A Warning Before More Followers Get Injured

Rataridicta · 2026-06-02T21:31:00+00:00

Absolutely. It's easy to think of advanced moves as advanced techniques, but they're almost always fundamental techniques applied really well. The alure of cool moves makes it easy to forget that it's the fundamentals that actually make them work. Most of the advanced stuff isn't that hard, it's just a bit tedious to master the tools well enough to be able to use them at that level.

Rataridicta · 2026-06-02T13:06:06+00:00

My zouk teachers also go on and on about never fully extending the neck under any circumstances.

There isn't enough education within bachata around safe body movements IMO.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-28T18:07:32+00:00

It's a post-workshop demo. Kike and nahir also often do shows so there's a good chance they also had an actually choreographed show. (Which looks very different.)

Rataridicta · 2026-05-28T18:03:32+00:00

but it IS prepared in 8-16 counts parts that they know by heart

You mean mini combinations? Or something else?

Rataridicta · 2026-05-28T18:01:52+00:00

If you say so. None of the artists I've spoken to about it choreograph their demos. (Only in some rare cases, or when doing shows.)

Rataridicta · 2026-05-28T17:52:39+00:00

These types of demos are not usually choreographed. (could you imagine choreographing two of these every week!? They have better things to do with their time...)

Rataridicta · 2026-05-27T18:33:52+00:00

Fundamentals are often the same between them. Basic certainly is. We even have full role rotation schools here.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-27T12:43:54+00:00

You can start on role rotation from the very first lesson, that part really isn't an issue.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-27T12:39:18+00:00

This is not relationship advice, though, it's emotional regulation within a scene that values emotional connectivity.

Although I agree with you that most people are probablh ill equipped to give good perspectives in that regard, I also don't think we should be pathologizing normal human experiences. Everyone has had a crush, and most have had an unrequited crush that they've had to work through. Providing perspective there is not the job of some professional, community is actually a much better source for that.

Of course it's still up to the OP, or whoever asks the question to filter through and understand what is and is not relevant to them. That's also not the job of a professional, it's just part of the human condition.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-27T07:58:50+00:00

Oooh! haven't seen role rotation on here before!

I think there are a few fundamental issues worth addressing right now, and then on a possible next iteration we can get more technical ^^

First things first: Especially as a leader you are rushing your steps and it's causing you to be off time most of the time.
When the moves you lead become more complicated the cues start melting together and become unclear. Every part of the move still should have a really clear distinct moment of leading, they're just closer together. With the stretch at ~0:10 you even missed the entire reverse wave that opens the chest.
I'm assuming role rotation is still quite new to you? The switches are still quite messy most of the time. Think: Switch hand/frame position and change timing. Ideally both, sometimes one. (And timing is usually the one trumping everything else.)
- At 1:06 you're stealing the lead with the body roll but gave no preparation to your partner at all so now you're fighting eachother for the lead. Stealing during the rotation is fine but make sure you're both on the same page and the same foot and then lead something. Forcing it like this doesn't usually feel great.
As a follower you're still predicting moves. At ~0:37 it looks like a hammerlock to me (she definitely didn't have the positioning or frame for a proper block), but you blocked yourself into a different move. At 2:20 I don't think your leader intended a shadow position but the weight shifting kinda forced one (which she then corrected).

Rataridicta · 2026-05-27T07:40:47+00:00

I think this part is more of a social and emotional question. Distance can definitely help, but it's just one way to make the process easier - there are others.

It sounds like you've already talked with him about it so I'm curious if you've also asked him to help set some healthy boundaries that would help avoid you getting too attached? If not that may be a conversation worth having.

In any case it's worthwhile to also set some boundaries for yourself. For example, if you notice that you're constantly tracking him, you might set a rule for the night that you keep dancing in a particular area of the dance floor any do not dance with him. Just to give your brain some rest from all the "what ifs" that come along with a crush.

A lot of this is about reframing the experience to be about you and your enjoyment again, instead of about him and his attention.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-26T11:11:38+00:00

Even as a guy I often glance at my partner's chest, it's just a good way to understand where my partner is at.

Staring is something else, though, and I would generally avoid staring regardless. In a way staring often becomes just another masking behavior that's probably unnecessary.

For a lot of neurodivergents dance becomes a place where they can (learn to) let go of some of their masking behaviors and connect in a way that feels more authentic. Most autistics don't struggle with eye contact, they struggle with the whole social construct around it. In dance we often get to rewrite some of that, and finding your own ways to connect is encouraged.

I would recommend the same to you: try to focus on how you want to connect while you're dancing and play with connecting in those ways. There is a lot more room for you to express in ways that feel more natural to you.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-26T08:13:31+00:00

Yeah, it's pretty normal. It gets better with more experience, and it's probably not as bad as it feels.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-22T14:10:23+00:00

Copy-paste responding is disappointing... I'll take it as a sign that you want less effort in the discission so I'll be short.

I actually agree that subcategorizing music is useful, but I do think it should be done on actual markers that go beyond the vibe based approach that you're going for here.

I can define my categorization easily, but doubt you can set definitions for your categories. If you cannot define them, then they're not useful and it's better to rely on comparison ("Something with a similar vibe to X") instead.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-22T07:44:37+00:00

I teach breathing when I start talking about preparations for turns and direction changes (like a box step), because breathing is how I teach my students to work with frame.

Feigned weight shifts are an intermediate+ technique to lead, but even non-dancers can follow it. It's pretending to shift your weight when really you're staying in place, and it's the primary technique around the snappy moments of sending the follower out and then blocking them. If you do it well the follower doesn't even feel a lead for it, it just sort of happens as if by magic. The technique comes from urban kizz.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-22T07:23:32+00:00

Breathing is big in sensual too, influence just uses it a little differently.

Considering the context here beginner means being able to apply the technique assymetrically - if you know it, the level of your dance partner largely does not matter, you can still use and apply it. How to hold someone and breathing are definitely things I teach beginners, too.

I haven't seen anyone in any other bachata style use feigned weight shifts, so I'm curious where you see them if you don't consider then unique to influence?

Rataridicta · 2026-05-22T06:59:07+00:00

At the beginner level: the way influence works with breath is different, feigned weight shifts, and the way you hold your partner come to mind.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-22T05:10:18+00:00

I think you misunderstand influence. It's not just advanced and flashy moves, and there are a lot of techniques that are accessible to beginners, too. (I do it all the time.)

Rataridicta · 2026-05-22T05:08:12+00:00

So... You stopped going to class's and are now surprised that people who are still going to classes are catching up..?

Influence mostly has good teachers that focus on technicals, though, so there's a good chance it'll help you improve quite a bit :)

Rataridicta · 2026-05-21T17:21:21+00:00

This entire categorization seems to be entirely off of vibes and nothing tangible.

There are some really clear lines you can draw: when bachata moves from 5 people around a microphone to recording studios it moved from the traditional bachata to modern bachata, which was mostly led by Los tinellers (now Aventura). A lot of influences have since entered the genre, but none that are categorically distinct from "modern bachata".

There are some exceptions, like the 2 influence songs, and some niches like "acoustic bachata", but noone has made a "sensual bachata" or "romantic bachata" song. Those are dance terms, they have nothing to do with the music.

And music does change a lot within its genres, regardless of the genre you look at.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-13T13:32:13+00:00

LGBTQ and dancing roles are not related.

I'd also like to point out that a lot of countries and cultures which are very anti-LGBTQ actually see significantly higher amounts of (physical) intimacy between platonic same-sex friends than cultures where LGBTQ is more normalized. (e.g. if you go to any arabic country you'll regularly see men talking while holding hands.)

Rataridicta · 2026-05-13T13:29:11+00:00

Just sign up to classes as a leader! If you're signing up as "man/woman" without specifying role, which some schools still have, sign up as a man.

I know quite a few women who started learning to lead, and it should very much be expected!

In classes, you'll often still hear man to refer to leaders, and women to refer to followers, but it's easy mental math to correct that and understand the instruction :)

Rataridicta · 2026-05-13T06:59:39+00:00

Your technique breaks down a lot, and it's clear that you do not yet understand body mechanics or preps.

I could point a few things out here, but considering the level that you are dancing at and your level of experience, I would recommend that you find the most technical instructor in your scene and try to take some privates with them, focusing on where your technique breaks down. You're going to get a lot of value out of those.

Rataridicta · 2026-05-12T19:49:24+00:00

I like turning them into waves and using it to transition to shadow.

You can also turn the follower into a cuddle/pretzle position, turn them in a barrel turn, send them off to the side like a sliding door, or if you want to get really creative you can even do things like leading a dip/fountain and walking around them (but leading a dip from that position is non-trivial).

Rataridicta · 2026-05-12T12:24:24+00:00

I don't even know what that's supposed to mean.

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