Originally Posted by
Moondancer
I find once we get to freestyle some men expect me to get the taught move right even if their lead has been unclear, and if I don’t get it then they tell me it is my fault - obviously, because I’m a beginner so it’s always my fault!
What really gets me feeling low is when a lead does a move on me I've never seen, I don't get it because I can't tell what they are trying to do, then they tell me it's my fault for not knowing the move. It's a frustrating part of beginnerdom, and I feel it would really help if teachers made leading properly a bit more of an upfront issue in the class. I get the impression that a lot of the men think that the point of teaching moves is for both the followers and the leads to learn, so that the follow knows the move and will do it correctly for the lead. From what I read on this forum, the moves are being taught to the lead so he can lead them, and the follow so she can recognise the lead - but not so she can predict what he is trying to do and do it for him no matter whether he does his bit right or not...or have I misunderstood? It's not that I'm not listening to what other people are saying about the follower having to be led properly for it to work, but out there on the dance floor, surely I have to do more than just be led well in order to get on and dance? I'm confused about this because I know I can get loads more moves right with good dancers, but I want to be able to get it right with other dancers too - is this a case of getting to understand particular men's signals and knowing their favourite moves so I become better at predicting what their leads mean, or is there something else I should be doing?With some men, it seems like I am constantly having to second guess what they are doing because their lead is more of a “waft”, or because the move we learnt in class could actually lead to any number of different moves, but could be presumed to be that particular one because that’s the one we just learnt…But if I correctly guess what my partner is trying to do and then I do it, isn’t that as much backleading as if I guess wrong about what he is trying to do and do something else by mistake?
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