Salsa
I always find that watching others is not only enjoyable but also a great learning experience. Seeing new techniques and moves performed makes one more aware of the types of move to expect while dancing. While the lead is the guy thinking up what to do and attempting to clearly communicate these moves to the follow, a very difficult task indeed, being the follow is also very difficult, especially in faster paced dances. You have to put your entire trust in your lead, no easy task if you are dancing with many people you’ve never met. But having an idea of what kind of moves to expect in a dance helps improve your following. When I had just started dancing, I wouldn’t know the proper way to respond to a lead that was given to me, and it was difficult to make the move my own. Watching other dances really helped me to become a more competant follow. I am certainly, by no means, an advanced, star quality follow. But by constantly analyzing myself and others, I become better.
Needless to say, this is all leading up to the fact that I was watching videos on Youtube this afternoon. I decided to explore Salsa this afternoon. I found a variety of both impressive and not so impressive Salsa, but one of them stuck out:
Junior and Emily Alabi
I was amazed at how much and how fast Emily was able to turn. Wow. This video also impressed be because, as a follow, I usually have great difficulty following the crazy combinations of pretzel arms and hammerlocks and anything else that may be done with arm and spin combinations. Some of those moves would scare me quite a bit, being afraid a minor mistake will wrench my arm out of my socket. Of course, having danced with a variety of dancers, and a variety of levels, it’s always something to be afraid of, as a follow. Often i’ve found beginner leads become a bit overzealous and try leading the fancy arm combination they saw a more advanced dancer lead and end up with a hurt follow. For a follow, it’s definitely a concern. Needless to say, the video was impressive.
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