• Beginner-Friendly - Etiquette - Following - Social Dancing

    Followers: Are you maximizing your great dances?

    September 14, 2022 - By 

    Followers, have you ever had a mediocre dance night? What about nights that needed to have a really great dance with a really great lead to get back on track, or nights with “not enough (good) leads”? What if there were a way to maximize how many good dances you had from the available pool of leaders? A Leader’s Perspective As an ambidanceterous person (I both lead and follow), I can tell you that the way a follow interacts with me has a massive impact on whether the dance goes well. For example, I have had top-level follows who came to the…

  • Dance Discussions - Following - Leading - Social Dancing

    Why I’m not a fan of #LadyLead and #FellowFollow

    May 27, 2019 - By 

    There’s been a trend about celebrating people who dance outside of the traditional roles. Whether it’s male follows, female leads, or ambidextrous dancers, it’s a great thing to see so many people stepping outside of the traditional. I started leading and following my first dance (Salsa) from the very beginning nine years ago. I did the same thing when I started Brazilian Zouk. I worked at both roles, danced in both roles, and (eventually) taught in both roles. I did it in all dances I tried except West Coast Swing and Tango – for which I am forever kicking myself. Therefore, I…

  • Dance Discussions - Following - Social Dancing

    In Support of Follow Empowerment

    October 18, 2018 - By 

    Over time, dance communities are moving towards a greater focus on follower empowerment. We are becoming more aware of the value followers bring to a dance, and the need to teach to both followers and leaders. But, some people are still a little bit foggy on what follower empowerment is. What follower empowerment is not As we explore what follower empowerment is, we need to remember that it is not about making followers more important than the leader, or insinuating that leaders are the bad guys. Rather, by giving more weight to the responsibilities and importance of the follower role, it actually reduces the…

  • Beginner-Friendly - Following - Social Dancing

    Heaviness vs Solid Connection

    April 5, 2018 - By 

    Have you ever been told that you were a ‘heavy’ follower, attempted to become lighter, and were then told that you were too disconnected or floppy? Or, have you been told your connection was too “light”, attempted to adjust, and then found yourself being called too “heavy”? If so, this article is for you. The “Heaviness” and “Lightness” Problem Frequently, social dancers use heaviness and lightness as catch-all phrases to encompass the idea of “connection.” A follow who is “too heavy” often has too much tension, pushes down their arms, and can feel immovable. A follow who is “too light”…

  • Beginner-Friendly - Following - Leading - Social Dancing - Workshops & Classes

    The five W’s (and one H) of Dancing

    October 25, 2017 - By 

    Each great dance we will ever have comes down to a few foundational building blocks. If all the blocks are there, a dance will be more successful and pleasant. But, if we prioritize certain building blocks over others, we end up with an unbalanced experience. Those building blocks can be summed up as the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How of the dance. The Who: Connection Connection (the “Who”) is your awareness and understanding of your partner. It encompasses how you touch, hold, or feel your partner’s body. It is important for understanding the what of a dance, because it…

  • Following - Leading - Social Dancing

    Why every dancer should be both a leader and a follower

    May 24, 2017 - By 

    In partner dance, we have two (typically) well-defined roles: leader and follower. Each of these roles has its own set of responsibilities. The leader is the director, who has a vision for what happens next. They create the requests, which are then processed by the follower. The follower interprets requests made by the leader, and implements the request. They create the vision the leader has set out. But, what if we blur these lines a bit? The Concept of Following while Leading The most sought-after leads have a very special quality: the ability to understand and interpret the responses given by…

  • Dance Discussions - Etiquette - Following - Social Dancing

    In Defence of the ‘Hot Girl that Can’t Dance’

    September 19, 2016 - By 

    Have you ever gone to an event, and seen that girl? She’s hot. She’s dressed sexy. Her make-up is all done up. To top it all off, she gets asked to dance by all the desirable leads… all night long. There’s only one issue: She can’t dance. Instead of dancing, what she’s doing is flirting with all those leads and using her looks to get dances. She can’t dance; she just looks sexy. She doesn’t even bother to take classes! If only leads weren’t so shallow in their dance choices, they’d be dancing with a real dancer instead. *** Snap out of it. *** Most people I know who attend events…

  • Beginner-Friendly - Following - Leading - Social Dancing

    The Magic of Hands

    July 29, 2016 - By 

    Hands are magical. They’re one of the most sensitive parts of the human body, and can even feel large microscopic molecules on a flat surface. We also generally rely pretty heavily on the hands for social dancing. Of course, it is possible to not use the hands in social dancing – but it is difficult. But, there are things that your hands can do in social dancing that you may not think about regularly.

  • Following - Leading - Social Dancing

    Dancing on Default

    June 28, 2016 - By 

    Have you ever felt like your leading is a bit ‘boring’ and is stuck on autopilot? Do you default to the same movement set, regardless of music? Follows, do you ever find yourself just ‘going through the motions’ on a step? If this sounds like you, you may be dancing on default.

  • Beginner-Friendly - Following - Leading - Social Dancing

    The Art of Subtle Movement: “But it doesn’t feel like I’m dancing!”

    June 23, 2016 - By 

    When I started dancing, I really wanted to move my body. I saw advanced dancers moving effortlessly around the floor, and I emulated them. So, when I went to class, I moved my body. A lot. I took giant steps. I flung my hair around as much as I could. I stuck my arms out all the time. I tried really hard to make my hips move on every step.  In general, I was over-dancing.

  • Following - Health & Safety - Social Dancing

    Backleading

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    Every lead has encountered the Backleader. Very much the follow version of a Pinball Lead, the Backleader goes where he or she wants – without regard to the partner. It doesn’t matter if the lead has another idea or if the music has a specific accent to hit – the follow is on autopilot, driving without a map – but convinced that they know where they are going.