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Originally Posted by DavidY I find the tricky bit in leading the shoulder drop is making sure you end up close enough to your partner after you've both turned. |
You probably start turning too soon.
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The leading-behind-your-back thing usually works OK for me - I lead the variant where you step to the side (opposite ways) and catch at your left hand side to return the follower in front.
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I have found that leaning (or stepping/lunging) in the opposite direction from your out-streached arm, (so that the motion is half and half) allows a full straight arm without the lady having to move for miles {I've got long arms
}
The 'normal' variation goes from here back to the "hand on shoulder" position, then step forward to back-catch in a 'one-handed-almost-cattapult' lean, then pull down and through as you step back to make the lady travel forward on her return, gentle push and step back in-line. 7 counts {I think?}.
If you replace the 'back-catch and lean' with a 'side catch and traveling turn' you are forcing the lady to travel in a (fairly large) diagonal while turning; most other moves that travel while turning are on the x or y axis, encouraging a more controlled movement and easier directional sense for the lady.
Instead of ending with a traveling return, why not turn 90º to face and step in to a first move ballroom hold?
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I do like the Shoulder Drop as a beginners' move because you can use it to hit a musical break.~snip~This means you can introduce beginners to musicality with a move they learnt in the beginners' class, and it's a safe stop (you're both standing upright, not in a lean or seducer or whatever)
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You can use any move to hit a musical break: simplest it to just 'freeze' on a count, then keep the lady in that position while you move/turn to face untill the song resumes. No leans, seducers, dips or poses required (well, perhaps some posing
) and it is just as/even more effective than the other stuff that relys on having an intermediate dancer at the end of your arm.