keeping leader in his slot?

[noobster]

This is a spinoff from the 'glaring at the follow' thread.

What should a follow do if her leader is making circles on a crowded floor?

My local scene is mostly slot, but I have danced with several guys who do a more circular type of dance with lots of space between the lead and follow. They are usually Latinos who are not formally trained; they dance mostly in open position and rotate slowly around an axis between the lead and follow.

I really enjoy dancing with these guys: they do not do a lot of spins (mostly singles, never more than a double) but they are often very fluid and musical, and they are interesting to follow because their moves are unfamiliar to me.

But I have felt bad a couple of times when my leader was doing this type of thing on a crowded floor. What is the appropriate etiquette? Should I point it out to him, or is it an offensive criticism of his dancing? Will he even know what I mean if I ask him to stick to a slot? And if he won't, what can I do to make-nice with the annoyed slot-dancers around us?

 

[alemana]

don't do ANYTHING unless the lead's wandering ways are putting you in danger of being hit by your spinning neighbors. that's my advice as someone in your scene who's been put in this position a lot of times.

keep yourself safe, first, after that - let it go.

 

[Big10]

But I have felt bad a couple of times when my leader was doing this type of thing on a crowded floor. What is the appropriate etiquette? Should I point it out to him, or is it an offensive criticism of his dancing? Will he even know what I mean if I ask him to stick to a slot? And if he won't, what can I do to make-nice with the annoyed slot-dancers around us?

Along the lines of what alemana said, I think your comments and/or actions should simply be directed toward immediate dangers, rather than the leader's dancing style in general. In other words, if another couple is about to get hit, then perhaps tug slightly on the leader and say something like, "Watch out, there's somebody behind you," or "Somebody was about to run into you." Or, if you're about to get thrown into another dancer, do your best to stop your momentum from finishing the move in order to avoid the collision. The vast majority of circular leaders don't intend to step on anybody or be rude, but they don't have eyes in the back of their heads either. Indeed, there might even be dangers behind you that the circular dancer is helping you to avoid that you didn't even see.

I'm one of those leaders who does both circular and slot dancing, and I happen to prefer circular dancing when there is room for it. Or sometimes even when slot dancing, I'll have to change the direction of the slot because another couple has come onto the dance floor and intruded upon the original direction. I think having circular dancing skills actually makes it easier to do things like that smoothly, especially in a nightclub situation.

 

[MacMoto]

But I have felt bad a couple of times when my leader was doing this type of thing on a crowded floor. What is the appropriate etiquette? Should I point it out to him, or is it an offensive criticism of his dancing? Will he even know what I mean if I ask him to stick to a slot? And if he won't, what can I do to make-nice with the annoyed slot-dancers around us?

This is just a matter of style difference -- some salsa styles are simply not meant to be slotted. Asking these guys to stick to a slot is pointless. Also, circular styles can be surprisingly compact, and if the guy has good floorcract, you can avoid slot invasion quite well.

Have you had any actual collision dancing with these circular style leads? If you see a collision coming, by all means stop him (backleading to avoid collision is perfectly acceptable). Otherwise, just try to keep your movement compact. And if you feel the floor is just too crowded for a circular dance, dance with slot dancers (having said that, there are plenty of slot dancers who have bad floorcraft :roll.

 

[sweavo]

What should a follow do if her leader is making circles on a crowded floor?

follow.


Any slot dancer with a clue will know it's the leaders' jobs to avoid collisions. It's unfortunate that the circular and slot style & etiquette are not really compatible on the same dance floor but with awareness there's no reason they cannot coexist.

I've read opinions by circular dancers going the other way "those idiot cross-body dancers, always throwing a girl at you with no advance notice..." the etiquette there seems to be that you don't do anything very fast so there is always time for people to constantly negotiate for floor space.

 

[alemana]

for new york *only*, it's a leeeeetle bit of a bugaboo to dance a big honking circle in a room packed full of rapidfire slot dancers - i almost never feel happy if i'm the only circling person in that scenario, mainly because i'm constantly afraid someone is going to whack into me. usually, that fear is justified.

like i said before, if you like it (i mostly don't) and you feel safe, rock on. otherwise....

 

[Catarina]

I'm open to dancing circular--or in a slot, especially when I know it's because the guy is trying to avert a hospital visit on my part--I appreciate it all the more. But it's also fun and as about 50 other people have already said, requires the lead to be creative and more subtle if he's used to dancing in the slot, and requires me to have that much more of a receptive attitude--to just dance it without feeling rigid in the style from class

 

[amo_dile_que_no]

I agree with everyone that says this is no big deal. The main thing is to practice good floorcraft and as was mentioned that is not a hallmark of any particular style. Occasional contact on the dance floor can happen to anybody, so I think it best that people apologize and let it go unless there is someone who really is disregarding other people's right to some floor space thereby putting them at risk.

As far as the slot goes, the way I learned is the slot is about the relationship between the lead and follow, not a fixed position or orientation on the floor. One of the first principles my instructors instilled is that you should actually move the slot around for some variety.

 

[noobster]

'Kay, thanks for the tips everyone. I sort of thought it would have been rude to say anything, and now I know.

No, I have not collided with anyone during a circle dance. I may have backled to avoid collision once or twice, but I've done that with slot dancers as well. It's more just an icky feeling that I am inconveniencing others on the floor. But I am just going to keep doing what I've been doing: shut up and follow.

 

[waltzgirl]

I always watch my leader's back. I figure it's the least I can do, since he's protecting me on the other three sides. I don't consider it backleading, since I don't really change what we are doing. If there's someone coming too close behind him, I find that firm pressure toward me with my left hand gets the message across, but still leaves it up to him what to do.