Tip # 1: Arm placement when leading/following a turn
For Followers:
While being led to turn you should keep your elbow as low as possible and still connect to your partner's hand.
For Leaders:
When leading a turn, make sure to keep your hand as low as possible, barely clearing her head and move your hand in a 'halo' action over her head.
To see a video of this Dance Tip, click here.
Tip # 2: Keeping your feet on the floor
When dancing Waltz, keep your feet on the floor and don't pick them up as you would walking down the street. This will help you deliver a smooth body flight.
To see a video of this Dance Tip, click here.
Tip # 3: Spotting your turns
Spot your turns. Spotting is used to help keep you from getting dizzy while turning. It's not the easiest thing to do but when done properly
it will help you with balance and control. To spot something means to look at a spot while your body is turning until you can no longer look
at that spot any longer. At that time you will rotate your head around back to that same spot. Most of the time spotting is done DLD
(down line of dance) but you can spot your partner or to the crowd at times. Make sure that you do not tilt you head to either side while
spotting or you will cause other problems.
To see a video of this Dance Tip, click here.
Tip # 4: Learning the character of a dance
You should know a little history of the dances you do. More importantly you should know the character of dance as well.
Most dancers in Birmingham are just taught the steps of a pattern. Make sure your instructor is not cutting you short in
your knowledge of dance with the excuse "it is social". Knowing the character of dance will help you learn correct movement
for that dance faster.
Tip # 5: Dancing with beginner dancers
Dancing well with beginners is a skill separate from being able to dance well with other experienced dancers. Revealing
the joy of dance to a new person is, for me, one of the rewards of being an experienced dancer. The only way to learn,
of course, is to practice, so try to dance with at least one new person at each dance. Many of these tips are also
good advice when dancing with experienced dancers, but they are particularily important when dancing with beginners.
Show the other people you enjoy dancing with them.
Help the beginners have fun. Remember that's what we're here for.
Don't push, pull or instruct with out being asked too, that's rude. Leaders: Don't do extra twirls and spins. The beginners
look to you for example, you may know where you need to be next and which way to be facing, but they don't. Let them get
the basics before trying to add extra moves. Followers: Don't take over the lead and encourage them to do more basics over
and over.Dance smoothly, show them how it's done.
Don't get upset at them when mistakes are made. Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, even you! Encourage and acknowledge
the real efforts the beginners are making.
Communicate acceptance and affirmation as much as possible.
Communicate willingness to answer questions about any aspect of the dance. Don't make up answers - send them to a professional if you don't know.
If the new person has obvious difficulty with something in particular, simply ask, "Do you mind if I show you?" Go slow and understand that
when you ask if they understand they will say yes even if they don't. Also know that when you show something and they get it wrong they
will let others know that you taught them wrong even if they misunderstood you. So be careful when offering yourself up as a helper.
Tip # 6: Improving your retention of dance patterns
1. Find five minutes when you can think about a particular dance by yourself. Visualize yourself in dance position and imagine that you are dancing.
2. For leaders, try to see yourself dancing the patterns of a particular dance (i.e., the Tango). First, focus on the footwork.
Next, recall the lead for each of the various steps. Is it a lead signaled by the frame? The raising of your hand?
3. For followers, focus on your foot patterns and link the lead for each step with the sensation in your body whether it be a raised hand or a turn
into promenade or a stop that signals a rocking movement.
4. Try playing the appropriate dance music to the dance you are visualizing and count the basic rhythm to the music as you imagine yourself
dancing the various steps.
5. Write a cheat sheet with a list of dance steps to take with you to class or a dance you are attending. The creation of the sheet
will help you to connect the step patterns to their names in your mind. This will make it easier to recall the necessary footwork and
lead and follow the movements.
Tip # 7: Keep your head up
Keep your head up and your eyes facing in the direction that you are moving (nose over toes). While it is natural to look down at your
feet to see if you are stepping on your partner or about to be stepped on, by the time your brain gets the message to your feet, it is
too late and you will be off the beat of the music. Holding your head erect contributes to a better dance frame, making it easier
for both dancers to either lead or follow!
To see a video of this Dance Tip, click here.
Tip # 8: Leading and Following
This is a very long but very good article written by Victor Eijkhout I found on the Web. If you do not have time now please come
back to this when you do and read the whole thing.
On Leading And Following, "If you don't lead me ", my sister announced, "I'm not going to move." Fifty years later I still remember her words.
Since that time I have considerably enhanced most of the social ballroom dancing that I first learned from her, however two things that she
emphasized have held up throughout the years... "IF YOU DON'T LEAD ME, I'M NOT GOING TO MOVE!" and "DON'T DANCE ME INTO THE FURNITURE!"
Leading and following that takes place between two people out on the dance floor can be analyzed down to the tiniest detail and is probably
the most complex form of communication that takes place between two human beings... at its best and most highly developed level, it is
exhilarating and immensely gratifying to the couple that achieves it, especially in improvisational/spontaneous dancing when you meet a partner
who can lead (or follow).
Leading and following are skills that require true intelligence and cognitive abilities such as learning, pattern recognition, and non-verbal
communication. Watching a champion Jack & Jill couple is like watching an improvised composition of a piece of art. There are many misconceptions
about lead and follow, expounded by both men and women. Untrained dancers sometimes seem to think that the lady is just supposed to go limp and the
man bends her to his will. This is grossly mistaken. While some people may be willing at a beginning social level to tolerate this, it cannot last
long - it is too exhausting for the man and too painful for the woman. A woman without good posture, correct body/foot positions and body tone is
simply not leadable. The man cannot be expected to position every part of the woman's body. A man without these qualities is not followable because
the woman cannot distinguish the signal from the noise (and may be physically prevented from doing the intended figure). Leading should not be tiring -
it is only tiring when the follower isn't following. Leading is not pushing or pulling. It is communicating an intention. Dancing is an art form,
despite the fact that it requires the prowess of an athlete.
A good lead/follow is like a good conversation - you don't have to yell, you only need to talk. As you get better, all you really need to do is
whisper. Leading is not to be misinterpreted as "pushing or pulling". Though poor followers often say, "If I have a strong leader I can follow",
they would need the force of an "Arnold Schwartzenegger" (after he's properly warmed up) to move them across the floor. Equal sympathy goes to
followers who encounter a leader who hasn't the foggiest of what he's trying to lead and can't move rhythmically to any music, doesn't know a slow
from a quick and has no conception of what misery he is inflicting on his partner. It's is not a leaders job to "haul" the follower around the floor
every second, nor is it the followers job to just hang there like a sack of potatoes and be dragged. Leading and following is a dynamic process that
requires a great deal of effort on the part of both members of a partnership. It is readily possible to lead a woman through a fairly intricate step
that she doesn't know _without_ apparent force. Possible, though it is not within the powers of most men.
If you want women to vie with each other for the opportunity of dancing with you, this is what you must learn to do. It is skill, not force, you
are seeking, (Grasshopper)! Men who claim they can lead anyone to dance well are not giving their partners enough credit. Women who say they can follow
anything are not giving truly good followers enough credit. Experienced dancers never say such things, because it is simply not true. John Wood would not
be world champion with just any woman - Anne Lewis contributes every bit as much to their success. To say that all any woman needs is a good leader
unfairly detracts from the many very talented female dancers. It also places too great a responsibility on the man - it implies that all errors are
his fault. Sometimes women say, "I just follow." This demeans following as a trivial thing, which it most certainly is not. Partnering skills are vital
to good ballroom dancing. It is very difficult to cover the technique in classes since this is probably the most complex element to couple dancing and
takes many years of coaching to perfect. It is not a matter of simple 'cueing', but an understanding of the entire body and how to make 2 people move as
one around a common center. Competitive dancers must work extremely hard with this and it is actually tougher with couples who are 'used to each other'
than with perfect strangers.
For example, when I have just had a coaching session working on my technique, the slightest change (such as a minute timing
delay in a weight change) will totally throw my partner. She starts fussing that I don't feel right anymore, or she will interpret the change as a lead
to some other move that I used to do with her. However, I apply the same new technique to other competent dancers whom I rarely dance with and, voila!,
it works beautifully! Apparently, a longtime partner can get very used to the feel of their partner, and it is tougher to practice any improvement or
change. (I heard the exact same complaint from Jim Maranto - the current US American Smooth Champion - re: his partner/wife). Even competitive routines
are led/followed. Any competitor taught "dance your own part and let your partner dance theirs, you don't have to lead/follow" has been taught wrong! The
judges can tell the difference between a couple with a real lead/follow "connection" and a couple that is just going through their routine. One competitor
writes "Ballroom is social dancing - it is dependent on lead and follow, even in competition. My competition (Standard - "smooth") partner and I have a few
pre-choreographed "amalgamations" we use in competition, but I still always have to rely on his lead to know what we're doing, where we're going, what
timing he's going to use this time, how he feels like expressing it this time..." Another competitor writes "there is most definitely lead and follow, even
in competitive Latin where one's routines are choreographed to the hilt. My partner and I have spent countless hours, with coaches and without them,
working on *nothing* but this one aspect of the dance.
Good lead and follow is critical in Latin dancing, both for the sake of speed, control and balance, but also simply because a step well-led and followed
is a thousand times more pleasurable to dance for both partners." Without even dancing with them you can tell the competitive dancers who can't lead and
follow; just look for the couples who keep running into others on the floor. Because they dance their own parts, they have not developed and practiced the
dynamic process of leading and following (floorcraft) required to negotiate around obstacles and unexpected incursions into their line of dance. Even with a
routine, there is still a need to change directions unexpectedly, or completely alter a routine to deal with the fact that other couples are also dancing.
In competition, there is *never* a place in the routine where lead-and-follow are not taking place. Even in the Latin dances, and even when the couple know
the routine, you *must* lead. Most of the steps you perform in competition dancing require a special attention to lead and follow; you see this aspect where
good competitive couples can make the dancing appear to take no effort, and therefore appears that no lead-and-follow is happening. That is an instance of
good dancing, not no lead and follow. There is lead and follow happening, even when the couples are dancing side-by-side and not touching. It is just not
typical; it's often done with body placement and eyes. During side-by-side "solo" dancing the man has to watch for on coming couples and possible collisions
so that he can adjust them or readily change the routine.
In Jack and Jill Competitions, when you draw your regular partner you may not do very well since the judging is very highly directed toward lead and follow.
It's pretty obvious when regular partners are doing a routine w/o lead/follow. You can tell that a couple try to do a routine: they do the same steps but since
no lead/follow takes place they will look like two individuals rather than a couple! I often test my regular partner by altering our routine on the fly. If
other couples are on the floor you can never be sure what will happen. You may have to avoid a collision or simply forget what comes next! :-)
Men, to truly lead well you must know the lady's part to every figure you do. Leading and following are very different skills, and following well is every
bit as difficult as leading well. Recognizing figures in a noisy, moving environment is a complicated task that is certainly equal to figure transmission.
Of course there is one thing the leader does that the follower has no analog for - floor craft. The leader has primary responsibility for obstacle avoidance,
and this can be a difficult task, especially on a crowded floor with couples moving at widely differing speeds. The leader truly has to do everything at once;
he's got to listen to the music, decide what to do and how to do it, think not only about his own movements but about his partner's and those of all the other
couples, etc., etc. And to make matters worse, when beginning his dancing career the man has to learn how to do everything at once, at once.
Yes, the follower has to be able to perform a lot of actions, but the leader has to be able to perform _and_ initiate them. In addition, there are many
variations that differ only in detail matters of raising an arm or not, or something subtle like that, and the leader has to be aware of the differences,
and has to indicate clearly where the movement is going. Of course as a pro, he'll manage to hold a conversation in a foreign language while leading a gold
level sequence!
Following skills are as equally important as leading skills. A dance is much more enjoyable when the leader need only give firm, not forceful, leads to
his partner to indicate what is wanted, and when a partner senses body movements that serve as leads. For this to work, the lady must become sensitive and
responsive to the feel (and sometimes sight) of leads, and not expect that her partner will (literally) carry her through the dance. The skill of following
is greatly underestimated.
Whenever I am trying to teach beginners about leading and following, I always have a hard time conveying the idea that dancing is a PARTNER sport--each
person has to carry his/her load, or the whole thing fails. Leading/following implies a one way connection (man to lady) but in really good dancing both
partners are putting various different energies into the dancing at different times, and even though the leader is (usually) in control of things like
floor direction, timing, and choreography, his awareness of the actions of his partner (how far did she go...is she finished with her line yet...is her
weight over the foot I'm about to turn her on, etc.) are vital.
Women follow, but men must lead _and_ follow; i.e., men must watch to see what the women are doing and compensate. The leader, who is in creative
control, needs pattern-based thinking, with frames of reference that can include the whole dance floor, the space occupied by the couple, the spatial
relationships between the two dancers, and the patterns of connection between the two. It seems that followers are mainly concerned with the last frame
of reference, i.e., they react to the patterns of connection.
Following is more fun than leading, because you (a) have much less responsibility for navigating and (b) don't know what's going to be lead next, so
each dance is something of a "magical mystery tour". I think the best part about being a follower is being led in patterns or syncopations that I don't
know! When led well, good followers execute moves that are totally unexpected or unpredictable but incredibly fun. Some leaders complain about how boring
it gets to only do the same repertoire over and over all night long. They say followers have more fun because they're doing different dances all night.
But another leader writes: "A good leader never dances the same way with every person. The way you do the same dance changes from one partner to the next.
Were you to see me dancing with a beginner, it would be difficult for you to tell that I'm other than a good beginner. Were you to see me dancing with one of
the Champions (with whom I'm comfortable) you would see something quite different. Were you to see me dancing with someone I know well and with whom I've
been dancing for years, you'd see something different."In addition that learning the figures in the first place can be as analytical for the follower as it is for the leader, though the habitual execution of
them might not be. Also, there is an added dimension for the follower, which is that you must have in your head the *entire* menu of movement possibilities
at every point, not just the one you're going to use. Since you don't know what the guy is going to lead, you have to be ready to do *everything* and very
rapidly react to the situations and signals you get to eliminate the things you're not being asked to do. This is a skill that relies as much on spatial or
"pattern-based" thinking as floorcraft, albeit in a less linear way.
Note that the lady does not "lead" when she is stepping forward. The lady does not change the direction of a step unless a collision is imminent (and not
always then), and the gentleman is then responsible for getting out of whatever position she got them in to if she does take control for a moment. Rather
than saying that the lady 'leads' when going forward, it might be better to say the gentleman 'follows' when going back. The man always initiates direction
of movement, but the person moving forward dictates the size of the step. They always step on the floor before the person going backward, therefore leading
the way. And, while the 'lead' that determines the length of the stride is different from the 'lead' that determines what figure to do, the 'follow'
associated with each of these is the same.
For an example that lasts longer than a half bar of pivots or a bar of Viennese waltz, try continuous waves in Foxtrot. The lady can be going forward
indefinitely in this figure, and she determines the distance traveled. However, she should not decide when to end the figure and go into, say, an impetus
turn, just as in Viennese waltz she should not decide to start a fleckerl instead of a reverse turn.
Tip # 9: Rolling through your feet
Learn to roll through your feet. There is not a dance I know of that is stepped all flat foot although there are a lot of dancers that
do or can only roll through thier feet going forward. There are many parts to your foot and you should know which parts are best to dance
on or through. I feel that the main difference in learning to "social" vs "competetive" dance is usually in the amount of energy exerted
and styling, not in the technique of the dance. You need good technique in both social and competitive dance styles. It is a shame if you
learn a dance wrong in the name of "social"or "fun". I think all dancing should be fun... I did not say easy.
To see a video of this Dance Tip, click here.
