Dance Dance Revelation #1!

While you may have heard of the popular dance video game “Dance Dance Revolution” which keeps you grooving along as you stomp on lit up feet to get to the highest score (a modern twist of the old electronic hand-held game “Simon”), we have some dancing revelAtions that are sure to rock your world!

Today’s dancing revelAtion: Are you ready for this? (Feel free to sit if needed, this is a biggie.) Here it is… Your feet are the LEAST important part of partner dancing. Let me explain as you marinate in the possibilities of this being your new truth. In partner dancing, we have A leader and A follower, right?  One sends the information (the leader) and then one receives it (the follower) and responds according to what they feel. The question is, then, where is the information sent from? The answer: his torso. His torso, which is connected to his arms, which are touching her torso (and right hand, of course) in a dance frame. The body leads and the feet respond. This is why the feet are much less important than how he guides her within his frame.

Have you ever wondered why learning to dance from following footsteps is nearly impossible? While you may know where to place your feet in a particular move, you (leaders) certainly won’t understand how to affect her (or LEAD her) through the move. Remember that her feet are not touching yours, guys, so your focus must be on a solid frame and use of the body to guide your follower.

Think of a puppet as you begin to prioritize what part of your body to focus on while learning to dance. If you hold a puppet’s body and move it around, it’s feet will stay under it’s body naturally. If you hold it’s feet, the body will flop over. Think of your follower as a puppet (with a nice dance frame) and guide her from the torso. Then, you will notice that as she begins to feel your guidance, she will relax and LET you lead! This is the ultimate goal of dancing right? He gets to be in charge and she gets to enjoy the ride! A great follower comes from knowing that she can trust that her partner. And so a partnership develops!

Next time you’re taking a dance lesson or you’re out dancing, leaders, focus on the frame, NOT the feet, and see how it affects your dancing. The results may surprise you!