Cheat Codes to Leading and Following

Dancing is just like a computer game, you can move forward, back, left and right, up and down and in some cases, jump. In Co-opt two player games working together is essential to progress and its the same for dancing. Leading and Following are two important skills when it comes to dancing with a partner. The more that we learn and the more that we practice the easier these skills become but there are some things that we can do to lead or follow our partner better. So here are the cheat codes for leading and following.

Space Invaders

Frame is how you hold your partner when you dance. You want to keep the space between you and your partner consistent, and be avoid encroaching or invading our partners space. A good rule for both leaders and followers is to make sure that our elbows are in front of us and not drifting pass our body. Followers should also think about following their elbow when it comes to moves such as turns.

Gear Shift

When dancing with a partner, we not only have to be conscious of our balance, posture and weight distribution but also our partners. Some good exercises that you can do with your partner is for the follower to close their eyes and (in frame) feel the leader shift from one foot to the other and say which foot they’re on. The leader can also shift their weight between the balls, heels or middle of their foot and again get the follower to feel and guess where their partner is. This will help to build partner awareness as well as awareness in our own body.

Nice Guys Finish Last

In the first stages of dancing, leaders often develop “Nice Guy Syndrome” and take timid steps to not step on their partner or try to move around them. As a leader we want to make our dance intentions clear and move through our partner rather than around them. Leaders can become so focused on their steps and where they need to be, that they can forget to take their partner with them.

Slow Mode

As a follower, we can sometimes try to predict or guess what our leader wants us to do. While we may know the step, we can’t rush ahead of our leader. As followers, we need to slow down, not predict and only move when we feel our partner lead us. A good practice exercise is for the leader to play with the timing or take things super slow and letting the follower to just wait.

There are many other cheat codes in the game of “Dance”. So make sure you save these ones to your "‘files’ as well as others that you pick up in your lessons and group classes. We both have our parts to play. Listen to your partner, make your intentions clear and with a little luck you can win the game.