Touching follower's back?

[Lee Christie]

I've been sarching the forum and sucesfully found answers to most questions I have. I was still wondering about something else though.

At my first class, one of the moves (I belive it was called Cerocspin or something?) had us throw/spin the lady using my left and her righ then catch her right hand with my left, turn her the other way (returning?) and end by offering the other hand and stepping back.

When I was dancing with one of the taxi dancers, she told me I should run my arm/hand along her back as she does that last turn to signal that I want her to take my right hand on completing the turn. I don't recall the teacher saying this but I continued to do this for the remainder of the evening (whenever I remembered - I often forgot bits), I didn't have a problem with it except I was slightly self-concious of doing this with the other ladies in case they weren't expecting it or found it weird or invasive.

Is this a problem? Was that back thing just a suggestion or is that the usual signal to take my right hand? I'm trying to find an online reference somewhere that details the exact steps but I can't find it for this move (or maybe the two-handed hold was only in there to connect back to the first part we did to repeat).

[cederic]

Keeping contact with your partner lets her know where your hand is, and makes it easier for her to leave her hands in the right place for you to catch them. It's an element of technique that gets taught by some teachers and not other - possibly based on the experience of the class. On your first night there's already too much other stuff going on to worry about that

It's very normal to run your hand across the small of the back, or if your hand starts high (e.g. on an Octopus), across the shoulders and down the arm. Followers will not be surprised by this.

Basically hand contact on the hips and anything behind/above them tends to be fine. Going lower or on the front of the torso is what gets you a slap

(Shoulders tend to be fine too - but you tend to take hold of a shoulder from behind with your hand curved over it, preventing your fingers from reaching below the shoulder)

Note that many leaders will let their hands stray. Assume that either they're dancing with a very close friend, or that they're creeping out the follower.

There are some moves that break the conventions above, but it'll be clear when you're taught them. If you're anything like me, you'll be too scared of inappropriate contact to dance properly for months, then as you gain confidence and experience you'll find that taking a hip or the small of the back to lead a move isn't something you even think about.

[Lee Christie]

Thanks for the reply. I'm in general scared of doing everything wrong at this point, so winding up with my hands where they didn't mean to go is just one of those things. Hopefully I can gain more confidence after a while.

[Franck]

I've been sarching the forum and sucesfully found answers to most questions I have. I was still wondering about something else though.

At my first class, one of the moves (I belive it was called Cerocspin or something?) had us throw/spin the lady using my left and her righ then catch her right hand with my left, turn her the other way (returning?) and end by offering the other hand and stepping back.

When I was dancing with one of the taxi dancers, she told me I should run my arm/hand along her back as she does that last turn to signal that I want her to take my right hand on completing the turn. I don't recall the teacher saying this but I continued to do this for the remainder of the evening (whenever I remembered - I often forgot bits), I didn't have a problem with it except I was slightly self-concious of doing this with the other ladies in case they weren't expecting it or found it weird or invasive.

Is this a problem? Was that back thing just a suggestion or is that the usual signal to take my right hand? I'm trying to find an online reference somewhere that details the exact steps but I can't find it for this move (or maybe the two-handed hold was only in there to connect back to the first part we did to repeat).

Touching your partner's back can be quite invasive as you noticed yourself, there are a few 'safer' areas that can be used for basic connection: Shoulders, a flat hand across the shoulder blades , back of the hips and occasionally the small of the back.
To answer the specific situation, I normally recommend that the leaders catch / run along from the elbow down to the hand (not all the way from the back) when attempting to collect the hand early.

As cederic pointed out though, most followers will be used to shoulder / back contact, though in general, they are more relaxed with a confident lead.

Dancers in general are very forgiving of Beginners, so don't worry too much for now, do your best to relax and plan your next move so you can keep dancing!

[daveb9000]

Franck got in there first, but I too would endorse catching the lady's elbow, you should find that this will naturally follow down to the hand as the lady turns. It's easier to catch than the back as you don't have to have your hand so close. The fact that you're thinking about these things is great though :-)