Salsa City Forum » Salsa Music and Dance » Leading ladies

Another thing that makes a big difference to a salsa class for me is the speed at which people are rotated between partners. So much so that I avoid doing classes with teachers who don't pay attention to this.

I can put up with almost anyone for, say, four or five minutes, but being stuck in the arms of someone clueless and uncongenial for ten to fifteen minutes is a nightmare.

Almost as annoying is when the teacher moves you round so rapidly that you don't have time to make any sort of connection, good or bad, with your partners.

So, a plea to teachers: move your students round in a timely manner, but not too quickly.

I hope you are not describing me there Hugh, "clueless and uncongenial"? :)

Speaking as a woman/follower (call it what you will). The most important thing at the advanced level is -PRACTICE!

Classes can aid this if you are lead correctly, as they give you a chance to review where you are stepping (i.e. sticking to the lines in New York style).

However, that becomes very tedious after awhile (i.e. 20 mins or so), so many of 'us' tend to flit in/out of classes.

Ladies styling classes do help and I believe there are some running at present, although again more experienced ladies have their own technique and style already so few bother.

I guess what I'm saying is 'ladies do perfectly well without too much attention being paid to them'. Both Katie and Lucy are very good at displaying what we could do when dancing, so we just watch with admiration and follow/copy parts where we can and alter the moves slightly for our own bit of artistic flare!

So guys, if there was a problem, we'd let you know! But personally I don't think there is.

As they say "it's all the lead!"

I'm not really on about styling. I think that's something probably best done outside partner classes as a lot of followers seem to be very self-conscious about trying that sort of thing out in a partnerwork class and so hold back a bit. I'm more on about footwork, posture, arm tension,... where its more black and white about what is right and what is wrong. In a lot of the supposedly more 'advanced' classes I go to many of the followers don't always have that good a grasp of those sort of things and it doesn't tend to get explained. There are of course exceptions and a lot of the more experienced followers are better at this sort of thing but if its not explained in classes then how are followers supposed to learn it?
As you may guess I don't completely agree with the statement 'it's all in the lead'. For example, if the follower doesn't know how to spin correctly or where to keep their arm when someone leads multiple spins then they're not going to work in freestyle dancing but they would normally work in a class when the follower is expecting it.

Ladies flitting in/out of classes when they get slightly bored? Where does that leave the poor blokes who suddenly have no-one to dance with? May be those gents (and I think there are quite a few of them) who turn up to beginners' classes week after week and repeat the basic steps just so the new girls have somebody to dance with shouldn't bother and only turn up for the classes most appropriate for them.

Bob,

Please don't discourage these guys from turning up at the beginners' classes each week! as a new starter as green as the hills, i find it extremely frustrating that there isn't enough men to go around! Please don't tar us girlies with the same brush. I intend to be a regular attendee and hope to learn quickly but can only do so much without the aid of a willing partner of the opposite sex.

With regards to 'flitting in/out of classes' it is worth noting that there has been very few occassions in Cardiff when there has been greater numbers of men than women.

The men always have plenty of women to dance with, the problem only lies in if they are choosy over whom they dance with!

Plus with regards to those 'poor blokes who turn up to beginners classes' it is worth pointing out that several of the experienced ladies who flit in and out also cover the role of Leader if required! (So we do know where you are coming from!)

Refering to a previous comment posted by Bailamos:
"women who really know how to follow don't need to learn moves and will learn more by just dancing". This is what I was refering to previously and as a Follower I know it most certainly does hold true!

Brendon with regards to footwork, posture and arm tension; clearly you have not been to classes taught by Dale, Paul and Thano as these were ALWAYS mentioned. Plus, when dancing with experienced leads and/or teachers they are more than helpful in gently telling you if you have too much/little tension or if you are breaking backwards instead of forwards, e.t.c.

N.B I still believe it's 'all in the Lead', as we are told in nearly all cases if something goes wrong it's the man's fault! You are in the driving seat and we are just the vehicle; poor steering, no matter how good our quality, leads to a really poor show!!

I think we're talking about different things with the 'all in the lead' phrase. I agree if a follower looks bad or doesn't enjoy the dance then that's down to the leader but part of that is because the leader shouldn't be leading at too high a level for the follower. The more experienced the leader then the better they can judge what will or won't work with a follower and the less likely it is that things will actually go wrong. It doesn't mean to say though that whatever they lead will work provided they lead it correctly.
Another thing is that, making use of your analogy, a reliant robin will never be a ferrari no matter who is in the driving seat. It will still get you from A to B though and the journey will probably be just as enjoyable so does it really matter?

But a reliant robin is more likely to brake down!

... but also easier to fix.

We could argue this until the cows come home.

In response to your question, I don't think it does matter! As long as everyone enjoys the dance!

Remember this issue wasn't raised by me, I've just posted my opinion in response to your grumble.