a beginning follow’s challenges
A guest post by Tonia Burkett
I’m a little bit of a procrastinator and a little bit perfectionist, so it’s not surprising that I didn’t start dancing until this year (I’m not saying how old, but it’s older than you may think).
I’m afraid of not doing well, of appearing incompetent, of letting someone else be in control and there is no place for any of that in salsa dancing.
As a person who has not done any leading, except back leading, it is difficult for me to speculate about what it is like for someone to lead another person in dancing.
I imagine it is difficult to be the person who has to come up with the patterns and to be responsible for making the two of you “look good” while you are dancing.
Both the lead and the follow have to take responsibility for the quality of the dance, but I know leads experience a lot of pressure to keep things interesting and meet the needs of the follow.
So I must make it clear that I do understand, to some extent, the difficulties of leading in salsa dance.
