By Norberto ‘Betto’ Herrera
There are a couple of aspects that I believe dancers should consider to achieve a higher dancing level. In my belieF, a leader needs to:
Have a strong understanding of the basics. Things like, when to change your weight, arm tension, basic footwork and when to lead the turns are all part of the basics of mambo. The better you understand them as a beginner the quicker you’ll improve your dancing. Notice that I say understand them not execute them.
Measure your partner’s level. Have her go through a simple routine of basic moves (basic, cross body lead, right turn, left turn) for you to have an idea of what moves she’ll be able to follow without difficulty.
Adjust your lead. After you have measured her level, keep in mind that certain followers respond better to more obvious signals and leads, and others to stronger or softer leads. You’ll have to determine how to calibrate your lead accordingly. A good leader is able to adjust his lead while keeping his flavor and style with almost every single different partner. On the other hand, when a couple dances constantly together, they lose the ability to adjust to another dancer.
Share the dance floor with the lady. I have seen a lot of posing from some leaders but no dancing. They don’t even move their feet, while their partner is moving from point A to B, side to side, turning left and right with doubles and triples while the man is holding the same pose. Dancing is movement, not posing. If you ever watch Eddie Torres dance, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. Think about dancing in a circle, you want to share the circle not being in the middle and have the lady run around you.
The most important one is to feel the music. Feeling will manifest through your body. That is probably the most admirable characteristic in a dancer, not how many times he spins or makes his partner spin, not how many moves he goes through in a single song, but how connected he and his partner are with the music.
Mambo or salsa dancing is all about the lady. Followers delight us with their style, sexiness and playfulness. All these aforementioned characteristics come to place after:
A strong understanding of the basics. By this I mean: When to put weight in the proper foot. How to interpret the lead. Which direction to go.
Prepping for spinning. No matter if there is one or a thousand spins led, there is always preparation before a turn. Of course, a prep for a single right turn is going to be different than a prep for a triple right. It’s all about adjusting to the lead. The better you prep the better you spin.
Good connection. It’s a must for the follower to be able to feel the lead. Starting with the way your following hand is positioned, it should not be flat. You should use your ring and middle fingers of your right hand to connect with his ring and middle fingers on his left hand. Keep tension in your fingers and slightly curve them to his to maintain connection. Then comes your arm, you need some kind of tension to be able to react on time to any kind of move. Always match the tension you receive from the leader. Tension will range from a zero level to a five level depending on what is being led. Your posture should include a straight back, that is what is going to help your balance while turning. This is also going to allow you to carry your own weight and give some tension at the same time. If you keep all these pointers into consideration you’ll become a follower that is not too soft and at the same time not too heavy.
Experience. The leaders and followers’ learning process is different. Leaders need more time to develop than followers. From an experience standpoint, a follower needs to get used to standard moves and be ready for new ones and learn how to respond to certain leads. On the other hand, if the follower gets too used to a certain lead by dancing with the same partner all the time, she’ll have problems adjusting to a different lead. A follower should try to dance with anyone who is available to be able to react to different feelings.
Styling. This is something that comes in place after all of the above has been achieved. It’s not easy. Good stylish dancers are able to keep their own flavor and follow any move flawlessly. A lot of experience is needed because the follower needs to understand when she has time to style during a turn pattern or what she can do while been led during a move. You can use every single part of your body to style like your hands, arms, shoulders, rib cage, hips, head.... even your hair.
Feel the music. Styling and feeling the music go hand in hand, but when you feel the music, the moves that you execute are not pre-designed or rehearsed. They are inspired by the music and transformed into those sexy hips movements and head rolls we guys love to watch.
These are just a couple of aspects that I think an upcoming dancer should consider to develop into a great dancer. While you might think some of them are more important than others, remember that dancing is an interpretation of the music from our soul and we will have different approaches.
