So, what's wrong with anticipation?

[peachexploration]

I got this from a Salsa Instructors Forum

Anticipation

Anticipation is the implementation of an action of part or parts of a, move or combo (small routine) either before the leader has led, or regardless of weather the leader has led. It is subtly different from a follower simply doing her own thing i.e. leading herself and is seen as the follower anticipating the leaders leads wishing to help out.

It may appear that this is a harmless habit but the implications are far reaching and possibly shape the whole dance scene.

Anticipation seems to be rooted at the earliest stages where beginners not wishing to be the only ones not being able to do the move, help the leader out and complete the move regardless of how or whether it was led. From everyone’s point of view including the teachers, the move appeared to work. Here lies the problem.

The leader feels it’s gone ok because the move ended up in the right place at the right time. If he’s leading too weakly or not at all he won’t realise that his technique is incorrect. To put it another way his poor technique has been proven to work! If he was leading well, he may decide to not bother leading, as it doesn’t seem necessary!

From the followers point of view everything has appeared to work so what’s wrong with anticipating? If she anticipates that move with every man in the class it works with all of them.

As far as the teachers concerned the class is doing the move as instructed so the class can move on to other things.

At higher stages the anticipation of a single lead becomes the anticipation of a whole combo. The leader just presses the button and away she goes. No leading required. This forms a choreography mind set, where dancers think in terms of routines. Routines that are common place in a club become the safe ones to do as everyone does them. Out of their regular club environment, dancers seek out other dancers with whom they are confident of getting their "pre-rehearsed" Moves. This then leads to a "Cliques" forming. Dancers with this mind set see good dancers as ones that know their moves, and bad dancers as ones who don’t!

Leaders with a reliance on anticipation will often stop dancing and "explain" what is required of his partner. Followers will complain, as if it’s the leader’s fault, that they "Don’t know that move!" In both cases the simple fact that appears to escape them is that if the leader could lead he wouldn’t need to explain, and if the follower could follow she wouldn’t need to know the move.

Who can blame them? It’s exactly what they get in classes. From beginner to advance it’s routine, routine, routine! Anticipation is trained into dancers through routines endlessly repeated.

That leaves the blame with us the salsa teachers.

So what can be done?

[Pacion]

My thoughts:

This is where changing partners helps. Some guys who were previously able to do the move with the girls because the girls would anticipate/compensate, found that they could not "lead" me - when I was on the ball and had blanked my mind :wink: - because then, I would not move unless I got the signal. They would then say something like Ah! I am not leading it. What am I supposed to do? My reaction = :roll: because I was not paying attention to the lead so that I could keep my mind blank :oops:

With the sizes of some classes, it is difficult for the teacher to drill it into the mindset of the students. A technique I found that works is for the follower to close her eyes. That way, she, ie ME, has to focus on the impulse/lead :D

[delamusica]

They would then say something like Ah! I am not leading it.

Of course, there are always those guys who are so used to girls who anticipate that they just yell at you for not following their "lead" and try to teach you how to follow (i.e. - teaching you the routine). Sometimes I guess it's just best to shut up and keep smiling until the music ends . . .[/quote]

[danceguy]

I think that dancing with a lot of different people is very important for leaders to learn how to adapt to this. If I dance with a lady who anticipates then I just adjust accordingly. And whenever I dance with someone who does not, it reminds me to use a bit more force in my lead.

I have noticed at times that my lead will get a bit sloppy if I've been dancing with a soft lead...but one good follower will help me to fix that real quick! I never give out advice on the dance floor unless asked, so especially with complete beginners, I just enjoy the dance and do my best to lead them. Most songs don't last that long, and I've danced with beginners who follow beautifully...and very advanced types that could stand a few lessons on how not to backlead and anticipate. :?

SG

[ShyDancer]

I was taught from day 1 NEVER anticipate.
One of my teachers would do, say Cha Cha, and do 4 basic, 4 NY , 2 alemanas, a fan etc...,the same moves over and over, Then once we had repeated the patten over a few times she would change it all on me and lead me into different moves, when Id stumble because Id anticipate a move she would always simply say "never anticipate my next lead"
I learnt very quickly to always watch for even the most subtle of leads, now unless the guy is a complete dead lead, I usually pick up the leads easily.
Even though I hated her for doing it to me at the time, looking back I think she has set a really big foundation for me. No doubt a bad habit that would have taken me a long time to get out of!

I think leaders should really concentrate on leading well, think about your positioning and be just a little firm, dont knock a lady over, but a slight lean or turning your hand can really help us know where to go.


Now a little OT but....
I never give out advice on the dance floor unless asked, so especially with complete beginners
I actually like getting feedback from the more advanced dancers....not so much oh youre doing it wrong", more when I get a tip or 2 from them about making a move better. I learnt how to open out my hips fully from a guy who was an advanced dancer..he just told me how to position my knees and feet on an angle and BAM! I got it. Im very grateful to him for it, and still not one girl in my class can do it , and my teacher continually comments on how well I do it.
I think advice on the floor is good if you can say it the right way!

[Vin]

Anticipating still happens to the best. I was dancing with a very good follow who I dance with often last night, and we just couldn't get this one new move to work right.
When we slowed it down step by step she simply said, "oh you wanted me to do that, I thought you were just screwing up the lead and I tried to compensate for you, I'll just dance from now on."
The move ended up looking really elegant but the fact remains even with someone you trust on the dance floor you still get that.

[Genesius Redux]

Maybe teach two or three different combos that begin with the same pattern? Teach three ways to end a combo?

You can get comfortable with a few set patterns with your partner--but I think if you're a connection junkie, that's different from being hooked on the step. The more you look for the physical connection within a pattern, the less you're likely to anticipate, I think.

[Vin]

Maybe teach two or three different combos that begin with the same pattern? Teach three ways to end a combo?

You can get comfortable with a few set patterns with your partner--but I think if you're a connection junkie, that's different from being hooked on the step. The more you look for the physical connection within a pattern, the less you're likely to anticipate, I think.

I agree, actually that is what I try to notice about follows, can she follow two combos that are the same except for a small variation at the end.

[MacMoto]

Anticipation seems to be rooted at the earliest stages where beginners not wishing to be the only ones not being able to do the move, help the leader out and complete the move regardless of how or whether it was led. From everyone’s point of view including the teachers, the move appeared to work. Here lies the problem.

The situation described here is very familiar to me. In fact, I stopped going to classes at one point because of this very problem. In classes where both the leader and follower are taught a set routine at the same time, it's so easy for the follower to get into the habit of anticipating rather than following, especially for beginners with little social floor experience. Classes are often geared towards teaching moves, which may be necessary for the leader but not good for the follower. You start assuming that salsa dancing is about learning patterns so you can repeat them on the dancefloor. Very few classes I've been to worked specifically on following skills, and it's difficult to learn these skills where the leaders you dance with don't know much about leading either. I only realised what I was lacking when I started going to socials, where I got to dance with different leaders at different skill levels and had to follow moves I didn't know, and it was such a shock to me I had to do something about it. I started doing lots of social dancing instead of going to classes and have learned a lot about following and connection that way.

I often wonder if it would be possible to teach leaders and followers separately in the same class; leaders would be taught moves and how to lead them, and followers would be taught how to follow (not "how to complete given moves" but "how to follow the lead"). It would be beneficial both for the leader and the follower although it would be very difficult to organise in a group class situation...

[peachexploration]

I often wonder if it would be possible to teach leaders and followers separately in the same class; leaders would be taught moves and how to lead them, and followers would be taught how to follow (not "how to complete given moves" but "how to follow the lead"). It would be beneficial both for the leader and the follower although it would be very difficult to organise in a group class situation...

Macmoto, I was thinking this very same thing. Because the leader and follower learn at different rates (usually, the follow picks it up quicker), it may be more beneficial to learn separately first, then come together after maybe the third class. The leader has alot of the responsibility. The moves, the music, and the lead so it may be beneficial for the lead to already be more advanced than the follow initially. That could be one way to remedy the problem. Anyone else?