Name: Followers - Finding it difficult to execute lady's styling while dancing with a partner.
Uploaded: 2022-05-15T19:31:11+00:00
Duration: 3 min 42 s
Description: Followers - Finding it difficult to execute lady's styling while dancing with a partner. This Follower who has been taking ladies styling both in-person and online is able to execute ladies styling so

2 years ago

Salsa bachata zouk brazilianzouk kizomba podcast social dancing partner dancing

Followers - Finding it difficult to execute lady's styling while dancing with a partner.

This Follower who has been taking ladies styling both in-person and online is able to execute ladies styling solo. However, whenever she dances with a partner she finds it very challenging to incorporate the steps she’s learning in the lady's styling courses
Thoughts? / Help?

The majority of styling classes will only teach you solo styling. And while some of that can be incorporated into partner work, don't expect heaps of wiggle room. When dancing with a leader you're pretty stuck to what they want to do first, and styling comes second.
Lady's styling can be completely inhibited by the leader.
Lady's styling is somewhat dependent on the leader’s skill level. If the leader gives you the freedom to move, perfect. If the leader has a vice grip on your hands? Not perfect.

In salsa there are more 'solo' parts where leaders and followers break apart and start doing shines, in bachata/Kizomba/B-Zouk, to my experience, this is extremely rare.

So, where DO you use it? More when dancing with experienced leaders, since they won't mind when you take 4-8 counts longer to grab their hand when they present it. When the leader frees up one arm because he's doing a turn or somebody movement for himself, you can swing away, or do some footwork for a few counts. On that rare occasion where the leader DOES give you more space and invites you to go wild on a solo part.

So just keep in mind, styling classes are most useful to learn to use your body and the energy you'll get in partner work, but will very rarely be used as actual complete combinations to use on the dance floor.

I believe that it’s a lot easier to incorporate hand styling than foot styling. Both are largely dependent on leads BUT I do believe it’s easier to style with hands. I would practice one kind of styling at a time until it becomes second nature and then introduce something else / learn a new styling technique.

I would also like to throw in that, Styling is something to be added in small touches where it's needed and where it works. I am not trying to limit the follows, but I believe that styling is of the nature where “Less is More”. Styling is something that's done where it's musically relevant, there's space, and when it doesn't take any effort to do.

Try to find a lead that’s willing to let you experiment or one that wants to experiment with you. If you can find a good dance partner, they can give you tips on what feels natural and what doesn’t. I find a lot of styling can be obtrusive to the flow of dance if not timed correctly. Of course, paying attention to your lead is number 1 priority but working on styling can make it look even more fresh. Try to work on quick styling techniques that aren’t too fancy and try to incorporate in different basic moves like a right turn or left turn. Eventually, it will become muscle memory.

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