rss Subscribe with a reader

Archive for the ‘dialog’Category

oversteering vs understeering

Equilbrium feels good.

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.

  • Share/Bookmark

29

10 2009

Learning to shh…

shhhh
First, leads learn to speak and follows learn to listen.

In the beginning of learning Salsa the Cuban way, it’s very important for the lead to learn how to speak to their partner with a very clear and deliberate “voice”.

During this first stage, I think the follow should concentrate ONLY on listening and doing exactly what the lead compels them to do.

You can’t just overlay interchanges of faux styling between partners to make it appear as if there is dialog going on! This is simply each person taking turns reciting what they memorized.

Second, leads learn to invite dialog and follows learn to recognize and respond to the invitation.

Read the rest of this entry →

  • Share/Bookmark