101 easy ways to improve your dance

[El Salsero Gringo]

A misleading title, I admit. I've picked up from the Forum already a few ideas the practice of which I hope will improve my dance, and be fun for me and whoever I'm dancing with at the same time. The two foremost in my mind are:

1. Learning to dance the follower's part and be lead

2. Lead the basic moves, but mirror reversed

Both of these have been covered extensively on the forum already, obviously - but does anyone have any more suggestions? I would include dancing on the half beat, but I'm not convinced that it's possible for mortals like me.

Over to you...

[Minnie M]

As a follower don't anticipate

[Daisy Chain]

A
- but does anyone have any more suggestions?

Before leaving the house, always check that the 2 shoes in your dance bag are not both for the same foot ...

Daisy

(A Hobbling Little Flower)

[Doc Iain]

Not sure there are any easdy ways of improving ones dancing! As with anything practise makes perfect, go to a number of differnt nights, with different teachers (each of them will have their own particular good points in their teaching, some technically based, some moved based etc.)
LISTEN to music when you hear it, don't just let it wash over you, listen to each piece as if you were dancing to it (as in when in the car at home etc.) and try to learn 1) where the beat is...not actually as easy as it sounds in some cases! 2) Listen for breaks and emphasis areas in the track. The only other thing that I personally can suggest is to watch other people and how they do things and dance with people who you think are better than you, and when dancing with begninners etc. think not only about the dance, but about your style in the dance.

[Clive Long]

As a follower don't anticipate

:yeah: :yeah: :yeah: :yeah: repeat .........

Another thing that drives me nuts.

Told a woman she was anticipating (I wasn't very sensitive about it) - BAD THING. :blush:

Clive

[philsmove]

Before leaving the house, always check that the 2 shoes in your dance bag are not both for the same foot ...

Daisy

(A Hobbling Little Flower)

Glad to here a lady sometimes take dancing is not the only person to do this

[Andy McGregor]

Don't be afraid to ask the good guys (and girls :flower: ) for tips.

[ChrisA]

[re followers that anticpate]...Another thing that drives me nuts.

Learn to distinguish between anticipation, and confusion resulting from a poor lead. :whistle:

In fact, assume it's the latter, even if you know it isn't.

Even when you're sure it isn't :devil:

If you think this is wrong, answer this question:

"How will your lead improve, if you assume it's her fault when she doesn't follow?"

[Minnie M]

Eye contact :nice:

(but don't overdo it :whistle: )

and as a follow on from Andy's post - ask the good dancers to dance - really helps the leads if the follower is experienced, and for the followers it will give you confidence

[El Salsero Gringo]

Thank you everyone for your good suggestions.

What I was really hoping for were ideas for things to do on a dance-floor that you wouldn't want to do all the time (i.e. aren't part of a 'normal', social dance) but which would strengthen your technique just by working on them. Exercises, if you will. For instance, I gather that ballroom dancers can just walk around the floor in ballroom hold, concentrating on balance and poise. What would the Ceroc equivalent be?

The only other one I can think of at the moment is for the follower to dance with their eyes closed.

By the way, the word 'easy' in the thread title was tongue-in-cheek. None of this strikes me as easy at all.

[spindr]

What I was really hoping for were ideas for things to do on a dance-floor that you wouldn't want to do all the time (i.e. aren't part of a 'normal', social dance) but which would strengthen your technique just by working on them.

Pick two or three easy moves -- keep repeating them.
See how much you can play with the timing / style, etc.

SpinDr.

[ChrisA]

for the follower to dance with their eyes closed.

And/or the leader :flower:

[Daisy Chain]

What I was really hoping for were ideas for things to do on a dance-floor that you wouldn't want to do all the time (i.e. aren't part of a 'normal', social dance) but which would strengthen your technique just by working on them.

I recommend always participating in the beginners lesson even when you feel you know all the moves. But, watch the teacher/demonstrator like a hawk and concentrate on imitating their posture and incorporate their little style points during that lesson. Some of it will rub off onto your freestyle.

It's like driving. When you start, you're so worried about getting the right gear that you don't notice the pedestrian on the zebra crossing. But once the basics come naturally, you can spend more time looking at the road and less looking at the instruments and worrying about kangarooing.

Daisy

(An Imitation Flower)

[Dreadful Scathe]

Learn to distinguish between anticipation, and confusion resulting from a poor lead. :whistle:

In fact, assume it's the latter, even if you know it isn't.

Even when you're sure it isn't :devil:


But surely bad lead cannot be a cause of anticipation? Anticipation is when the follower goes into a move BEFORE you have led anything! If that happens, you pretty much have to then try and follow through on the move shes leading :).

[El Salsero Gringo]

But surely bad lead cannot be a cause of anticipation? Anticipation is when the follower goes into a move BEFORE you have led anything! If that happens, you pretty much have to then try and follow through on the move shes leading :).


Don't you think that a consistently poor (or late) lead will tempt a follower into trying to anticipate a move, simply so that the dance keeps moving? I imagine it would take a truly heroic lady to allow a dance to grind to a halt rather than 'help out' by freewheeling into another move. Especially if she's got the rhythm thing going on.



(Goodness, I seem to have participated in a hijack of my own thread. Whatever next?)

[Banana Man]

Pick two or three easy moves -- keep repeating them.
See how much you can play with the timing / style, etc.

SpinDr.
:yeah:
And try the same with different styles/types of music, vary the space used and the angles taken - in a slot, or not.

El SG - if you're looking for comparisons with Ballroom/Latin, apart from sneaking the odd move in, you can experiment with your weight / balance. This can affect the strength of your lead and the ability to check back or follow through - it can also eliminate some of the predictability that can build up from dancing reguarly with the same partners. :tears:

I don't know if you are looking for ideas to improve your own dancing that you can try with any partner, or that you want to work on in a partnership, as in the ballroom technique you mentioned? :confused:

[Andreas]

If the girl does not do what the guy wants .... then the guy probably didn't lead it good enough. ;)

[MartinHarper]

Find pairs of moves that are frequently confused. An example at a beginner level would be the hatchback and the yoyo. Lead a dance with lots of hatchbacks and lots of yo-yos, and try to keep the mix fairly random.

What often happens with these pairs of moves is that (sub-consciously) I avoid leading both of them in the same dance, which allows my partner to compensate for my woeful lead. Forcing myself to lead both in the same dance helps me to improve the distinction between the two moves.

[Clive Long]

If the girl does not do what the guy wants .... then the guy probably didn't lead it good enough. ;)

You obviously haven't witnessed the arm-wrestling I sometimes get forced into.



(Goodness, I seem to have participated in a hijack of my own thread. Whatever next?)


:rofl: :rofl:

Clive

[Feelingpink]

If the girl does not do what the guy wants .... then the guy probably didn't lead it good enough. ;)

Or she simply didn't want to do that move :devil: Although with anything I missed in our dances on Friday night, I was just being a rubbish follower - there were so many "oooh" moves. :yum:

[Dreadful Scathe]

Don't you think that a consistently poor (or late) lead will tempt a follower into trying to anticipate a move, simply so that the dance keeps moving?

No i dont. The follower may try and guess what the move is supposed to be and try and do something if theres a bad lead but thats not the same as anticipation in my mind - which would be deciding what to do before the lead, regardless of how good/bad the lead happened to be.



(Goodness, I seem to have participated in a hijack of my own thread. Whatever next?)

Keep it up :)

[Andreas]

Or she simply didn't want to do that move :devil: Although with anything I missed in our dances on Friday night, I was just being a rubbish follower - there were so many "oooh" moves. :yum:

Nah, if I wanted to force you into the moves I could but there is no point because you can compensate and don't just stand there :flower:

What I am saying is just that in the very most cases a guy CAN make the girl do what he wants if he really tries. There are so many fights on the floor about who's fault it was that a move didn't work (been through that phase, too :blush: ), which are absolutely pointless. If I want you to do a move I lead it with no room for 'interpretation'. So that is essentially a hint to the guys to take things easy and/or improve their leads :wink:

A non-mistakable lead is all the more important if the follower is either not very experienced or has a completely different idea of what the dance should look like. There are plenty of ladies around that dance with the idea of just ignoring the guy in an attempt to do their own very best to look good (I think). With these sometimes very advanced dancers a strong lead is the only thing that keeps the guy on this side of insanity and fury. The motivation there is to either work in with her OR, if that fails, to be so strong that she leaves the floor totally frustrated :rofl:

[Andreas]

You obviously haven't witnessed the arm-wrestling I sometimes get forced into.

That is the point when your hand becomes soft and the motion round. If a lady really tries to wrestle with you then they in most cases rely on a strong arm. If you 'guide' her softly they lose the frame to do whatever :wink: It is like Aikido, the harder they try, the less success they will have :rofl:

[Lory]

Be gentle!

IMO, always start dancing with any new partner assuming she CAN follow really well with the lightest of touch, (play a game to see how light you can be and still be in control :) ) and only increase the pressure pressure if necessary

And smile! :na:

[Sparkles]

Be smooth. :grin:
Smooth in everything - feet, hands, contact, lead... This is something that can be practiced in every dance you have. Do not bounce or jerk. Do not 'stir' the lady round on a turn or return (it really hurts their shoulders! :angry: ). Make all movements flowing and your dances will be dreamy (not that they're not already, of course :flower: ).
S. x

[Chef]

Be smooth. :grin:
Smooth in everything - feet, hands, contact, lead... This is something that can be practiced in every dance you have. Do not bounce or jerk. Do not 'stir' the lady round on a turn or return (it really hurts their shoulders! :angry: ). Make all movements flowing and your dances will be dreamy (not that they're not already, of course :flower: ).
S. x

:yeah:

Something that I find works for me is if I am having a difficult time getting something into my body memory (Viktors moves are often the culprits here) then I practice it on my own very slowly like a Tai Chi motion. In this way I can have the time to work out the path of everything that has to move and because I am doing it slowly I tend to do it smoothly. I often do this while holding wine glasses half filled with water (a little tip from David Barker) and that really lets you know if any of your movements are bouncy or jerky. When I have everything worked out on my own (imagining where a partner would move) I try it out slowly with a trusted partner. When all the problems are ironed out I gradually speed it up to full speed with the same trusted partner and a lot of the smoothness built in during the "Tai Chi" phase stays.

Hope this will be of some use.

Happy Dancing

[Clive Long]

Be gentle!

<< snip >>

And smile! :na:

Referring to moi by any chance?

I have to concentrate when I dance.

Concentrating, dancing and smiling all at the same time?

Can't be done. Tried it once, lost my balance. :sick:

I'm a man, can't multi-task.