Rules of Thumb for Followers

[PsychoSalsaGuy]

Hiya!

I'm trying to compile some rules of thumb for followers.

So far I have: Trust your partner.
If in doubt, do the basic.
If you don't feel a lead, then just do the basic. Don't do anything unless the leader leads it.
Try not to move yourself.
Follow your hand. (Very useful for turns)
Keep an eye out for your partner's hand.
Don't let go, unless you are in danger.
Leave your hand where the leader puts it.
Learn the music, but follow the leader's timing.
If the leader is off-time, ignore the music and count HIS timing in your head instead.
Keep your frame and tension/compression.
Don't over-style.
Let the momentum carry you through the moves. Don't stop yourself. Make the leader do it.Do you all have any thoughts about my list or suggestions for new items?
I'd like to keep the list as concise and easy to remember as possible which means each entry needs to be short. I know I need to trim my list already, but I'll do that later on.

Oh, and I also know about this discussion (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10416). It helped me a lot.

I also have two other discussions:
Rules of Thumb for Dancing (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=11727)
Rules of Thumb for Leaders (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=11726)
So if you want you can click on the links and discuss my other lists.

[i_am_cjb]

Hiya!

I'm trying to compile some rules of thumb for followers.

So far I have: Trust your partner.
If in doubt, do the basic.
If you don't feel a lead, then just do the basic. Don't do anything unless the leader leads it.
Try not to move yourself.
Follow your hand. (Very useful for turns)
Keep an eye out for your partner's hand.
Don't let go, unless you are in danger.
Leave your hand where the leader puts it.
Learn the music, but follow the leader's timing.
If the leader is off-time, ignore the music and count HIS timing in your head instead.
Keep your frame and tension/compression.
Don't over-style.
Let the momentum carry you through the moves. Don't stop yourself. Make the leader do it.Do you all have any thoughts about my list or suggestions for new items?
I'd like to keep the list as concise and easy to remember as possible which means each entry needs to be short. I know I need to trim my list already, but I'll do that later on.

Oh, and I also know about this discussion (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=10416). It helped me a lot.

I also have two other discussions:
Rules of Thumb for Dancing (http://www.dance-forums.com/posting.php?mode=editpost&p=217729)
Rules of Thumb for Leaders (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=11726)
So if you want you can click on the links and discuss my other lists.

My NY-style teacher always told followers, "If in doubt, set up". So if the leader is facing away from you, set up to spin, because he may turn back around and try to spin you straight away.

But otherwise, I think this is pretty good. As I'm trying to learn to follow myself, I think it could be useful to me. Of course, I know the tension stuff in theory, but in practice :(

[alemana]

hm, we recently had a thread on the same topic.

[PsychoSalsaGuy]

hm, we recently had a thread on the same topic.Hmmm... I tried searching for similar threads. Could you provide a link or a clue about what to search for?

[alemana]

oh i see you referenced it in your earlier post. carry on.

what are these lists for, out of curiosity?