Ceroc Scotland Forum - View Single Post - Lead & Follow Workshop

**DavidB** · 26th-August-2003, 01:45 PM

I never want one lead to contradict another. I want them all to be working together to lead the same thing. So all parts of the lead - the movement of the hand, the pressure on the hand, the body position etc should all be saying the same thing to the lady.

Although I tell the lady to 'follow her hand', I don't necessarily have to 'move' the hand from one point to another. Just by rotating her hand, I can get the lady to move in a circle. Or by combining rotation and lateral movement, I can get her to twist on the spot.

I'll use my index finger when leading a First Move, to guide the lady to my right shoulder, and then to start the twist out. I'll release the pressure to reduce the chance that she might twist out too much. (This lets me lead a first move without using my right hand - a move I frequently do to slower swingier music. And if I decide to use both hands, then one lead complements the other, and makes it more obvious to the lady what she should do.)

After the turn under the arm, my hand tends to be in a different position, with a overhand grip instead of a pistol grip. I now have no part of my hand on the outside of her hand. But I can now use a slight legerage on the other side of her hand to control her. I use this leverage to stop the turn, and keep this leverage to guide the lady past my right shoulder in a return. Then when I don't use any leverage, and with a slightly different body position, I can guide her under my left arm.

If I had led a free spin out of the first move, then I will catch the lady with all of my fingers on the outside of her hand, just to make sure I catch her.

Turns do involve a lot of guidance. Very rarely in freestyle does anyone do a turn or a return on the spot. The lady is almost always travelling. When leading a turn it is important to lead the size and the direction of the travelling before leading the turn. So the lateral movement does not get 'overridden' by the raising of the hand - it happens first.

I also use a lot of 'lateral guidance' to guide the lady out of the way of other dancers.

David

26th-August-2003, 01:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
DavidB Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 2,130 Rep Power: 5 Reputation Total: 1417	I never want one lead to contradict another. I want them all to be working together to lead the same thing. So all parts of the lead - the movement of the hand, the pressure on the hand, the body position etc should all be saying the same thing to the lady. Although I tell the lady to 'follow her hand', I don't necessarily have to 'move' the hand from one point to another. Just by rotating her hand, I can get the lady to move in a circle. Or by combining rotation and lateral movement, I can get her to twist on the spot. I'll use my index finger when leading a First Move, to guide the lady to my right shoulder, and then to start the twist out. I'll release the pressure to reduce the chance that she might twist out too much. (This lets me lead a first move without using my right hand - a move I frequently do to slower swingier music. And if I decide to use both hands, then one lead complements the other, and makes it more obvious to the lady what she should do.) After the turn under the arm, my hand tends to be in a different position, with a overhand grip instead of a pistol grip. I now have no part of my hand on the outside of her hand. But I can now use a slight legerage on the other side of her hand to control her. I use this leverage to stop the turn, and keep this leverage to guide the lady past my right shoulder in a return. Then when I don't use any leverage, and with a slightly different body position, I can guide her under my left arm. If I had led a free spin out of the first move, then I will catch the lady with all of my fingers on the outside of her hand, just to make sure I catch her. Turns do involve a lot of guidance. Very rarely in freestyle does anyone do a turn or a return on the spot. The lady is almost always travelling. When leading a turn it is important to lead the size and the direction of the travelling before leading the turn. So the lateral movement does not get 'overridden' by the raising of the hand - it happens first. I also use a lot of 'lateral guidance' to guide the lady out of the way of other dancers. David