oversteering vs understeering
Equilbrium feels good.
**Thanks for the reflections Joe. I think all of us, male and female, should remember to adjust to our partner. Casino heads, If you are dancing in a circular trajectory and she is tripping over her feet, than dance in a slot! It’s much easier for us to switch to slot than for her to learn circular movement, on the spot. If each partner strives to accommodate or “listen” to the other, you have a much better hope of reaching an “agreement” on the dance floor. -Eduardo
A guest post by Joe
There are times when learning how to lead Salsa feels like learning how to drive a car.
There are parts of that experience that I do not want to repeat (like learning how to parallel park) or being a geeky, awkward teenager; learning how to lead some salsa moves is a lot like learning how to steer a car.
One of the things I remember is how each car handled and how much I had to turn the wheel to get the car to go
where I wanted to.
One of my parents had a compact and the other had a big boat sedan with a hood long enough to land an airplane on it.
With the compact, I didn’t need to turn the wheel very much or very hard. With the “aircraft carrier” I had to turn a lot more and a lot harder.
When dancing with beginning follows out at socials, i’ve noticed that I really have to “turn the steering wheel” more aggressively.
And when I come back to a Paso class it is not always easy for me to switch to a lighter lead, I keep wanting to turn that wheel like I am driving the car that needs it.
What has started to “click” in for me is that I need to better adjust my lead to the follow.
If they require more lead, I give it to ‘em.
For the ones that don’t need as much torque and pressure, I go light.
Recently, I don’t think I have been giving my follows enough space to breath and express themselves. In effect, I have been taking over the dance, so ladies, I need to apologize for that.
I will try to better match my lead to the “feel” of the follow in the future.
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Hey Joe, you shouldn’t apologize unless you injure your partner. I find myself apologizing while I am dancing sometimes, but we all do our best when we are out there dancing. I have to learn to stop apologizing myself.
It takes a lot of dancing to learn how to adjust to your dance partners. There is also a lot of pressure on the lead to keep the dance interesting, but until you gain confidence in yourself and your skills it’s a good idea to keep it simple and smile. I just started dancing (any dance style)in February and I have clocked a lot of hours in classes and social dancing in clubs. I’m still a little freaked out when I dance socially, but I love dancing and so I keep going out every chance I get.
I encourage you to take advantage of opportunities to go out with friends and dance. It can be tough out there when you are social dancing, but when you are among friends you can always count on someone to have your back. Many of us at Paso need to get out more and show how salsa is done Cuban style so we need you out there with us on the dance floor. I go to almost every Elk’s Lodge dance and they are the friendliest people I have ever danced with. You can join me anytime and if you ever want to go to another place let me know because if I am available I will probably go.