Dancing with "newbies" and keeping it exciting

[pygmalion]

A lot of people I know absolutely refuse to dance with inexperienced dancers. They prefer to dance with people at or above their level.

I strongly disagree with that, for personal reasons. But, let's face it, for an experienced dancer, dancing just the basic isn't all that challenging. So I've developed (with the help and suggestions of friends) a few techniques to keep the dance interesting for me, and fun for my "newbie" dance partners. I'll share mine later in this thread.

Does anyone have wisdom to share?

[HothouseSalsero]

It looks like nobody answered this thread, so I'll go first. (I just discovered this forum yesteday and am in the process of posting like crazy. I promise I won't post this many times every day.)

If I can't do much more than a basic with my partner, then I try to let my feet do crazy things during my basic. Occasionally I can't do this, because new dancers, as we all know, have a tendency to look down. If they watch my feet while I'm doing a more stylized basic, then they might get confused. Sometimes I feel bad about doing it, too, because it can increase their self-consciousness about being a beginner.

For most really new dancers, I don't find it takes much to keep them from getting bored. They are already overwhelmed. Last time I went to a club to dance, I danced salsa with someone who said she had never danced it before. She fell into the basic fairly easily, and I was able to get her to do some approximation of a cross-body lead, and a couple basic turns. That was plenty. Most new dancers are able to follow a lead to open out sideways (5th position breaks, I think it's called). If hand is right on their shoulder blade, it's pretty easy to lead this. So I've got a x-body lead, switch to 5th positions breaks, a turn coming out of that (that I don't know how to describe), and sometimes a forward turn. Also, some of the more relaxed ones can be led into the sombrero. Also, I try to rotate a lot, to let them feel that you don't have to just stay in one place!

[Sagitta]

It looks like nobody answered this thread, so I'll go first. (I just discovered this forum yesteday and am in the process of posting like crazy. I promise I won't post this many times every day.)


I have enjoyed reading your posts HothouseSalsero!! :) Always engaging to get another perspective, hearing from another person.

I enjoy teaching, so I actually never get bored dancing with a follow who knows less then I do. If one thing does not work I try something else, and when a follow starts getting it that makes my day!!! :) It might have to do with being a leader, rather then an experienced follow. I know that some of the experienced follows whom I danced with when starting out with salsa and swing struck up conversations with me!! (Somehow it didn't happen with ballroom?!?) Here I am trying to focus on doing the basic step to the music and a simple move here and there, trying to be responsive to my partner, and having a conversation!! :? My head still aches to think of those days.

Given that conversation can be distracting for the poor newbie leader, such as myself, what other things do you experienced follows do?

[HothouseSalsero]

I have enjoyed reading your posts HothouseSalsero!! :) Always engaging to get another perspective, hearing from another person.

Thanks. On that positive note, I think I will take a break from being online.

[danceguy]

Thank you for resurrecting this thread - its one that hits home for me! :)

As I'm still in the greenie dance phase myself, I've found that one of the most important things an experienced follow can do is let the leader lead.

Simple in theory, but I've found out on the dance floor a lot of women will think its cute to backlead the guy especially if he's getting nervous. I had a lady once who started doing all sorts of wild moves on me during a Ballroom Salsa...and I was surprised at first that I was able to put her through some triple spins and hammerlocks...both of which I had never been taught to do. For the first dance it was a lot of fun and she asked me to dance with her again which I accepted. But after a few more dances with her...I realized that she was simply dancing with herself, and I was hanging on for dear life!!! She really enjoyed flirting and flaunting herself towards me...but whenver I tried to lead her to work on my leading skills, she wouldn't budge. Needless to say I avoided her for the rest of the dance after that. :oops: :shock: :oops:

On a more positive note, I have also been blessed by those rare and kind hearted ladies who are very patient with a new lead. I've found that when I dance with another beginner, they will not know if the move I am leading them through is being done correctly so we both will develop bad habits.

I've danced with several women who were very experienced dancers, and when I'd start a move and fail to finish it correctly...they wouldn't let me get away with a sloppy technique! I've I didn't lead them all the way through...they would simply wait for me to lead them the right way. I remember one lady during an ECS where I lead her through a turn and then stopped halfway...and she just stayed there, smiled at me and then suddenly I thought "wait, I'm supposed to lead her like this!". After I led her through again, she smiled and said softly "there you go!"...and my confidence suddenly soared. :P

With someone like this, you learn so much because they take the time to dance WITH you...they don't backlead or complete your failed technique so you don't realize where you need to improve....

When I dance with people who know less than me...I keep things simple. I work on the basics...help them keep the timing correctly (which can be a losing battle sometimes)...and then do some simple turns. I always try to make sure they are having a good time, and if they start to get frusterated I say something nice to cheer them up, and make sure to let them know I appreciated the dance. :)

Best,

SG

[brujo]

I absolutely love dancing with beginners. Just tonight, I think I danced with 8 beginners.

I dance mostly NY / LA style salsa with people that I know take lessons. But with beginners, I revert back to my old school Colombian style salsa. Colombian style is not danced in a slot, and usually both the man and the woman go forward at opposite directions. I've found that girls that have never done salsa can follow this nicely as they don't need to go back and forth in the basic, they can just do whatever they want with their feet.

I usually stick to a close position when dancing with a beginner if the floor is crowded. It is amazing how much better your floorcraft can become when you dance with enough beginners. But if the floor is empty, I will let her go and do more of the Cuban pretzels and armwraps.

I probably only do two or three basics with a beginner, then I move on to the more advanced moves. My philosophy is that any move that I can't lead a beginner into needs work and I will try again and again until I can get it right with a beginner.

Just because they haven't danced salsa, doesn't mean that they have not partner danced before, so sometimes I will get a lindy hopper or a club dancer, and we will incorporate silly things into our salsa like the swingout, the charleston ( or what I think is the Charleston ) and moves like the moonwalk or the batman two fingers in front of the eyes thing.

When I dance with a beginner, I work on the following things:

a) lead
b) musicality
c) shines
d) improvisation
e) floorcraft
f) attitude
g) flirting ???

I've met a ton of people that always mention how they go on the dancefloor and are swept away by a good dancer when they were first starting out, and it is a shame that not enough beginners get to dance. I was fortunate enough to start off dancing in a small town with a very tight student community of dancers, and now that I've moved to a big city, I can see how intimidating the scene can be, so I always make a point of dancing with all the girls sitting on the floor. The best part about dancing with a beginner is that they don't know when you mess up, and it helps you with your ability to recover and get back to the music or improvise your moves.

[Sagitta]

I absolutely love dancing with beginners. Just tonight, I think I danced with 8 beginners.

Great!! :D Me too as I want everyone to enjoy my passions as much as I do. And this eventually results in having even more followers to dance with!! :D


But with beginners, I revert back to my old school Colombian style salsa. Colombian style is not danced in a slot, and usually both the man and the woman go forward at opposite directions. I've found that girls that have never done salsa can follow this nicely as they don't need to go back and forth in the basic, they can just do whatever they want with their feet.

Are you referring to cumbia when you talk of Colombian style salsa? If so, this probably is off-topic, but any really good cumbia songs that you know of?

Just because they haven't danced salsa, doesn't mean that they have not partner danced before, so sometimes I will get a lindy hopper or a club dancer, and we will incorporate silly things into our salsa like the swingout, the charleston ( or what I think is the Charleston ) and moves like the moonwalk or the batman two fingers in front of the eyes thing.

That's one strategy of introducing beginners to salsa. I prefer not to do too much of this as it can be misleading. Perhaps for a swing dancer I'll do merengue. Here the beat is easy to follow so when I do moves such as the pretzel or butterfly (that are also done in latin dancing) there is some familiarity due to having it done before, but it is different, done with latin style!! :)

Now back to the thread topic. Like pygmalion, I still am interested in hearing from experienced follows who dance with newbies. How do you keep it interesting? I want to find out what it is like from the other side of the street!! (Then perhaps I can use some of that back on you if I find any of you advanced follows getting bored with me!! :( :twisted: :) ) Anyone?