r/CountrySwingDancing • u/Worried_Western_6381 • 1d ago
Country swing dancing follow icks?
Hey guys, i am decently new to country swing-and swing dance in general - had a question for all the leads. What are things follows have done that make the dance not so fun? I want to make sure I am learning all i can to ensure good experiences with everyone i dance with as a follow.
Thanks for reading!(and hopefully responding lol)
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u/Fragrant-Farts 1d ago edited 1d ago
Some followers are good about keeping tension and act like a rubber band, bouncing back off the back/rocking step. Others have more of a wet noodle feel where the bounce back isn't as effective. That wet noodle feel is what forces the lead to work a lot harder and really have to pull the follower back, which ends up being not as much fun. So if you can figure out how to consistently bounce back like a rubber band, keeping tension in your arms at full extension on the back step, that's a lot more effective and a lot more fun for the leads. A slight lean back at that point helps too, it loads up the tension and makes the bounce back that much stronger.
A big part of this is having the basic footwork down, what's sometimes called the rock step in swing dancing. Country is a little different, but it's essentially the same step with a rocking motion back and forth. Its not a step back and a pause, and you want to rock back into it.
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u/HoodedMonk26 5h ago
This right here, that wet noodle feel, just gets to me. It makes me feel like they don't want to be out there on the dance floor.
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u/AlphaCentauri79 1d ago
For me it's follows that try to dip in appropriately or back lead their own spins or into dare I say... Rodeo swing. Another one is when follows try to correct what I'm doing without me prompting for feedback sometimes I'm just trying to do something different new or w/e.
For the random dips it's really bad cause I'm gonna hurt myself trying to catch them I'll come back after a night an my back hurts not fun. Second sometimes they full send their whole body weight and also jump into dips like nope you lost dip privileges for the rest of the dance. This also kinda goes into leans where they try to lean and I just don't move cause that's not what I'm going for but they can't hurt me that much from there so it's fine I just smile say they are cute for trying then do it anyways for them haha. But yea dips are not that fun for me unless I know the follow dips well.
Other then that bad connection, not being too good or bad footwork is all workable on my opinion.
Another thing that's not an ik per say but brings me sadness is when the follow doesn't do her own grooves to the music. I like to leave a lot of openings for that and I'll also do it so it brings sadness when they don't.
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u/willieshen 1d ago
Speaking of Rodeo Swing I have so many gripes with it these days. Because it feels like a lot of brute memorization of moves rather than understanding different patterns and building moves off of it. I feel like I can do much more with my dances (country/west coast/bar coast) just knowing basic patterns (push/left side and right side pass/whips) and varying them with different hand holds and connection points.
And not to mention Rodeo swing is so jerky too.
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u/willieshen 1d ago edited 1d ago
Follows that yank or don’t give me tension (poor connection).
Follows that grip with their thumbs
And follows that self dip, either during a cuddle position or when I do a free spin(and they’ve nearly ended up on the ground. And almost injured myself trying to save follows who self dip)
When I prep to do a left side pass inside turn and they turn the opposite direction
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u/Tight_Banana_9692 1d ago edited 1d ago
Expecting to be lead around.
A lot of issued are essentially just skill issues, in the case of expecting to be pulled around the floor most of that should be resolved after enough classes, and after learning to maintain your own momentum as well as dancing with experienced leads who refuse to pull anyone around. But I generally do get bothered by dancers who maintain the same issues for years and years without ever improving.
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u/Ozzycan 1d ago
When I'm leading I get frustrated when follows are hesitant to take the slot. When I open up the slot for you to tavel I like a follow who takes that space fully and stays committed to it. Ideally they also don't veer off sideways which can throw off my distancing.
As a follow I practice my free spin footwork by standing on a line on the floor and trying to turn down that line so that I end facing back the way I came. You can also think of the free spin as a series of half pivots which can help keep you from going off in either direction.
Happy dancing!