Compensating for Your Partner - He's Pulling Me Off Balance

(Paraphrased from amazon.com): Guillaume Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French musician and composer. His music is recognized by its use of a large variety of instruments in relatively minimalist compositions.

00:05: For the follower, there're two different issues and I think they're both important.
00:09: One of them is, how... What does the follower do in order to not pull the leader off balance.
00:13: And the other is what does the follower do if the leader is pulling her off balance.
00:18: To not pull the leader off balance, it's really important not to allow ourselves to fall back into our heel.
00:26: And I talked about this in a different chapter. It's one of my big things.
00:29: But, if you stay, kind of, on the ball of your foot, oriented forward to the leader - that helps a lot.
00:40: So, as we're doing different things, notice, how she stays very far forward, on the ball of her foot, the whole time.
00:46: And so, right here...
00:49: There's still this sense of... Right? See, how far back she has to move to come to this place of stop.
00:58: And now, as I take this next step, most women would put the heel down immediately but she doesn't,
01:03: Which is good, right? So, you want to let me roll it all the way down, together. And, that keeps our bodies together.
01:10: N: And now, if you're pulling me off balance.
D: Right, ha-ha.
01:13: So, for example, let me be the follower. And she's going to pull me off balance.
01:18: D: So, you're the leader.
N: I'm the leader, grr.
D: And she's pulling me off balance.
01:26: Pulling you off balance is hard, David!
01:28: D: And, can you see that? Show the camera first, what you're going to do. So, they can see in your arms.
N: OK. I was starting a forward ocho, and then, I was going this way.
01:37: N: And that should have taken me off balance. But it didn't.
D: And, if you watch this... I'm the follower, now.
01:45: He just doesn't go.
01:47: And so, what happens, is, usually, when the balance gets really bad, is when it gets into the body.
01:51: When the disequilibrium gets into the body.
01:55: So, when you lose balance in your body, you lose balance everywhere.
01:58: D: But, if she's doing something bad,
N: Oh, I'm still the leader?
D: She's still the leader. Just make me fall, right there.
02:05: You know, nothing happens. Only my arms go. Right? From this angle.
02:11: And so, no one can make you oh, well. In dance, it should never happen that someone can make you lose your balance.
02:18: If they're moving you translationally, you just let your feet float.
02:22: So, if I'm holding her here, nothing I'm going to do with this hand is going to make her lose balance.
02:28: And that's because she just moves her body, whatever way I go.
02:30: She might not do what I expect her to do, or what I want her to do, if I'm leading badly.
02:35: But, otherwise, she'll just go. And you can't imagine there's any way I can move my hand in this axis that would cause her to lose balance.
02:43: Now, if I move my hand up or down, nothing should happen.
02:47: D: Why?
N: That's what they do. They do that.
02:50: But the point is, if I move this up or down - nothing happens. If I move this up or down - nothing happens.
02:54: D: Why is it when you move them both, you fall over? I don't know.
N: Well, you don't.
02:58: So, it's translational, or, maybe, there's this excess movement. But, just let that happen. It's only the translational part that matters.
03:07: N: I'm pretty good at that, too.
D: Yeah.
03:09: And now, sometimes they'll hold your body, and they'll do this. If I have my arm around her back, and I do, "Wraah!",
03:15: You have to remember, that your backs, ladies, are much stronger, than a guy's arm.
03:18: Right? A guy's arm is a muscle about this big. Maybe this big, if he's really strong.
03:21: Your back is a muscle this big, if you're really skinny.
03:26: So, as I do this wrong, just don't go.
03:31: Take the part that has to do with rotation around your own axis, and discard the part, which has to do with... Do the wrong, right now.
03:38: D: With doing this.
N: Oh, that's not fun.
D: Right? Which then leads to a really bad front ocho.
03:44: So, let's summarize, to make this easily comprehensible.
03:48: The first thing, ladies, that I want you to think about, is...
03:54: You keep him on balance, by staying on the ball of the foot, and having the softest pressure, in whatever direction you like.
04:02: You keep your own balance, by making sure, in your arms, you only take the... the impulses, that are useful.
04:09: D: Saying, "Pivot around your own axis".
N: That's very well said.
04:12: That there's movement translationally, which causes you to step.
04:16: And that there's other weird things he'll do. Bending your torso, or weird stuff with your arms. And you'll just discard that.
04:22: D: If it's movement with your arms, just let him do it. And if it's movement with your torso - don't let him do it.
N: Don't let him do it. Right.

Series:: Compensating for Your Partner
Tags:: Intermediate, Connection, Follow, Technique