Old Articule: How do you define a good dancer? (With regards to a guy, playing role of a lead in salsa)

I wrote this some time back.... Angela sent it back to me for some comments/corrections before she publish it :)
So I'm posting it here for the records :)

By Wai Hwang, 19 January 2007

A friend commented to me (strangely, friend’s comments often trigger my inspiration to write) that someone we both knew (name not to be mentioned here for political reasons) seems like a very good dancer. Ironically, I’ve recently received feedback from a lady friend (a very good follow) that this same guy (who looked like a very good dancer) is a very bad lead that doesn’t take care of the lady.

How then did this guy create the impression that he’s a good dancer? Well, for one, he does have the style and attitude. You know, the confident air/aura that many good dancers have. As a result, people who watch him dance would think he looks really good. And if he only dance with very good follows (who can compensate for his not so good lead), it would make him stand out from the crowd without revealing his weaknesses.

In my personal opinion, as a lead, our 1^st priority should be the lady, so that she enjoys the dance, so that she looks good. (Some people may not agree though)

To me, the greatest compliment that I can get, would the happy face of a lady during/after the dance. Because of this, my focus throughout my journey of learning salsa so far, had been on leading. (I will be writing a separate article on this). Xenbar’s system had allowed me to progress in this area in a very interesting manner. Because I get to dance with a wide range of people with varying skill levels, I could actually tell whether my leading is “working as intended”. I have encountered a situation, where I’ve managed to help a 1^st time salsa dancer do a nice CBLT during her 1^st salsa class. She was so happy that she blurted out a comment “You’re very good, I could do this with you while I’m totally lost with XXX”. It was quite embarrassing for XXX, but this shows how important a good lead is to help the ladies follow and enjoy the dance. This is also why, the basic class in Xenbar’s system is so important.

While being a good lead is important, it is also important to look good while dancing. There is a need for balance, so that neither the lead nor the follow outshine the other too much. That is where styling, posture, etc. comes in. In terms of styling, again, my personal opinion would be that a lead should only go into styling AFTER he is able to execute the moves instinctively. In this way, he would not be sacrificing the follow’s experience of the dance for his own benefit.

While styling is important, there are a few important aspects to looking good. The often ignored part is what Justin would call how ‘clean’ move is executed. What is ‘clean’? My interpretation of this simplification of a very complex and abstract concept would be the precision of execution.

Things like:

• Straight lines for the ladies,
• timing of the steps (to the music)
• Hitting the right notes during the styling (pops, etc.)
• Acute awareness of one’s posture, position of every part of the body (arms, hand, legs, etc. no dangling hands) etc.

There are many more. Just for example, all the 50 points in the Basic Class in the ACDance (and SalsaAcademy) certification system, they all contribute to this aspect of looking good while dancing.

How to achieve ‘clean’ moves? There is no shortcut, but practice, practice and practice. BUT, more importantly, we must not be practicing the wrong things! Otherwise, we’ll only be reinforcing mistakes. This is where classes (both group and private), performances and competitions can help. More specifically, doing a choreographed dance can help. Because the moves are choreographed, instructors know exactly what is intended. This will make mistakes very obvious and easily corrected. This is one of the reasons (there are other reasons) why Xenbar actively pushes all our students to take part in certification exams where one component is a choreographed routine. Participation in performances and competitions outside regular certification exams will also give additional incentive and motivation for students to push themselves to achieve higher standards.

I have digressed much into areas of how to improve one’s dancing. Back to the topic of what is a good dancer…… the one last important ingredient is the ‘attitude’, the air of confidence.

This attribute alone can often mask out many of the mistakes……. to such an extent that the audience might not even notice the mistake! (That's why that 'not so good lead' looke d like a very good dancer)

To summarize, my definition of a good dancer (lead) should have all the following:

• Good lead
• Confident outlook / attitude
• Nice styling

In that order of priority/importance. I might have missed out other factors, do feel free to add on from here as a discussion.

Alamak, I missed out one last thing at the end.

HUMILITY - We must not mistake the 'air of confidence' with arrogance. There is a huge difference here.

No matter how much we have improved, how many awards we've won, etc. We must remember to remain humble in order to continue to improve. There are always people who are better out there, or people who are improving faster. Nobody is good in everything. There will always be an area of weakness that needs improvement. Sometimes, even comments from a very junior newcomer can help one see our own faults.