The Magic of the Lady Lead
In a recently published blog post “The Myth of ‘Just Follow’ – & Why It’s Wrong“, author, dancer, and traveler Tanya Karen writes:
“Having a good frame; being light; adjusting tension; responding to a variety of different leads, not just in one dance but across the full spectrum of dancers on the floor; dancing in different styles; following something new; having full control over our own bodies and dance lines, even during spins and dips; injecting musicality and styling that enhances rather than obstructs the dance and that also reflects our partner’s leads, the music, and our own personal identity… none of this is natural. All of these are skills that we hone through months and years of practice.”
If teachers don’t teach these things in Brazilian Zouk classes then we are depending on follows to bring these skills from prior training. This prerequisite dance skill set is likely why follows pick up leading more quickly and why leads who come in with no dance background tend to be, well, kind of like bulldozers when they try to follow. I mean, their follows seem to pick it up quickly and with minimal instruction so it must be easy… Primary leads: please don’t confuse the ease with which a ballet-trained bachateira picks up Brazilian Zouk with Zouk following being easy. When you switch during a dance your follow-turned-lead shouldn’t be concerned about getting a shoulder injury. Seriously. I worry about this at least once a social, and as a professional touring artist my career depends on me staying in one piece…
I suggest adding two more reasons women get celebrated as novice leads to Tanya’s theory on why followers were quick to praise her leading. 1) leading is more highly valued than following in social dance communities. The same goes for other dances that place a value on switching roles such as Fusion and Blues. 2) Zouk women* are pretty good at building each other up and encouraging each other in their journeys (especially in places where there is a big lead/follow imbalance). Sorry guys,* I can’t imagine learning to lead without being a part of the zouk sisterhood. In fact, becoming a lady lead was one of the most transformative experiences of my Zouk journey. I finally got to meet the other half of the room!!
*Yes, I know using gendered terminology is inaccurate and there are exceptions, but it reflects the pointless overwhelming trend in the zouk community to maintain heteronormative dance roles in a dance that is said to reflect modern culture. There are plenty of Zouk dancers in Brazil who switch, so we can’t claim we are trying to be authentic by upholding this artificial social construct in places that don’t have a practice of partnered social dancing (eg most of North America). Learning to lead and follow at the same time helps new and experienced dancers improve faster in their preferred role and also helps build communities because it eliminates the lead/follow imbalance problem. I know this works because that’s what we do in Ann Arbor, Michigan ;-).
That said, I would like to make a request… now that the people have won the right to compete in their non-traditional role in Brazilian Zouk Dance Council Jack and Jill competitions, please put your money where your mouth is. Fellow follows: please be humble, take classes, cross-train, and don’t break the lady leads! Oh, and lady leads: I dare you to prove anything they can do you can do better… and in heels 🙂
Tags lady lead
About: Sydney Charisse
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