101 easy ways to improve your dance

[El Salsero Gringo]

A misleading title, I admit. I've picked up from the Forum already a few ideas the practice of which I hope will improve my dance, and be fun for me and whoever I'm dancing with at the same time. The two foremost in my mind are:

1. Learning to dance the follower's part and be lead

2. Lead the basic moves, but mirror reversed

Both of these have been covered extensively on the forum already, obviously - but does anyone have any more suggestions? I would include dancing on the half beat, but I'm not convinced that it's possible for mortals like me.

Over to you...

[Minnie M]

As a follower don't anticipate

[Daisy Chain]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

A
- but does anyone have any more suggestions?

Before leaving the house, always check that the 2 shoes in your dance bag are not both for the same foot ...

Daisy

(A Hobbling Little Flower)

[Doc Iain]

Not sure there are any easdy ways of improving ones dancing! As with anything practise makes perfect, go to a number of differnt nights, with different teachers (each of them will have their own particular good points in their teaching, some technically based, some moved based etc.)
LISTEN to music when you hear it, don't just let it wash over you, listen to each piece as if you were dancing to it (as in when in the car at home etc.) and try to learn 1) where the beat is...not actually as easy as it sounds in some cases! 2) Listen for breaks and emphasis areas in the track. The only other thing that I personally can suggest is to watch other people and how they do things and dance with people who you think are better than you, and when dancing with begninners etc. think not only about the dance, but about your style in the dance.

[Clive Long]

Originally Posted by Minnie M

As a follower don't anticipate

repeat .........

Another thing that drives me nuts.

Told a woman she was anticipating (I wasn't very sensitive about it) - BAD THING.

Clive

[philsmove]

Originally Posted by Daisy Chain

Before leaving the house, always check that the 2 shoes in your dance bag are not both for the same foot ...

Daisy

(A Hobbling Little Flower)

Glad to here a lady sometimes take dancing is not the only person to do this

[Andy McGregor]

Don't be afraid to ask the good guys (and girls ) for tips.

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by Clive Long

[re followers that anticpate]...Another thing that drives me nuts.

Learn to distinguish between anticipation, and confusion resulting from a poor lead.

In fact, assume it's the latter, even if you know it isn't.

Even when you're sure it isn't

If you think this is wrong, answer this question:

"How will your lead improve, if you assume it's her fault when she doesn't follow?"

[Minnie M]

Eye contact

(but don't overdo it )

and as a follow on from Andy's post - ask the good dancers to dance - really helps the leads if the follower is experienced, and for the followers it will give you confidence

[El Salsero Gringo]

Thank you everyone for your good suggestions.

What I was really hoping for were ideas for things to do on a dance-floor that you wouldn't want to do all the time (i.e. aren't part of a 'normal', social dance) but which would strengthen your technique just by working on them. Exercises, if you will. For instance, I gather that ballroom dancers can just walk around the floor in ballroom hold, concentrating on balance and poise. What would the Ceroc equivalent be?

The only other one I can think of at the moment is for the follower to dance with their eyes closed.

By the way, the word 'easy' in the thread title was tongue-in-cheek. None of this strikes me as easy at all.

[spindr]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

What I was really hoping for were ideas for things to do on a dance-floor that you wouldn't want to do all the time (i.e. aren't part of a 'normal', social dance) but which would strengthen your technique just by working on them.

Pick two or three easy moves -- keep repeating them.
See how much you can play with the timing / style, etc.

SpinDr.

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

for the follower to dance with their eyes closed.

And/or the leader

[Daisy Chain]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

What I was really hoping for were ideas for things to do on a dance-floor that you wouldn't want to do all the time (i.e. aren't part of a 'normal', social dance) but which would strengthen your technique just by working on them.

I recommend always participating in the beginners lesson even when you feel you know all the moves. But, watch the teacher/demonstrator like a hawk and concentrate on imitating their posture and incorporate their little style points during that lesson. Some of it will rub off onto your freestyle.

It's like driving. When you start, you're so worried about getting the right gear that you don't notice the pedestrian on the zebra crossing. But once the basics come naturally, you can spend more time looking at the road and less looking at the instruments and worrying about kangarooing.

Daisy

(An Imitation Flower)

[Dreadful Scathe]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

Learn to distinguish between anticipation, and confusion resulting from a poor lead.

In fact, assume it's the latter, even if you know it isn't.

Even when you're sure it isn't

But surely bad lead cannot be a cause of anticipation? Anticipation is when the follower goes into a move BEFORE you have led anything! If that happens, you pretty much have to then try and follow through on the move shes leading .

[El Salsero Gringo]

Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe

But surely bad lead cannot be a cause of anticipation? Anticipation is when the follower goes into a move BEFORE you have led anything! If that happens, you pretty much have to then try and follow through on the move shes leading .

Don't you think that a consistently poor (or late) lead will tempt a follower into trying to anticipate a move, simply so that the dance keeps moving? I imagine it would take a truly heroic lady to allow a dance to grind to a halt rather than 'help out' by freewheeling into another move. Especially if she's got the rhythm thing going on.



(Goodness, I seem to have participated in a hijack of my own thread. Whatever next?)

[Banana Man]

Originally Posted by spindr

Pick two or three easy moves -- keep repeating them.
See how much you can play with the timing / style, etc.

SpinDr.

And try the same with different styles/types of music, vary the space used and the angles taken - in a slot, or not.

El SG - if you're looking for comparisons with Ballroom/Latin, apart from sneaking the odd move in, you can experiment with your weight / balance. This can affect the strength of your lead and the ability to check back or follow through - it can also eliminate some of the predictability that can build up from dancing reguarly with the same partners.

I don't know if you are looking for ideas to improve your own dancing that you can try with any partner, or that you want to work on in a partnership, as in the ballroom technique you mentioned?

[Andreas]

If the girl does not do what the guy wants .... then the guy probably didn't lead it good enough.

[MartinHarper]

Find pairs of moves that are frequently confused. An example at a beginner level would be the hatchback and the yoyo. Lead a dance with lots of hatchbacks and lots of yo-yos, and try to keep the mix fairly random.

What often happens with these pairs of moves is that (sub-consciously) I avoid leading both of them in the same dance, which allows my partner to compensate for my woeful lead. Forcing myself to lead both in the same dance helps me to improve the distinction between the two moves.

[Clive Long]

Originally Posted by Andreas

If the girl does not do what the guy wants .... then the guy probably didn't lead it good enough.

You obviously haven't witnessed the arm-wrestling I sometimes get forced into.

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

(Goodness, I seem to have participated in a hijack of my own thread. Whatever next?)

Clive

[Feelingpink]

Originally Posted by Andreas

If the girl does not do what the guy wants .... then the guy probably didn't lead it good enough.

Or she simply didn't want to do that move Although with anything I missed in our dances on Friday night, I was just being a rubbish follower - there were so many "oooh" moves.