I was sick and missed this thread . . .
Hi guys, out of curiosity, do you have any classification for the followers?
I classify followers very informally:
- Followers who are close friends vs. more distant friends vs. acquaintances vs. faces I sort of recognize vs. unknowns/newcomers. I invite them in that order.
- Followers who prefer to dance like me (ultra-close embrace, shared responsibility for movements, mark the melody preferentially to the beat) vs. followers who prefer to dance some other way. I do my very best only to invite the first group.
- Followers who are clearly less advanced than me (invited occasionally, to encourage the community to grow), about at my level (my preference), and clearly far more advanced than me (I have to be having a very good day even to consider it . . .).
And that's about it.
Some followers had more neat footwork. A few did some fancy decorations but overall I couldn't say that someone really stood out for me. Yet I keep on hearing from different Leaders that all followers are very different. Is it true?
It'll depend on the leader. I just about never look at feet. I did that when I started out, but after three or four years of private lessons – sometimes several times a week – it was drilled into me that all the real action happens in and between the dancer's cores. The legs mostly come along for the ride, and the feet are attached to the legs.
However, to expand on "prefer to dance like me" above: I look for active following. It's apparent to me who is using the leader as a barre or pole, and I'll just avoid those followers – they hurt me – in favor of those who create 100% of their own energy in all movements. It's also apparent to me who's aware of the music and interpreting the lead the way they feel the music, and who's just doing whatever the leader wants. I'll avoid the latter.
I guess the ideal follower to me has a powerful motor and a highly developed ear, and takes my leads under advisement, energizes them with that motor, and expresses them in accord with the music.
Let's put age and prettiness aside.
I always do anyway. Most of my partners are older than me, and I'm 55. Not all are pretty, and I don't care one way or the other because if I'm dancing properly, I'll never see more of them than the occasional ear flying past. I should be looking at other couples to navigate, turning my head to see my destination ahead of my movements, and so on . . . not ogling my partner.
Do you feel that majority of followers well balanced and feel their axis?
Axis is tricky. Teachers shout at followers to "preserve their axis" and "hold their axis." What they mean is to maintain balance and tonus. However, it sometimes gets misinterpreted as "never share weight with the leader," which is a loss. I dance somewhat off-axis at all times, with much weight-sharing, because I like the speed and dynamics of "controlled instability." But the emphasis there is on "controlled," not on "instability."
Do you feel that ladies are relaxed or nervous?
That depends on the individual. I prefer relaxed, obviously, but I can deal with nervous. Often I make a deliberate mistake, claim responsibility at once, and laugh it off. That puts us on an equal footing.
Do you feel a lot of initiatives from ladies or luck of it?
Most followers lack it. They take "follower" too literally and just wait for the lead all the time. That's quite boring. An active follower
provokes specific leads without
taking the lead, ignores leads that they find uncomfortable or dangerous, and knows they have a choice in how to interpret each lead they accept (e.g., any step can be tripled without changing the system).
Do you find that majority of the followers have good musicality?
Really, this is the same as the previous question: No, because it's beaten out of them by teachers who tell them to wait for the lead all the time. Somehow, musicality is 100% the leader's job. Whereas I prefer it to be 50/50, and actively seek followers who are capable of that. Which said, plenty of leaders dislike it, so if you take this path, know what you're getting into.
Why do you think some ladies are more pleasant to dance with than others?
See above. All of it works together. I suppose my perfect partner would be a friend at about my level who dances ultra-close, shares weight with me without collapsing onto me, regards leads as ideas to interpret rather than as orders, generates all her own movements, and never loses awareness of the music.
Also one question about technical skills... Ladies, when you dance, are you trying to engage your back a little bit to make your movement a bit more dynamic or you believe it is destructive for the leaders and you keep your upper body as quete as possible?
As a leader, I greatly favor followers with engaged backs. There's nothing worse than a follower who just mushes into me and isn't rounded out (not tensed, just engaged) in back. That's a sure sign of a follower who won't create their own movements.
