Paso Doble lead?

Piggles

Piggles

Member
I skimmed some of the threads looking for a thread on this topic, but wasn't able to find one (please feel free to correct me).

Can Paso Doble be led? A teacher recently told me it was strictly choreographed and there isn't a lead. Yet my stubborn, doubting mind persists in telling me otherwise...
 
I have gone to FADS competitions and competed in a closed syllabus bronze Rhythm Paso Doble where my pro actually led me through the steps... a pseudo-social paso!

He taught this to me because i was not doing open choreography (only closed syllabus) but i asked for him to PLEASE teach me paso as it was a dance my Spanish grandfather used to dance and I wanted to learn it in his memory...
 
Bronze paso can definitely be done as lead follow, but technique will lack as much the shaping needs to be done simultaneously or even before the lead. You can take someone (or be taken) through the steps, but only a very experienced dancer will be able to make it look the way it should. As such, it can be done socially but I would never recommend doing true lead-follow paso for a competition (though one could create amalgmations which can then be initiated by the leader).

I only have limited experience in silver and above, but my impression is that the steps get much more difficult to be done as lead-follow after bronze.
 
The stuff in closed hold definitely can be. Rarely is lead/follow instead of choreographed, it's not exactly the most social dance, but can be.
 
It can be led about as well as the other latin dances. Basic movements and closed hold shaping are pretty clear to lead/follow if you're familiar with the syllabus steps, but more advanced steps, and co-ordinated lines and syncopations are difficult to do on the fly. I think that since Paso is generally done as an open level dance, people just associate it with open choreography, which is relatively unleadable in any of the latin dances.
 
Everything is leadable. Closed hold or open choreography should be lead and received in order to get the true picture and character of the dance.

Steps that are co-ordinated without interaction tend to look a little tacky and old fashioned. So please persist in learning to lead in this and every dance.
 
Open choreography can be led(lead?) to a point, but when you're doing a couple measures of side by side work, there's no way to actually lead those steps.
 
Casayoto said:
Open choreography can be led(lead?) to a point, but when you're doing a couple measures of side by side work, there's no way to actually lead those steps.
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Like any other dances, many steps in choreographed open steps in Paso are not leadable; they have to be practiced together. In other words, if you perform the same open steps with a different partner, you will have a lot of problems. But in the cookie cutter closed syllabus, like the ones we use in competitions in Bronze-Gold levels, Paso requires powerful lead, perhaps more powerful than any other dances. Chasse Cape, Grand Circle, Promenades, Traveling Spin, Twist, Huit, 16, Coup de Pique, La Passe, Fallaway Ending, and of course, the Hi lights, all require powerful lead and shaping. Do anyone disagree with me? I am only a self-taught dancer forming my own free-wheeling controversial opinions.
 
Casayoto said:
Open choreography can be led(lead?) to a point, but when you're doing a couple measures of side by side work, there's no way to actually lead those steps.
Click to expand...

Maybe I am speaking too literally and should replace the word "lead" with "communicate". Even in side by side work you must communicate to one another to be faithful to the dance. Communication or body language can be as strong a lead as a physical one.
 
I won't disagree with you on that one btfgus. You can definitely spot a connection in a good partnership, even when they aren't physically touching.
 
Piggles said:
Can Paso Doble be led? A teacher recently told me it was strictly choreographed and there isn't a lead. Yet my stubborn, doubting mind persists in telling me otherwise...
Click to expand...
Simply stated, 'yes'.

PD has become more unled/unleadable as it has become more misunderstood. I am all for dance evolving, but not to the extent of losing its meaning or character. In much of today's PD, the woman seems to fight the man for character, dominance, intensity, etc. The dance was never to be this. It has 2 definite elements that are often lacking contemporarily, and this could be resolved w/ more lead/follow.
 
Angel HI said:
Simply stated, 'yes'.

PD has become more unled/unleadable as it has become more misunderstood. I am all for dance evolving, but not to the extent of losing its meaning or character. In much of today's PD, the woman seems to fight the man for character, dominance, intensity, etc. The dance was never to be this. It has 2 definite elements that are often lacking contemporarily, and this could be resolved w/ more lead/follow.
Click to expand...

Women all over the world do not want to be treated as a mere cape any more. These days, women want to fight in combats in a war and they also want to play more aggressive role in Paso like a bull. Do you agree with me?
 
contracheck said:
Women ...want to play more aggressive role in Paso like a bull. Do you agree with me?
Click to expand...
Roles are fine, but a particular dance that has a particular character requires that all parties do their parts, or something lacks. The woman would not try to fight the man for the lead in a fox or waltz... why PD? I am not saying do not play whatever part you wish. I am saying do not fight the man for position in the dance.
 
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