First: I am a rank beginner with ballroom dancing as I have only had one lesson as of last Friday.

Second: I'm a bit confused over the lead. What exactly do I do to communicate exactly what I'm trying to tell my partner? (I'm male, btw.)

Thanks for any responses.

Preferring to dance basics with beginners isn't snobbish! If anything, it shows patient consideration. Avoid stressing and overwhelming new dancers, whether they're trying to lead...or follow! And from what I've heard, followers pretty much universally agree that it's more fun (and safer) to dance a few patterns well. When a dancer is outside the 'comfort zone', everything that makes dancing feel good vanishes. Lead & follow break down, music is ignored as rhythm becomes an afterthought, and floorcrafting degenerates into multi-car....um....partner....accidents.

Dancing as a beginner is hard. Dancing WITH a beginner is hard too! The only way to make it work...uh....FUN for both people is the K I S S principle

I will attempt to explain my perception of what constitutes leading in a dance. Let me first quote the definition that I once read in a book about leading: To lead is to have a vision, to communicate this vision, to plan for the execution of this vision and to follow through the execution of this vision. Am I making things more comnfusing? Let me try to illustrate this definition:

1. One must have an a priori (that is, an ahead of time) vision of the dance move to perform. This vision must accommodate the specific rules of a dance style. In other words, if the leader tries to place his partner some place on the dancing floor without accounting for which one of her feet is expected to move at any given time, the leader may induce the follower to trip and fall! You would not want to do that to any partner; they would not want to dance with you any more.....So, this vision (the move you intend to perform) must be already proven and to work well before attempting it with a partner. It must be carefully planned.

2. Once you have developed a doable (both for you and your partner) vision of the move to perform (that is you have developed the plan), the next step is to communicate this vision to your partner. In dance, the communication is mostly through touch, but also visual. To be able to communicate well with your partner you need to do the following things:

a) Make sure that you provide a frame of reference to your partner. That is, your arms must maintain a certain rigidity which defines the space in which your partner should be located at all times. Your ability to maintain that frame (without collapsing your arms) is for the most responsible for the success of your lead. Of course, your partner must also cooperate, and offer you a corresponding rigid frame (no collapsing of her arms is allowed) which should remain interlocked with yours, so that any light pressure of your frame to hers will be felt by her and induce her to move in the direction you want to move.

b) Anticipate: This means that the pressure from your frame to your partner's frame must at all times and with continuity be exercised ahead of the move which is taking place. In other words, when you are executing the dance move, your frame moves slightly ahead of the music's tempo, while your partner is moving on the beat of the music. In common words: You dance ahead of the music; she dances with the music.

3. During the execution of the dance move, you must at all times check that your partner is following appropriately. You do this by constantly feeling the response of your partner's frame to your's. If your partner does not seem to follow very well, you might need to slightly increase the pressure of your frame on hers, to make your intentions more clearly understood. Be gentle! No lady likes to be pushed around.....

A few tips on how to learn to lead:

1. Make sure you know your own steps so well that you do not have to think about them. Once you are able to perform your own steps instinctively, you will be able to devote your attention to holding your frame and, with it, guide your partner.

2. NEVER collapse your frame, even if your partner happens to do so!

3. Dance a lot, and with different partners. Each lady will feel different, and follow differently. It is your responsibility to provide for the needs of your partner.

A final word on visual leads: Once you develop a lot of experience, you can suggest to your partner future moves way ahead of the one you are executing. The visual leads can be as simple as a sway of the body and as complex as a change in the direction of your eyes. Visual leads must be perceptible to your partner, but should remain unnoticed by the spectators.

I hope this helps. Cheers!

p.s. Harmony: Thanks!

Thanks, Steven. I'm taking the course at my local community college.

Upon reading Harmony's muddled paragraph that alludes to the importance of "proper sentence construction and grammar" in dancing, I have come to a realization.

Hi, my name is Sir, and I am a SYDLEXIC CANDER!!!

Sri.

Oh, and as a PS, I have a very short attention span. Which is why I could not "wind" through some of the longer responses.. Can anyone provide crib notes please?

Sri.

This thread has a lot of great replies! I went to the page which Steven suggested in his post and it taught me a lot about following.

Personally, I think Following is being highly underestimated in general (especially by those who do not dance), but it is probably as difficult to master as Leading is. (I'm still in the learning process, because I *do* know how to backlead )

Is there any advice you could give for beginning Followers, too?

Thanks!

Michelle

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." - Horace

Harmony,

I understand exactly what you're saying! Tonight's lesson (which I had to leave half-way through--old foot injury making its presence known) required changing partners. Since I'm attending as a single because I want to learn to dance, I ended up dancing with a few ladies who were very good followers and one lady who was intent, very intent on leading.

Partner dance is physical communication. As with verbal communication, it's important to be able to 'speak' and 'listen' but it's done with the whole body, not just the arms or just the feet. Music is the primary guide, unifying force, and inspiration behind what is done, when and how.

iN danz evrymovment!! haz A purpose wHiChisThErE for?balanse or t;o g,u'i-d_e thefollower "or" tel tHe leader someonezinth!e WAY@$%^ Or sumthin else IMPORTANT a.n,d {alMOst] no thing/is jus stylin.!? ;-p

Reading the previous sentence is easy compared to following some of the men I've danced with Which means? Dance, like writing, has rules designed primarily to enhance communication. It's important to understand their purpose; poetic licences are earned at graduation, not handed out on the first day of school!

So what are the basic rules of dance 'grammar'? Well, a couple of the most important are "Be on beat" and "Handle your partner gently". This makes you more predictable and comfortable for your partner. Two more are "Correct posture" and "Move your body and frame together". Your frame (arms for the sake of simplicity) transmits your intention (lead) to your partner by connecting your body to hers. When you move while following the 'rules', your partner (if she also follows the 'rules') can understand your intention and respond. Unnecessary movements and lack of connection create 'static' which interferes with communication, making it hard to lead or follow.

One of the most common mistakes beginners of both sexes make is being too tense, often clutching their partners tightly as a result. Whether from nervousness or a desire to get it 'right', people put much too much pressure on themselves (or worse, their significant other). Practicing the basic step on your own will help. With shoulders relaxed and arms hanging at your sides, dance to the beat of the music until you can do it without thinking about it. Much harder to do than it sounds!

It's impossible to do the basic pattern for each dance too much; it's best to really get into it and enjoy the feeling of dancing to music. If you're lucky, the teacher won't pile on patterns until the class is comfortable dancing with each other to the music. While some people think more patterns are better, most followers would rather dance with a leader who does a few correctly. It's worthwhile to cultivate 'stillness' in dancing; until you know how and why to move different parts of your body, leave them quiet and relaxed.

That should give you enough to chew on between now and next Friday