BACHATA CLASSES TORONTO
How to be a better leader and have followers wanting to dance with you? Taking Bachata classes is where you want to start. I’m excited you want to take Bachata classes in Toronto because it’s the best city for Bachata. I’m sure you will have a blast.
As a leader, there are so many things you have to juggle. First, you need to keep the beat while remembering the move you’re doing and think about the next four moves you will execute with your partner. That is a lot, and I want to simplify it so that every time you dance with the follower, you feel so confident that they keep wanting to dance with you again.
Tip number one: You are not a mixologist.
Do you know what a mixologist is? It’s a person who makes cool fancy drinks, but that’s not what you are. As a leader, you want to make sure you’re not shaking your hands and moving them around to the Bachata beat. Instead, you want to keep your hands steady.
So I describe it like this. Imagine holding to a hundred and twenty-five dollar drinks, and as you’re dancing Bachata, if you swing it around, if you’re skipping rope or sawing wood going in and out, you will spill your drink all over the place. Likewise, shaking your hands with no specific purpose throws your follower off. Remember, if your hands are connected to your partner’s, you should only use them to send a signal, and if you’re shaking and moving your hands around, you are sending mixed signals. That is not great. So make sure that you’re not rocking or shaking your hands whenever you’re dancing with your partner. Be a smooth operator.
Tip number two: Don’t be a lurker.
When leaders try to get closer to a follower, it’s very common that they hunch over with their upper body. And it’s one of the most uncomfortable and oppressing feelings ever.
Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t be dancing closer with your partner, but the proper way to get closer in Bachata is with your lower body, not your upper body.
A quick way to fix this bad practice is to bring your feet together, bend your knees, bend your butt slightly down and pull it away as if you’re almost in a squat position. Your upper body and spine should be straight so that your partner has room to breathe. And yet your center stays close to your partner where your knees and your pelvis are closer.
As a leader, you can do something else. From a “closed handhold” position, place your right hand on the follower’s shoulder and make sure that your shoulder blade is pulled back and retracted, giving room for your partner to breathe.
Tip number three: It’s not about you.
As leaders, we want to make our partners happy; therefore, we apply all the cool tricks and fancy moves while dancing. But, unfortunately, we forget the essential thing. The difference between a bully and a great leader on a dance floor is that a leader focuses on making moves the follower will enjoy.
How do you apply that on the dance floor? I’ve seen leaders using moves way above the follower’s dance level, making them stumble and feel stupid, and the leader doesn’t care. That’s brutal. You always want to adjust to the level of the follower.
So be courteous and respectful and adjust your dance style to the follower. It’s not about you. Remember that. A happy follower makes a happy leader. There are a ton of more tips that I can share, and if you love this, send us a message, give us a like or comment and hopefully, soon me and all my family will get a chance to dance with you,
I can’t wait to welcome you to our big family, have you come in week to week, have fun, connect with new friends and let loose to amazing Latin songs. Click here to check our current schedule.
If you have any questions you would like me to answer here are some ways you can contact me: message me on Instagram (torontodanceSalsa), on Twitter (#torontodanceSalsa), on Facebook (Toronto Dance Salsa) or email me at [email protected].
