Need tips on how to follow when you know the routine

[Statlady]

Hi all!

I am currently working on my first showcase routine--a Viennese waltz. My instructor keeps talking about how I need to let him control the movement as if I didn't know what was coming next. I assume this is not an uncommon issue--especially with people who have a lot of dance background but not a lot of experience working with a partner.

Over the past several months, I think I have gotten much better at following in general, but following in a social dance setting is easier since you *don't* know what's coming next. Sometimes you think you know and you anticipate the next move which is bad. But when you *know* the next move, how do you still follow?

Any tips or any links to other threads on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[and123]

People watching a showcase routine don't expect it to be random lead-and-follow, but it sounds as if your instructor thinks you're jumping the gun sometimes and wants you to feel and use your connection with him before moving. Yes, you can know exactly what's coming next, but try to remain in constant communication with your partner and it will look and feel much better than two people just dancing their respective parts.

[danceronice]

Well, I can't help with Smooth/Standard as, no matter how clear the lead may be, I still managed to muck it up (seriously, he's telling, I'm just not hearing), but when it comes to Rhythm, where I'm pretty confident of the routines, I just find if I concentrate on staying connected, rather than thinking about the steps, I can kind of wait for the "go" signal. I obviously know what's coming next, and would in fact have a nervous breakdown if I didn't (seriously, the only person where I *never* worry about what's coming next is my Rhythm pro--Standard pro sometimes, ditto the other pro I sometimes take from--everyone else is varying degrees of terrifying and social dances are absolute nightmares) but when I put the focus on staying connected to him, I can let him tell me when to go do what I know is coming.

[Statlady]

it sounds as if your instructor thinks you're jumping the gun sometimes and wants you to feel and use your connection with him before moving. Yes, you can know exactly what's coming next, but try to remain in constant communication with your partner and it will look and feel much better than two people just dancing their respective parts.

Yes, I think that's exactly what he's getting at. I'm just not quite sure how to accomplish it. He did specifically mention that he wants it to "seem" spontaneous (even though everyone knows it's a routine).

[Statlady]

but when I put the focus on staying connected to him, I can let him tell me when to go do what I know is coming.

Ah, OK, that makes sense. It's not so much about following "what" he's doing as "when" he wants me to do it. I'll try to keep that in mind.

[and123]

It takes a lot of trust in your partner, and confidence in yourself, to really "lose" yourself in the role as follower. These things take time to develop. If you've never danced with your eyes closed, try it. It's an interesting exercise, and may help you learn not to rely too much on visual cues.

[Terpsichorean Clod]

Welcome back fellow math geek! Congrats on doing your first showcase!

Here's my take as a beginner follower.

Yes, this isn't uncommon, in fact, it's pandemic in group classes taught in a routine format.

You may know what figure is coming up next, but unless you wait and listen/feel, you won't know how your leader is going to interpret the figure. He might lengthen a stride here, take a shorter step there; steal some time from the beginning of the figure to draw out the ending of the figure.

Try this. Grab someone, anyone, I think this could work with a non-dancer. Stand facing each other at a comfortable distance (maybe 3 feet?) and take a two hand hold (your RH to his LH, your LH to his RH). Have him take forward steps at varying intervals; e.g., take a step, pause for 2 seconds, take another step, and then another, then pause for 3 seconds, etc. Keep it simple. Have him keep alternating feet - no stepping twice with the same foot. When you've run out of room, have him take backward steps. The idea is for you to wait and let him decide when to move.

Next, have him take steps of varying sizes; e.g., a big step, another big step, then a small step, then medium, etc. When he begins to take a step, you will move with him, but you will have to be very patient and sensitive to when he is committing weight onto the foot he is moving. Here, the idea is for you to wait and let him decide how far to move.

Good luck!

[soshedances]

Try it with your eyes closed and try to clear your mind. Don't think about the figures, just focus on when his body is asking yours to move. I like Terpsichorean Clod's exercise as well.

[skipper]

Try dancing the closd portions of your routines with your eyes closed---this will make you "tune in" to his leads. Remember, the man is in charge of power, direction and timing--your resposibilities are flexibility, mobility and selling.

[Statlady]

Try this. Grab someone, anyone, I think this could work with a non-dancer. Stand facing each other at a comfortable distance (maybe 3 feet?) and take a two hand hold (your RH to his LH, your LH to his RH). Have him take forward steps at varying intervals; e.g., take a step, pause for 2 seconds, take another step, and then another, then pause for 3 seconds, etc. Keep it simple. Have him keep alternating feet - no stepping twice with the same foot. When you've run out of room, have him take backward steps. The idea is for you to wait and let him decide when to move.

Next, have him take steps of varying sizes; e.g., a big step, another big step, then a small step, then medium, etc. When he begins to take a step, you will move with him, but you will have to be very patient and sensitive to when he is committing weight onto the foot he is moving. Here, the idea is for you to wait and let him decide how far to move.

That sounds like a good exercise. When we're not working on our routine, that's pretty much what my instructor has been having me do-- lot of stepping forward, back, and to each side. He taught me Argentine tango the other day which required me to really communicate with him in that way (although he said that in AT the woman actually does more movement of her own initiative than in other dances--but that's a different topic).

I think part of my problem is that I'm concentrating on making sure I remember the routine and do the patterns correctly that I can't just let go and follow. Perhaps when I get the routine more ingrained into my muscle memory, this we become easier.

Oh, and I have tried dancing with my eyes closed . . . once, and with a different teacher. It was only my 3rd or 4th lesson and it was an interesting experience. Thanks for suggesting that; I'll be sure to try it.

[fascination]

Hi all!

I am currently working on my first showcase routine--a Viennese waltz. My instructor keeps talking about how I need to let him control the movement as if I didn't know what was coming next. I assume this is not an uncommon issue--especially with people who have a lot of dance background but not a lot of experience working with a partner.

Over the past several months, I think I have gotten much better at following in general, but following in a social dance setting is easier since you *don't* know what's coming next. Sometimes you think you know and you anticipate the next move which is bad. But when you *know* the next move, how do you still follow?

Any tips or any links to other threads on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!ask the showcase partner..."what exactly should I wait to feel before I move?" ...b/c if you don't know what the lead feels like b/c you are moving first, you aren't likely to know that you didn't follow as a newer dancer...sometimes there can be a mentality of being eager to get to the finish line for the accolades, and it is better to savor and draw out each step as if it is someone you don't want to leave...chances are, you will then feel the lead...and good dancing is just barely on time...IMO

[dancepro]

Try dancing the closd portions of your routines with your eyes closed---this will make you "tune in" to his leads. Remember, the man is in charge of power, direction and timing--your resposibilities are flexibility, mobility and selling.

I agree with skipper in that trying to dance with your eyes closed could help. It might also be an idea to go over the lady jobs again and pay especially attention to flexibility. Go through all 4 flexibilities and make sure you are doing each one, before moving on to mobility.

Dancepro

[Statlady]

pay especially attention to flexibility. Go through all 4 flexibilities and make sure you are doing each one, before moving on to mobility.

Um . . . I don't know what you're talking about . . . :)

[cornutt]

Connection, connection, connection. Focus on the fundementals of frame, contact, and really sensing your partner's presence and movement. Lead and follow is always important in ballroom, even when (perhaps "especially") when dancing choreographed routines. Besides the fact that your partner still may have to make adjustments to allow for the room or whatever, the more fundemental reason is that it's a partner dance, and if the partners aren't working together, the audience can tell.

[dancepro]

Um . . . I don't know what you're talking about . . . :)

I am sorry have had a long day today. I have time to go into more detail tomorrow. I will be sending you a PM with it.

Dancepro

[QPO]

I struggle with this all the time. I think I am following and then I get accused of leading, so It is something that I work on every time I go on the dance floor. I agree with fascination that it is about feeling the lead but if they are not a strong lead you have to still be able to follow and that is what I struggle with. I feel your pain.

[Josh]

Awareness...

...would be the word I would use to describe the mental state you must be in to achieve good following, especially when knowing the routine, and also LEADING... guys have to do it just as much as ladies do. Leaders know what's coming but they must clearly articulate that to the follower and correctly interpret her feedback and responses. Statlady, it's the same type of intense concentration that you must use when listening to a lecture or another person during a conversation when you are keenly interested in the value of what the person is saying. It's as if you miss one idea or even word, you'll miss out on something valuable! Try this approach of intently listening to your partner this way.

When working on this, to help me connect and concentrate on the other person I visualize an energy field between the two of us, or picture subtle vibrations that I must carefully be in tune with. Also try this--when you connect with your partner try to establish a visual connection first (or if there isn't visual contact as might be the case in a showcase routine, try to feel something between the two of you in the space in the room), and when you finally do touch try to feel in detail everything about your partner--the moisture and temperature of his hands, the subtle movements of every part of his body, etc.

In short, get into your partner! Heels, toes, head turning, promenades, rise and fall, sway, etc., is all merely a foundation to work on top of when you do the actual dancing! This stuff is like airport security--you have to get past it for the journey to start, but it's not part of the journey. Feel your partner fully, and your showcase routine will take on a new life and glow!