Lead and follow

In partner dancing, the two partners are labelled as the leader and the follower, or lead and follow. Traditionally, the male partner leads and the female partner follows, though this is certainly not always the case. Many social dance forms have a long history of same-sex and role-crossing partnerships, and there have been some changes to the strict gendering of partner dances in some competition or performance contexts.

Broadly speaking, the leader guides the overall structure of the dance, deciding which moves or figures will be danced, and how to the couple will move around the dance floor. The leader's role is to "lead" their partner through moves, usually setting the emotional or stylistic 'tone' for the dance as well as initiating moves. The follower in contrast, "follows" their leader, completing the moves suggested by the leader.

Techniques of leading

The leader has to communicate the direction of the movement to the follower. Traditionally, the lead's right hand on the follow's back, near the lowest part of the shoulder-blade. This is the strongest part of the back and the lead can easily pull the follow's body inwards. To enable the lead to communicate a step forward (backward for the follow) the follow has to constantly put a little weight against the lead's right hand. When the lead goes forward, the follow will naturally go backwards.

The second important leading mechanism is the lead's left hand, which usually holds the follow's right hand. At no point should it be necessary for any partner to firmly grab the other's hand. It is sufficient to press the hand or even only finger tips slightly against each other, the following hand following the leading hand.

The third important leading mechanism is hip contact. Though not possible in traditional Latin dances like Rumba, Cha-cha, Tango Argentino because of partner separation, hip contact is a harmonious and sensual way of communicating movement to the partner, used primarily in Standard or Ballroom Dances (English / slow Waltz, European Tango, Quickstep etc) and Caribbean dances.

Using connection

For the leader and follower to interact with each other, a connection must be established. More advanced dancers will take many cues from each other through this connection, with followers using it to communicate feedback to their leader just as the leader uses it to suggest moves to their partner. The most accomplished dancers use connection as a line of communication which allows the leader to incorporate the follower's ideas, abilities and creative suggestions into their own styling and selection of moves.

The degree to which the leader 'controls' the dance (and, by implication, controls the follower) depends on local dance culture, the social context in which the dance exists, the experiences and personalities of each partner, and a range of other factors. Some partner dances such as lindy hop involve an open position which encourages each partner to improvise alone, yet others, such as Argentine Tango may involve a "close embrace" or closed position which encourage followers to follow their leader more comprehensively. For many individual dancers, exploring the limits of the leader-follower relationship adds to the dance, where this relationship might better be understood as a conversation between partners, with each contributing to the style and mood of the dance through their connection. For other partners, the leader's complete control of the follower, and the follower's relinquishing a greater degree of creative or expressive autonomy is more personally comfortable or satisfying.

In many partner dances, the leader's steps differ from the follower's. In face-to-face positions, the follower generally "mirrors" the leader's footwork. For example, if the leader begins on their left foot, the follower will begin on their right foot. In choreographed pieces and other situations where the follower is in a tandem position or shadow position, the leader and follower will use the same footwork. Usually both partners move together as a unit, but in some dances the partners move in opposite directions - together and apart again.

The process of leading and following - a leader's communicating to their partner - involves a number of factors.

In partner dancing, dancers seek to work together to create synchronised or complementary movements. The leader is largely responsible for "initiating" movement, whereas the follower's role is to "maintain" this movement (though they may choose not to). Many dancers describe this process as involving the initiation of momentum or 'energy' (by the leader) and then the subsequent maintenance, exaggeration, decreasing or dissolving of this momentum by both partners.This momentum or energy may be manifested as movement (in its most obvious form), or in a range of more complex interactions between partners:
* compression (where each partner 'compress' the energy by bending joints and moving towards or 'into' their partner, to varying degrees);
* leverage (where one partner - usually the leader - exploits the development of compression or connection to shift their follower's weight or to 'ground' (develop 'compression' downwards, with the contact their feet make with the floor) themselves more thoroughly before initiating movement);
* tension (an often misleading term, which may be generally translated as the opposite of compression - partners moving away, or out of their partner)
* and so on.

Weight transfer

For partner dancers, using weight transfers is a simple way for a leader to communicate a 'lead' for a dance step to a follower.

For example, when a couple are physically in contact, for a leader to have their follower walk forwards, they may simply begin by walking backwards themselves. As their arms/points of contact move away from each other, they develop tension, which the follower may either break by dropping their arms or breaking the hold, or 'follow' by moving.

More experienced leaders realize (if only on an unconscious level) that the most effective execution of even this simple step is achieved by preparing for movement before the step begins.

One goal of partner dancing is to move in ways that one dancer alone cannot. The leader-follower connection facilitates this. The principles of leading and following are explored to their most extreme limits in contact improvisation of modern dance, though they are as ancient a process as a parent carrying a child.

Hijacking

Sometimes the follower steals the lead and they reverse roles for some time. This is called hijacking (also known as lead stealing). Hijacking requires experience and good connection, since without proper timing it may look like sloppy dancing. A signal for hijacking is typically an unusually changed (mostly, increased) stress in the connection from the follower's side. "Unusually" means more than typically required for the execution of the current step (by these partners). For a follower to hijack, they must be sure that the leader will understand or at least guess the follower's intentions.

Advanced swing (dance) dancers do this to enhance their dance connection and to add more fun into the dance. Another way of "breaking the routine" of the dance is syncopation (the second meaning, making more steps than required by the standard description of the dance pattern). Syncopations are easier for the leader to cope with, since the leader does not have to change the intended dance figure, although experienced dancers try and match the fancy footwork of the partner, at least in rhythm. So, in a sense, syncopation may be perceived as mild hijacking. This is not as difficult as it might seem, since good dancers match their footwork to musical accents.

Backleading

'Backleading' is a popular term used to describe a follower's executing steps without waiting for, or contrary to, or interfering with the lead of the leader. This is also called anticipation and usually considered a bad dancing habit.

Backleading is often used intentionally by an instructor when dancing with a student leader, in order to help them learn the desired technique.

The above sounds similar to "hijacking", and indeed it is often used in place of "hijacking". However the two terms have significant differences, stemming from intentions. The first, superficial, difference: hijacking is usually an occasional "outburst" of the follower, who otherwise diligently follows the lead, while a "backleader" may do this almost on every other step. The second, a more significant one: hijacking is an actual lead, i.e., a hijacker does their stuff and watches for the leader to follow (reversed roles!), while backleading is taking care only about one's own dancing.

Body lead vs arm lead

A "body lead" occurs where the leader initiates a lead by moving their body, which moves their arm(s), and thus transmits a lead to the follower. 'Body lead' means much the same as 'weight transfer'.An "arm lead" occurs where the leader moves their arm(s) without moving their body, or moves their body in a different direction to their arm.While an 'arm lead' without the transfer of weight (or movement of the body) on the part of the leader is often a marker of an inexperienced or poorly taught dancer, the process of leading and following, particularly at an advanced level, often involves the contra- and contrasting uses of weight transfers and 'arm moves'. As an example, a leader may lead a follow back onto their right foot through the leader's own weight transfer forwards onto their left foot, yet at the same time turn the follower's torso to the left from above the hips.

Recovery from miscommunication

Sometimes a miscommunication is possible between the leader and follower. A general rule here is do not wrestle, but do not stop dancing. Techniques of the recovery of connection and synchronization vary from dance to dance, but there are some common tricks.

*In dances without obligatory body contact (Latin, swing, hustle, American Smooth), free spin recovers from anything.
*In dances danced in body contact (Waltz, Tango) it is very important to recover the feet match. To recover, leaders may initiate a well-known (e.g., basic) step with slightly exaggerated sideways shift of weight to force the follower to free the required foot. For example, in Waltz or Foxtrot a good suggestion would be to end a measure in the open Promenade position, there would be no doubt as to the direction of the movement and which foot to use at the beginning of the next measure.

Obstruction avoidance

A general rule is that both leader and follower watch each other's back. Collision avoidance is one of the cases when the follower is actually required to "backlead" or at least to communicate about the danger to the leader, and the leaders have to expect this.

Normal floor traffic

In travelling dances, such as Waltz, common follower's signals of danger are an unusual resistance to the lead, or a slight tap by the shoulder. Crying "timber!" is usually too late, especially with the loud music of a dance hall. In open-position dances, such as Swing or Latin dances, maintaining eye contact with the partner, besides being a generic rule of good dancing, is an important safety communication link.

Many dances have simple moves dedicated to changing the direction of travel, to be used, e.g., at the corners of the floor, or to avoid an obstacle.

Crowded floor

Common sense suggests several modifications of technique: to make smaller steps, especially backwards, to keep the moving feet closer to the floor, to maintain shorter arm connection in open positions, and to avoid long patterns with several changes of direction/slots, unless you can smoothly break them at any moment. In travelling dances, absolutely avoid patterns that have steps against the line of dance.

See also

*Dance
*Swing
*Lindy Hop
*Connection
*Musicality