I danced with a guy last night and this thread came to mind, cos he was doing a bit of the old yanking.
I spent the dance trying to analyze exactly what was happening and how to 'deal with it' and basically it came down to this... and the fact that he was out of time and dancing ahead of the beat.
When we move/dance our bodies have a natural momentum.. so after something like a spin,' the follow will need to finish her momentum before she can comfortably return the other way.
If the guy attempts to lead the next move 'before' the follows finished her natural momentum i.e. when she's still rocking away, then it will feel 'jarring'
So, to avoid being yanked and potential injury, my tips for the follower are...
* 'tune out' of the music completely and 'tune in' to your partner instead!
* Keep close to him, never let your arms reach full extension.
* Take small steps, to maximize your reaction time and stay on axis
*** Take a good long look at their face and remember it!!!
Yes, none of this is ideal but you haven't got a lot of choice, its either, dance out of time OR be yanked, either way, it feels horrible but it might just save you from ripping a muscle or being pulled over
***So, back to my previous post, just avoid them!
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"If you're going to do something tonight, that you know you'll be sorry for in the morning, plan a lie in." Lorraine
With a few slight modifications, this is actually really good advice for dancing in general.
The first one - the lead should determine the timing (yes, it should match the music, but live's not always fair). If the lead's doing their job properly, they'll give the follow room to play with the music too, so tuning out completely isn't such a good idea.
The next two are definitely good advice and should always be followed. Smaller steps and never taking your arms out to full extension is something I'd recommend to everyone (both leads and follows).
And remembering faces: well, that's got a lot of advantages.
Well Stokie the first dance I had tonight was with the lady in question.
I started by asking her not to hold my hand so tightly in order to make it easier for her. She asked "why" and I said "it will make it easier for you because you won't have to guess when I want you to relax your hold when I need to change hand grips for the next move".
I then proceeded to have a lovely dance with the lady. At the end of it she asked "why have I not mentioned it before and did it feel better for me". In reply, I asked "if felt better for her", which she replied with a big grin on her face "much better".
I then asked my mate to have a dance with her. He also said it was a very pleasant dance with her now.
So alls well that ends well and once again thanks for the advice.
LOL, not at all. I just assumed Stokie had intended to thank Lory but somehow thanked the wrong post or it was an ironic 'thanks' to someone who had quoted a whole post verbatim and just added a
But, yeah, feel free to thank me whenever you like for whatever you like.
This is also my advice. Ask the teacher to instruct his/her student. It's their job, after all.
In my experience ladies will take instruction from a teacher and probably thank them for helping. On the other hand, there is a chance they will see this as criticism from another dancer - especially if she fancies him
best not to do any fancy footwork too, as if the lead doesn't wait till the follow is balanced, jarring will occur.....and missing all the Christmas fun.
Yes, none of this is ideal but you haven't got a lot of choice, its either, dance out of time OR be yanked, either way, it feels horrible but it might just save you from ripping a muscle or being pulled overExcept then you get accused of being a Princess.***So, back to my previous post, just avoid them!
LOL. I think most songs will be over before certain follows are balanced
Partner dancing is, duh, a partnership. It's not always the lead's fault if yanking occurs (I accept no-one here has said as much yet but it's heading that way)
I would also have thought that it is posible to do fancy footwork separately from what's going on with the upper body (or more specifically, in the case of most yankers, the arms).
oooh bitchy!
Yes, I think if the follow is out of time, it creates the same problem..Partner dancing is, duh, a partnership. It's not always the lead's fault if yanking occurs (I accept no-one here has said as much yet but it's heading that way)
But the lead will have a much trickier time to tune out of the music and still lead .... eeek!
MODERATOR AT YOUR SERVICE
"If you're going to do something tonight, that you know you'll be sorry for in the morning, plan a lie in." Lorraine
Not always the lead's fault that it occurs, but it could be argued that it is always the lead's fault if it damages: if it is within their power to negate the yankage and they don't, then by omission, they are guilty of causing the damage.
I would have thought it impossible to do fancy footwork when you are being taken off-balance with every other arm lead. It may be possible if you completely disassociate the upper body and lower body, but then you can't be led (or lead) properly.I would also have thought that it is posible to do fancy footwork separately from what's going on with the upper body (or more specifically, in the case of most yankers, the arms).
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