a black and white picture of a dancing elephant
Tonight, DJ Kate Hedin,
Plays swing tunes from the begotten era.
A Big Big Success
The Big Big Benefit was a big success, especially considering how hot it was all weekend. If you weren't able to attend the event but still want to help Laurie out in some small way, simply contribute at www.bigbigbenefit.com.
This Month's Inter/adv Series: THE SOLO DANCER
In July, we'll be focusing on the solo dancer in all of us. Not just solo Charleston (thought there will be some of that), this is a class series that will concentrate on how we all can express ourselves individually, whether alone or in a partnered dance. So, get ready for solo jazz routines (week 3), Lindy Hop footwork variations (week 2), and some answers on what to do with your damn arms while your dancing (week 4). $55. No partner required. 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays in July.
Collegiate Shag Taster (August 3 and 10)
August has five Tuesdays, and this is how we're dividing them up: Two weeks of Collegiate Shag and three weeks of Hard Lindy Stuff. People don't realize Collegiate Shag was an incredibly popular swing dance in the classic era; enjoy this two week taster which will give you more than enough to start your Collegiate Shag binge dancing. Both classes will cover the basic, then branch out in material from there. So, either class is a drop-in, but neither class will be the same material.
Special Inter/Adv Guest Instructors MIKE and LAURA, Aug. 24!
We'll have special guest instructors Mike and Laura, who are awesome, teaching whatever they want August 24! To check out this amazing couple, simply YouTube Mike and Laura, or might we recommend this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcpWuRDfkr4
Or perhaps this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-uLzqiidQU.
Lindy Hard Stuff (inter/adv) August 17 – 31st
Our 2nd August series will be, simply, hard Lindy stuff. Each class will be geared towards challenging the level of the class. Enjoy!
THE "HEAVY" FOLLOWER
Though most of the text is here, there are simple rudimentary diagrams provided at www.Swungover.com
Over the years, I have come to believe that one of the least helpful pieces of advice a follower can get is to be told she is, simply, "too heavy."
"Are you calling me fat?" My partner Kate asks, with a straight face, whenever someone says this. People have freaked out slightly, backtracking and apologizing before she suddenly can't hold it anymore and starts to crack up.
Telling a follower she's "heavy" is like describing an animal as "wounded" and expecting that to be enough information for the blind vet (weird analogy.) If a follower is described as "heavy," there are several different possibilities of what's going wrong, some of which could be the leader's fault. I'm going to try to collect them here, starting with these 12. I'll keep adding and editing this post, too, as I continue my research.
Before we get to those, however, I want to address the problem at it's root. A follower's goal is not simply to be "light"–"light" doesn't necessarily mean "better." A follower's goal should be to give exactly what the leader's asking for. Many advanced leads will sometimes do moves that require a lot of counterbalance–and expect a follower to respond as such, which could easily be described as "heavy." A great follower is someone who can dance like a feather or a lead zeppelin, depending on what the lead requests at that moment.
Possible Reasons Why a Follower Might Be Described as "Heavy."
1. Follower in general carrying more tension in arm than needed. This one is tricky–it can easily be the problem itself, or, more likely, a symptom of some greater problem. For instance, almost any issue with the follower's posture can result in the follower using her arms to compensate. But first, let's address the problem as if it's the only problem.
It only takes a little bit of tension in small parts of the arm to create a "heavier" follower. Just your fingers might be tense, or your elbow. That's all. Make sure all the arm muscles have a natural give and take throughout your dancing–that none of them are rigid, or become rigid at a certain point through their motions.
2. A follower is using her arms to create stretch… Now for some more specific arm tension-related problems. Let's say a leader with a relaxed frame sits away from his follower and asks for some form of counterbalance–if she doesn't know how to match that by moving her own body, then she will probably result to using her arm muscles to keep the couple balanced–which means she's pulling on the guy, and thus "heavy."
Our arm muscles are small and frail compared to the muscle network of the back, core, and shoulders. In dancing, we can accomplish so much more, and with much greater comfort to ourselves and our partners, if we let that muscle network handle as much as possible.
3. Follower is using her arm to pull herself in (for instance, the 1-2-3 of a swingout.)
This is a specific problem, and is often linked to number 4 on the list. Basically, a follower is asked to come in on a swing out or turn, or something that moves the follower, and the follower pulls on the leader's hand in order to do so.
4. A follower's pelvis is in front of her shoulders. Aside from this looking as if a follower is attacking you with her crotch on the first half of a swing out, in its subtler forms, it might not even be noticeable. Basically, this will feel like the follower is countering the lead with the top half of her body. It might feel slightly like a "falling backward effect" for the follower, and thus the leader feels he has to hold her up to some extent, hence "heavy."
BTW, Nina Gilkenson has a great impression of a follower attacking a leader with her crotch.
5. A Follower allows her arm to get fully extended at the end of movements. Sort of the opposite of the "too much arm tension problem," this happens when a follower allows her arm to fully extend at the end of movements. As a default, this has several problems: it means at the end of the movement, you're a lot further out than the leader expected, and so he has to move you sooner/quicker/hold tension in his arm and all sorts of other things in order to compensate. Stretch can die, you won't respond as specifically to momentum requests, etc.
Some people do this for stylistic reasons, but I urge them to try not extending the arm to see how much more freedom they have to play.
6. Follower's posture is fine, feet too close to leader This is rare to see, but bringing the feet forward is an old school (and awesome) way to create counterbalance. (Check out this picture of Dean and Jewel, for instance.) The only problem is, if the leader isn't asking for that counter balance, you will definitely come off as "heavy."
Dean Collins-studier David Rehm first pointed this out to me, which I've always thought is a really cool idea of counterbalance.
As you've probably noticed by now, most of the times a follower feels heavy is either (1) when the dance is stretching and asking for some form of counter balance (like the end of a swing out) or (2) when the leader tries to move the follower, usually from the stretch. So, number 6 is just a very specific way of saying…
7. Follower is perfectly fine mechanically, but asks for more counterbalance than Lead is offering. A follower might chose a default stretch or counterbalance that is greater than the leader they are dancing with, the result being that at the end of every move, the follower feels heavy. Though a follower should try as a default to match exactly the amount of counterbalance asked for, she can also use this as a neat trick: If she wants to, say, really work her swivels at a certain part of the music, she can ask for a lot of counterbalance, and a good leader will be there to adjust his own and give it to her.
8. In closed position, or in the middle of a swing out, a follower is seeking connection with the wrong part of her back. The very obvious example of this is a follower who is used to having a leader's hand high on her back(or shoulder) during a swing out. She then dances with a leader who prefers a mid or lower back connection during the closed position. The follower, not used to responding with her lower back, suddenly arches her back when the leader connects in closed. She feels he's clothes-lining her, he feels she's heavy. A follower should be prepared to respond with whatever part of the back the leader asks for during closed position.
9. Leader expects follower to move even though he doesn't give her what she needs to move. Some times, if a Leader is used to dancing with girls who are eager to move and finish all the movements, he will, unawares, become lazy. He won't lead the follower to move, expecting her to do so. When he comes along a follower who doesn't move without the proper leads, she will feel heavy. He has been living the life of luxury, having had followers do half of his leading for him, and might be in denial for awhile.
10. Leader is asking follower to be heavier than he expects; doesn't realize it. On the other flip side, if a leader has been dancing almost only with follower's who are always light, he might be asking his follower to be heavy and not expect it. Hell, if the dance floor is slippier than usual, he might be compensating weirdly and will ask the follower to be heavier than he expected (this happened to me a few months ago.)
11. Follower is putting too much momentum into the ground. Perhaps the product of trying to "sit into it" or put a pulse into the ground, some followers will find themselves sunk up to their hips into the dance floor, and all movements feel sluggish.
But please don't compensate by dancing out of the ground. The way you walk/run are probably good determinations of how much weight to put into the ground and how to find your natural downward pulse.
12. Follower is trying to protect herself; dancing with gorilla If a follower is dancing with a leader who is using a lot of brute force, a follower might protect herself by tensing up, clamping up, trying to keep things under control. But, if such a leader thinks such a follower is "heavy," she probably will be better off not correcting him. At least, if he thinks she's heavy, she'll never have to dance with him again.
Conclusion Though there are many different ways and reasons a follower can be "heavy," you can sense some common themes: tension, weird posture, inability to counterbalance, and often, all three mixed together. Another common theme is giving the leader more than he asks for, or giving him weight in places he's not asking for.
A Quick Note on the inherent sex generalizations in dance language: All followers in this text are referred to as "she," though this is only for the sake of clear understanding and flow throughout the writing. "He/She" "or "She/He" felt too clunky, and using "it" only adds to the sexist problem. In truth, almost every male-follower I've ever danced with could be described as a "heavy" follower–mainly for reasons mentioned below. This leads me to…
A Quick note on actual follower size (Or Physics: Our Best Friend, Our Worst Enemy.)
Kate's "Are you calling me fat?" joke is just that. A joke. But, as a way of coming full circle, I do want to talk about relative size. If you are an eighty-pound winged pixie follower, you might have many of these problems to small degrees and have never been called "heavy." Ironically, all people probably say to you is "I bet you'd be great at aerials!"**
If you are a lumbering 250 pound guy with the exact same problems as the 80-pound pixie winged follower, and to the exact same extent, you will be the one getting the "you're too heavy" comments. Only because physics has magnified the problem.
So, if you're an 80-pound winged pixie follower, beware that many of these things might apply to you even though you've never been called "heavy." And if you truly want to be a great follower, you'll probably often have to check in and see what problems you're getting away with because of your size.
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**–By the way, just because you're small, doesn't mean you're great at aerials. Above size, good well-timed Aerials take great following skills and a mastery of the body.