LadyLeader
Forum Master
Some followers love if you put them out of the comfort zone. Sometimes I can also tease with my steps a specific follower who has the skill but is afraid.
Determining skill by watching
- Thread starter twnkltoz
- Start date
Some followers love if you put them out of the comfort zone. Sometimes I can also tease with my steps a specific follower who has the skill but is afraid.
bastet
Active Member
then why would you do to your followers what you don't like having done to you when you follow? Perhaps they also want that, just to enjoy....
whether I like to go out of my comfort zone often depends on my leader and the type of music playing, and also the crowd conditions.
LadyLeader
Forum Master
When I do my choice as a follower I go for my existing skill as a follower (low) and my wish for a musical tanda. Therefore I today say NO to skilled dancers. It is also my responsibility/choice to pick a leader who matches my dreams and condition for this moment.
As a leader then; When dance is flowing the steps are coming automaticly to the music and I don't need to think, I do not have time to think anything but just concentrate on the music. If she is on the same level or accepts my lower level we can get nice experience.
If a follower can not take those steps I create automaticly I need to activate my brain and adapt my dance. Usually I try to *hear* what this follower wants but this process takes some resources and the dance is less on music then.
The most horrifying thing is when you ask a follower on higher skill level and with NEED to play it out. I can't produce 60 ganchos/m. I must learn to see what the other can and needs and then ask for a dance; try to create a balance between us . (the need can be more excitement, flow, complicated steps, simple steps, musicality, ......)
With other words I think I need to know what I want and enjoy and then try to reach a partner with corresponding dreams.
bordertangoman
Well-Known Member
surely that's what a tanda is for;
song 1; find the limits of her comfort zone
song 2; take her out of her comfort zone
song 3; dance out of your comfort zone.
Maybe I'd do that for a high energy nuevo tanda, but with a "connection" tanda, I'd want us both to stay in our comfort zone.
How are you able to determine when a follower needs 60 ganchos/m? I get that it was hyperbole, but how do you determine that the follower needs a bunch of crazy stuff? Does the the crazy stuff fit the music? That's what I'd be more interested in. If it doesn't fit the music, just go with stuff you can do, that does fit the music. IMO, that's a good way to give the follower a nice dance.
twnkltoz
Forum Master
I like that. One song to get to know each other and just relax and enjoy, then the next two to learn something new and find out that Yes, I Can! do these really cool moves he's leading me into. Although, I think if every tanda were like that it would be exhausting. Luckily, there are the leaders who do the same thing every time so you get a break.
LadyLeader
Forum Master
dchester the most clear case is when she starts to do ganchos and boleos without my lead and without any concern about the surroundings.
I think even more subtile signs for dissatisfaction are quite clear during a tanda. I know these:
When a follower starts to sing during a dance (understimulated?) I usually do more/faster steps.
When she suggests more difficult steps my responce depends on how the day has been.
I agree with you about the value of comfortable tandas because only then both of us can totally focus on music.
pascal
Active Member
Hey I must be good then. The most commonly heard word by my followers (the ones who dance with me for the first time) is "au secours!". Many of them come back, though.
bordertangoman
Well-Known Member
I danced with someone who is a good performance dancer ( ie stage) but I think she was having a hard night ( maybe breaking up with her partner - their earlier performance was clunky in the extreme). I dont doubt her skills, they just werent evident that night...
Dave Bailey
Active Member
Ah. That's when I advance rapidly in the direction of Away.
They might know they made a mistake when they actually do dance with someone who turns out to be a disappointment, but how would they know they made a mistake of omission (not dancing with someone who would have made a good partner) ?
twnkltoz
Forum Master
When your buddy dances with her and says, "Wow! She was awesome. You should have danced with her before she left to go back to Europe, never to return."
Your formula assumes that the leader is the more skilled dancer.. perhaps the theoretical leader under discussion is not able to find limits to the follower's ability due to his/her own limits as a leader. What's the formula then?
I ask, because using this formula in that scenario would probably result in the leader creating a dance that is seriously uncomfortable for both partners, and would not be something the follower would want to repeat... ever.
Song one... find the limits of her comfort zone... make sure it really is the follower's limit you have found! If you don't find a limit (and know not to project your own limits onto her as "her" mistakes) stay primarily within your own comfort zone, with maybe an occasional small experiment.
Unless it's a practica and you know she's willing to help you work with new moves. Then you can go all out.