Latin Dance Techniques – Leading and Following

Leading and Following

Its helpful to think of the Latin Dances as being sexual pantomimes. Even though the man leads the whole dance, the idea is that the man is trying to seduce the lady, he is pushing forward and she is pushing him away. So maintain a slight forward pressure with your body. If you are in hand to hand position the man keeps his hands/arms at the lady’s hip height. If you are in closed dance position – the man’s right hand should be just below the shoulder blade (thumb on the back bra strap), and his left hand gently takes hers in his – the lady must never place her right hand above the man’s shoulder, if he is short she places her thumb on the intersection of the muscles just below the shoulder (he should have a little slot where it fits naturally), if he is tall then the lady positions her hand lower down the arm. Her aim is to have her elbow slightly above his. That way he can lead her. A simple rule for the man: if the girl is much shorter than you, stand further away from her. If she is much taller than you, stand closer. The cardinal rule is hold each other comfortably. Under no circumstances should you stretch to reach your partner.