Sagitta said:
Getting that feeling right would be great.
1) Put both hands on a counter, about arms length away.
2) lean gently forward.
Glad I could help. (Technically: lean gently foward means bring your center closer to the counter top without moving your feet, and keeping your head, center, and hips in a single vertical line. Total displacement of your center is probably less than an inch forward of your support - you are only barely moving, but should feel a resulting pressure on your hands from the counter.)
Also what else should I work on? In terms of fundamentals. Tricks in getting them right?
Leader or follower?
For a leader, general advice
1) Leader is Lazy! Get out of the slot usually doesn't mean get completely out of the way, but usually get about half of your body out of the way, and rotate the rest to make room.
2) Leading a change in direction/speed comes from the legs. Leading a change of rotation is done with relaxed arms. The lead for a change in rotation almost always happens when the follower is between your shoulders.
3) If she is even with your head when she has finished step 2, the end of most patterns won't quite feel right. She should not quite be even with you at count 2 (even with your shoulder, or maybe between your shoulder and your head).
4) When you get it right, the lead feels effortless.
5) Everybody sucks when they have to think when they dance. Accept that this phase will pass, and return, and pass again, back and forth in phases the rest of your life.
For followers
1) The single biggest thing you can do to help is make sure you aren't yet even with the leader on count 2. Fight the urge to race down the slot, you're just going to come back again.
2) Following a compression lead (toward you) is much harder than following an extension lead (away from you). Expect to work harder at this.
3) The balance of learning this dance is totally unfair. Beginning leaders have a million things to deal with, followers only one... "do as you're told". Followers are going to feel held back for a while. Lie back and think of England - the leaders will soon learn to start leading, then you can worry about your bit.
4) When the turns start happening, you will find that you don't have time to finish the turn. The cause is that you are rushing to start it, and knocking yourself over. Just another one of this dance's lovely contradictions.
5) When you get conflicting information on line from a leader and a follower, try the follower's way first.
Side note: there are a lot of teaching styles in this dance - my advice may be directly contradictory to what you get in class. Do it your teacher's way; it should all fit together into a consistant whole.
Edit: feel free to chime in here with comments on how closely I've matched the target audience. This advice can probably be scaled to more novice or advanced dancers than I targetted here, if you let me know which you prefer
