Hyperreal

… we’re following the leader, wherever she may go…

I had my first real, proper go at following today during the beginner’s class at JJ’s.

I’ve got to say, it’s tougher than it looks…

We did a first move push spin; back pass, octopus; side to side.

The push spin was the most scary! My spinning just isn’t there at all. I was all over the place. Typically I’d not make it all the way round and end up facing somewhere else. (This will become a common theme through the night.) I was surprised by how obvious which way I should go on the return… You get lots of beginners turning the wrong way, but turning anti-clockwise just seemed like the most natural thing.

I guess because I know from the other side how the moves are done, I’d got a huge advantage over an absolute beginner. Although it was a bit scrappy, and I was caught anticipating the push spin a couple of times, I think my first move wasn’t so bad. We had a problem where I’d let go of my partner’s hand on the sweep out, but I’m not really sure why that is…

Perhaps it’s because as a follower I was trying to put some more styling into my arms. When you don’t have anything else to think about, you got to find something to do! And the first move cries out for it! Not so much style anywhere else from me!

For the back-pass, more than once I think I was misled to turn clockwise, rather than stepping straight across. I’m going to blame my leader (it’s always the leader’s fault!) for that! Most of the time it went OK though. It’s funny being returned. Based on that I’m going to try to cut down the number of returns I use in my freestyle, I think.

Quite often the return went astray a little… Party due to my incredibly poor turns on the stop, but also it might be a little to do with the problem I had (or maybe still have) of many of my returns turning into travelling returns because there is a bit of a forward lead in the return. Not sure about this…

The octopus was perhaps our best and our worse move. Once we got going, it flowed so easily. I could close my eyes and be led back and forward in a blissful manner. Unfortunately we’d quite often have problems with the initial lead into the first breakthrough… I found the handhold a bit strange, but it wasn’t hurting me, so no problem…

The side-to-side was another one that my fearless leader liked to catch me out with, putting in extra side-to-sides. Got me the first time, but never a second time.

Later we tried a bit of freestyle, which was a good laugh. I thought we did really well though, considering I’d only done one class as a follower, and my partner had only done two as a leader. Knowing how hard it is to lead, I’m well impressed.

I’ve also got a new-found respect for beginner followers. I found I had to try hard to allow myself to be led, and not to anticipate. One big problem we often had as well was that I kept on stealing the lead, mid-octopus usually…

But it was lots of fun, so I hope we get to have a go again soon.

Going into the first freestyle, it was seriously weird going back to a normal L-R handhold, after only just getting used to the even weirder experience of being the “R” in the “L-R” :? I also kept expecting to be led, rather than leading…

Saved by the intermediate class…

• side-to-side flip-flop – side to side, and let go but block on girl’s hip as she passes you, push her back, but block the other way. Each of these is a flip-flop. For an exit, on the non-blocking side, take the girl’s hand, and lead her out in a turn, maybe going double-handed for a move like an…
• accordion yo-yo – this was a bit weird. The previous move ended with the left-hand accordion, so we go across into the right-hand position. Now lead with the high RH to your back, over your head as you turn 90º CW, and allow trailing LH to follow into nelson, as the girl passes behind you. From here, let go LH, and turning to face and lead the girl into yo-yo-style block. Usual range of exits are possible from here…
• right-handed archie spin – tricky… while “travelling returning” the girl, turn CW, back to back with her. Timing and handhold here are critical to avoid injury!
• lazy back pass – lead girl forward, and just place the girl’s hand on your hip, and let her figure out what to do next – you’d better have got out of the way though!

Most of my back-passes are “lazy” these days, that is, when I do them. I seem to prefer what you might call a right-handed shoulder slide… When done right the girl’s hand slides across your shoulder and down your left arm to a hand ready and waiting…

The flip-flop is a cool move. I prefer the basket version though, and did that a few times in freestyle. I only did the side-to-side version once, but I did throw in the side-to-side let go block a couple of time to surprise my partners. Keeps them guessing!!!

I liked the accordion yo-yo, but I never seemed to find my way into it during freestyle. I guess because even when I’m in an accordion-like position, I only realise when it’s too late. Something to work on.

Didn’t do an archie spins. They got me way to dizzy during the class to risk them on a busy dance floor. During class I found it difficult to go all the way round and lead the step back without almost falling over, so quite often my partner and myself would end up at some odd angle and position, not unlike my spinning as a follower, though in this case, it’s entirely up to me to sort it out. I typically did that by giving myself an extra beat to sort myself out before going into the next move.

And after all that, nothing cries out from my memory of the freestyle needing to be documented. I had some smashing dances with some smashing people, including a few pleasant surprises. Wish every night could be so uniformly good.

Overall, a really fun night. Learnt a lot, laughed a lot. I wonder what tomorrow holds…

Cheers!