (leg hold turn, double float, etc) have been developed while the more "old school" tricks are being phased out. Hope this helps