Leading / Following

New to the forum and been dancing ON2 for 2 1/2 months. Loving it. Are there any good videos that break down the concepts of good leading. I try to mix my social dances with different level partners because I know that if I can lead someone who doesn't know what I'm doing, then I'm doing it right.

On a sidenote: I learn quickly and am far ahead of the class as far as partnerwork is concerned. Though that doesn't mean much. Thanks for any help provided.

jl001 said:

New to the forum and been dancing ON2 for 2 1/2 months. Loving it. Are there any good videos that break down the concepts of good leading. I try to mix my social dances with different level partners because I know that if I can lead someone who doesn't know what I'm doing, then I'm doing it right.

On a sidenote: I learn quickly and am far ahead of the class as far as partnerwork is concerned. Though that doesn't mean much. Thanks for any help provided.

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I have not seen it but check out on salsanewyork.com :

Elements of Salsa Volume 1: Salsa Leading Techniques
Rodney Lopes

Do you feel like you've been learning how to dance Salsa/Mambo, but your lead is missing something? Then this is the DVD for you! Rodney Lopez will take your Salsa Lead to a higher skill level. He will walk you through some of the most important elements of the dance, including dance frame connection, Latin Motion, cross-body lead, single & double turns and much more! His clear and precise instruction will help raise confidence in your lead and maximize your ability to move with style and grace.
Note: One should already be familiar with basic Salsa movements in order to get the most out of this DVD. The instruction is given in the New York "On 2" style, yet is easily applicable to all forms of Salsa dancing

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You can't learn partnerwork without a partner. So videos um... just wont' do it for you. You've been dancing for 2.5 months? Means you're probabyl stiff, your footwork sucks and your lead is lacking confidence/smoothness/being rough. How do you fix it? Take classes, dance a lot, practice spinning etc at home. No magic pill

I would generally agree with you AlexSem, but I think it depends on learning style. One of my favorite leads & good friend has a terrific lead and learned primarily from DVDs. If you're a visual/auditory learner, that could work for you. I'm more of a visual/kinesthetic learner, so feeling what a move feels like is more important to me...

My guess is that if that sort of learning works for someone, s/he can do mostly that & then follow it up with social dancing while being mindful to ask for feedback, especially in lead/follow technique.

Also, jl001 did mention being ahead of the class, so sounds like he is actually taking classes also.

Thank you for the replies. Alexsem, that's a good callout and now I realize that I forgot to mention I have a partner and we dance twice a week for 2 hours in addition to my 2 hour class at the studio. She is about a year in but unfortunately doesn't know the lead, so we drill what we know and pick up patterns from videos. Roo, also a good callout since you hit on what I am interested in further developing right now. I've danced salsa for a long time with what you just pick up at the clubs never formal instruction and all follows so far have told me "nice natural style and rhythym", I just want to take it further.

I would say give it a break to patterns you pick up from videos, and get an actualy instructional dvd, shaka's are the ones I use, you need to see the patterns broken down so you understand what is the essence of the movement, patterns you see in videos are so fun to break and do, but I think you may endup skipping the small details that only an instructor can tell you. However once you get the basics by all means hit youtube, imambo

pielcanela we must be on the same wavelength I just received shaka vol 1 and just ordered vol 3 for its styling and isolation work

Some videos may be good for isolations and that kind of thing, but you probably are more at a level where you need to work on footwork, lead, balance, posture, and having a decent frame foremost. Since your thread is regarding good leading... group classes can't effectively help with lead and follow, as your partner will be in the same boat as you, and while you can learn the techniques, it's like trying to learn how to fly a plane on a simulator instead of actually flying a plane. Take 2 private lessons. It will cost no more than $150. You will be a much better dancer afterwards. Consider it an investment in your dancing. Break bad habits now before they become too ingrained.

Josh said:

Take 2 private lessons. It will cost no more than $150. You will be a much better dancer afterwards. Consider it an investment in your dancing. Break bad habits now before they become too ingrained.

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I think this is the best advice you'll receive

Technique is a major part of salsa. Before you develop a huge habit for doing a horrendous basic (we all had a horrible basic and then have to re-learn, the sooner you do it, the better off you'll be).

Since you have a partner, you're miles ahead of most people who got into salsa to get a partner, not to practice with one, lol. So videos are fine. But I'd really really encourage you to only gather about a minute or max 2 worth of patterns and then beating them to a point where you never have to THINK "what am I goign todo next". When I reached that level, I started developing my own style, focusing on quality of my lead, holding my gaze, doing sharp movements etc. That's what makes a good dancer in the end, so

I second Josh -- a private lesson with a good teacher is a much more efficient way of improving your lead/follow technique than any DVDs you can get, since you will receive direct feedback on what you are doing now and pointers as to what you should do.

I agree with Josh too, private teaching will beat any dvd, anytime, for your overall formation as a dancer

Thanks again everyone. This week my partner and I begin focusing on (perfect) repetition of fundamentals.