360 Turn

A full 360° rotation of the follow led inside the cross-body, so she turns the whole way around and comes out still facing you, still on the line of travel. Where the inside turn just gets her around and moving, the 360 is about the rotation itself — the prep, the axis, the clean arrival. It is the turn that makes a pattern look finished instead of hurried.

• Lead: Open the slot on 5 and keep a calm, steady hand above her head for the whole circle — one continuous lead, not a shove. The rotation is given a direction and then left alone; muscling the second half is what breaks it.
• Follow: Spot one point, commit to the full circle, and stay over your own axis all the way round. The control through the middle of the turn is what makes it read as a 360 rather than a wobble.
• Timing: Prep on 1-2-3, slot opens on 5, full rotation across 5-6-7, resolve on 8/1.
• Common mistake: Under- or over-turning and arriving off-line. A 360 is a complete circle — finish exactly where you can keep dancing without a correction step.

The natural step up from the Cross-Body Lead with Inside Turn (SL006) and the Free Spin (SL071), and the control you need before the CBL with Double Turn (SL089) and the Multi-Spin Combination (SL097) stop being scary. Works in both the Cuban and linear repertoires — in the line it travels down the slot, in Cuban it turns around the shared centre.