• Dance Discussions - For Teachers - Workshops & Classes

    5 ways to teach to follows

    September 23, 2019 - By 

    It is very easy for teachers to fall into the leader trap. Very often, it makes the most sense for many movements to teach the leads the structure, and then have the followers just “follow along”. But, this has unintended consequences. For example, the lack of follow-centric teaching in many classes causes followers to feel disillusioned with the learning process because they feel like a prop. It can also reinforce the idea that following is “easy”, and always the result of the leader’s quality. And, it stunts the ability for follows to have a conscious understanding of why, when, and…

  • 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”…

  • 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…

  • Workshops & Classes

    When Fixing Problems Goes Too Far

    March 22, 2017 - By 

    When I was a new teacher, I had a student who began as a very ‘heavy’ follow. She used so much resistance that I would be exhausted after one dance with her. After a few months of regular practice, she became a ‘lighter’ follow. It was a beautiful connection. But, she didn’t stop there. She kept trying to connect more lightly. After all, the response to the initial ‘lightening’ was very good – so more must be better, right? The Overcorrection Conundrum This is a habit that I’ve seen quite frequently with dedicated but less-experienced partner dancers. First, they get a piece…

  • 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.

  • Leading - Social Dancing

    Your Follower is not Fragile

    March 9, 2016 - By 

    Every time I write an article on taking care of your partner on the dancefloor, I get a response that goes something like this: “When I dance with a lady, I take care of her. It is a man’s job to take care of a lady, because she is the fairer sex. On a dance floor, I must therefore make her safe and comfortable, because I am responsible for protecting this fragile gender.”

  • 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.

  • Following - Social Dancing

    How to Test-Drive your Partner (Follow’s Version)

    October 9, 2015 - By 

    Follows: what if I told you that you have just as much power to shape your dance as the lead? It’s true – and it starts from the second you begin dancing. Much the same way that a lead can ‘test’ the follow’s abilities before launching into full-on dance mode, we have the ability to ‘test’ the lead’s ability and assess how much we would like to give into the dance.

  • Following - Social Dancing

    What it Means to be a Light Follow

    September 28, 2015 - By 

    Being a light follow has nothing to do with weight.  You can be 200 pounds and light as a feather, or you can be 100 pounds and feel like my apartment’s refrigerator. You can have gorgeous style and be capable of 100 single-footed spins and STILL be a refrigerator. Conversely, you can have no style and physical limitations, yet still be a light follow.

  • Workshops & Classes

    What it means to ‘Teach to Follows’

    August 22, 2015 - By 

    Last week, I wrote an article on why following is frequently underrated as a skill in the social dance scene. This week, I want to follow up on exactly what I mean by teaching follows how to follow in classroom settings, as well as the things I think need to change in order to teach this. This is my personal opinion on the matter, and I’d love to hear from others what they have found worked or didn’t work in their own dance history in the comments below.