Partnering Technique: Lead and Follow

Creating communication in order to be able to exchange information on energy and direction is the key to seamless leading and following. In this lesson, Sara and Ivan introduce the idea of progression in complexity in the lead and follow, the concepts of energy and direction, and why they are so important for communication.

Without connection, there can be no communication. What does it mean to connect to our own body, the ground, to our partner? What elements are required for connection? How do we achieve a quality connection? Discover the first piece of the puzzle for great lead and follow.

The first component necessary for movement is energy. In this video, Sara and Ivan show you examples of how to generate energy for movement by moving the axis, in the other extreme, by generating only power, or by combining the two. Using axis and power allows us to control how we visually and dynamically shape movement.

Energy alone is not sufficient for movement – without direction we are not actually able to create even a single step! In order to understand how leading and following works, you need to shift your understanding and see that the most important directions you need to master are those that the leader creates in the relationship between the standing and the free leg of the follower.
Once the leader is able to affect each individual leg of the follower in the directions required by the movement, all limits on creativity disappear!

Understanding directions: use this lesson as a primer to recognize, identify, and use the correct directions as required by the movement you are working on. By focusing on direction as one of the primary elements of each movement, we are able to break down and learn new movements, and also correct movements that we are already able to accomplish.

It is time to put the new information on connection, energy and direction into practice! Go beyond theory and shift your paradigm of the understanding of leading and following through a cool example step.

Changing body tone and matching energy levels are key! Communication through body tone, and the use of energy and direction make leading and following a two-way street. The leader and the follower share the same ability to communicate, so a dialogue becomes a question of initiative and agreement in the couple. Empowering followers to communicate with clarity and confidence, and recognizing the role of the follower in shaping the dance is one of the key components of Sara and Ivan’s technique and of modern tango in general.

Lead/follow challenge – Sara & Ivan show you a step, then ask you to modify it in fun and exciting ways by using the new concepts you have just learned in this collection.
Test your new skills!