As a leader you're actually following
How masculine & feminine energy exists within leading & following
Let’s take a break from musicality. If you’ve missed last weeks live musicality breakdown you can find the video here. It’ll show you how the lead made musicality choices throughout the dance.
Meet her where she’s at
In this post I want to highlight a key concept of leading & following that a recent guest on my podcast highlighted extremely well:
“As I start [the dance] in close hold or something like that I try to listen to her first: I'm feeling her arms on me. Her body. I'm just feeling her sense of comfort. I meet her where she’s at. And to me I think that's life. The masculine needs to meet the feminine where the feminine is at. And then go from there. If the masculine (lead) moves too fast and the feminine (follow) is not on board, you're not dancing. Instead you're pulling them along.”
This quote is from Kristian, a relationship coach and Bachata teacher.
The whole episode with him is an hour long. If you’re short on time, here are the most interesting parts that will help you to better understand this concept and improve your leading skills:
Why above all you should be listening to the follower [13:50]
If you feel the pressure of having to impress the follower [19:25]
How to explain non-dancers that Salsa & Bachata is a sensual dance and not sexual [23:27]
How to be clear in your leading while understanding the capabilities of your partner [39:30]
Click on any of the timestamps above to start listening or find the episode here:
The episode is also available on any other podcast platform if you search for Backstage - The Bachata Podcast
Want to read more articles like these? I’m Yann and this is my weekly newsletter “The confident lead”. Each week I write about things that make you a more confident leader on the social dance floor. Leave your email address to receive it every Sunday evening.