Leaders, do you make up moves on the spot?

SmartAlx

SmartAlx

Changui
I've started to do this while I dance with the advanced followers when we have a great connection going on, especially to a great song. I get more relaxed, let the moves lead me, and before I know it, the brand new moves just happen.

Surely, I’m not the only person that makes up moves on the spot, right? I generally end up making up one or two moves per song, but I’m working on making it more regular. Depends on how comfortable I am with the girl.

Do any of you make up moves on the spot regularly? How often? Is it a regular part of the dance for you? Or do you still pull moves out of your hat? Is this one of the hallmarks to being a truly advanced leader? To understand the music and dance so thoroughly that you are no longer limited to the moves that you have actually learned?
 
Yes, I do make up moves as I go :D not regularly though. Here is how it works for me.

A lot of times I will just lead something differently and see what happens - a change in the pattern - see what the lady does. Sometimes it works sometiems it doesn't. Sometimes I will just lead really faint and see what the lady does - I'll have her make it up ;) if I like it I will run with it - if not, I won't lead it again.

If I see a guy leading a pattern that I like and I can't figure it out I will ask the ladyhe was dancing with and then try and lead it - but lead it very faint - I can pick up a lot of patterns like this.
 
SmartAlx said:
Do any of you make up moves on the spot regularly? How often? Is it a regular part of the dance for you?
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I almost never think in terms of patterns (never bothered to learn them really). I listen to the music and always try to lead what I feel right.

The drawback is that sometimes I get into awkward situations that don't work out really well, but it gets more and more infrequent with time.

Of course if I am shown a pattern I try to practice it for a while, but I tend to forget the whole quickly and learn only the elements of it as possible continuations for certain situations.
 
For me it's just like smartAlx said. When you're in the zone with a great follower, they just happen from time to time. I get frustrated cos I couldn't tell you after the dance what happened and how to repeat it.
 
sweavo said:
For me it's just like smartAlx said. When you're in the zone with a great follower, they just happen from time to time. I get frustrated cos I couldn't tell you after the dance what happened and how to repeat it.
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Me too. What Sweavo said. :D
 
TheBear_CanDanceToo said:
sweavo said:
For me it's just like smartAlx said. When you're in the zone with a great follower, they just happen from time to time. I get frustrated cos I couldn't tell you after the dance what happened and how to repeat it.
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Me too. What Sweavo said. :D
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Same here. A lot depends on the follower - good, and playful, brings out spontaneous moves....
 
Sometimes I may make up a new move on the spot, but that's quite seldom and as others wrote dependent on the follower. It happens to me more often that I come up with a little variation of a move or one that I've seen in a video/DVD.
 
I definitely make up moves...sometimes it is just because i am really feeling the music and dancing well, sometimes it is because I am dancing with someone i know very well and just try to experiment, and sometimes it is actually a mistake that turns into something you didn't intend...for example...once I didn't bring my arm up quickly enough and the girl did a head roll type thing..its not something i would have normally thought of doing but it worked very well.
:D
 
gtdaniel said:
and sometimes it is actually a mistake that turns into something you didn't intend...
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Yes I've seen that... The guy leads something, I react differently from what he intended (either by me fluffing it or him leading something ambiguous), he goes with the flow and comes out neatly, then he spends the rest of the song trying to remember how he led that cool new move... :lol:
 
as others have said it only happens when the chemistry is right (maybe due to the fact i dont think what i shouldnt lead if certain things havent worked).
 
chr said:
I almost never think in terms of patterns (never bothered to learn them really). I listen to the music and always try to lead what I feel right.

The drawback is that sometimes I get into awkward situations that don't work out really well, but it gets more and more infrequent with time.
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this is how i'd describe my musicality; on quite a few of songs its working really well but then on others :roll: . like everything else salsa-wise it's a work in progress :) .
 
As I have discussed in a previous thread I can break down any NY On2 dancers moves into one of twenty fundamental moves. So I don't come up with new moves during dance. I may come up with a variation of fundamental move or connect them different depending on the music and feedback I get from my partner.
 
i usually break things down by 8 beats so that no-one knows whats coming next incase i get easy to predict (this was sometimes happening a year ago so i made a conscious desicion). but i dont count this as making moves up on the spot.
 
I often make up a new move...
And then realise that I've already made it up before. :oops:

Seriously my dance time is split unevenly into two types;

Conscious and Subconscious.

Conscious is when I'm actually thinking about what I'm about to do next, and pulling moves and patterns from my library, ideally pullng each move into memory before the previous one has finished so I can maintain smoothness and flow...

Subconscious is when I'm not really thinking about what I'm doing and I just let it happen. There are those who say THIS is the way to REALLY DANCE but when I occasionally consciously watch myself dancing sunconsciously, I find that I mostly just do similar stuff over and over, with new bits popping in occasionally. My dancing is "Better" when I'm thinking about it, at least a little bit.

Then there's the part where I'm dipping in and out of each type, sometimes starting a sequence I've got in my head, but letting it warp into something else part way through - or sometimes dancing subconsciously then thinking "Hey, what if I..." part way through and maybe coming up with something new. Or at least a new variation of something old.
 
I have conscious and subconscious too. I don't like the feel of conscious in social time, though I use it in class (as a student) time. Most of the time the subconscious stuff is a little dull, but there's another state where it's a bit like I'm dancing subconsciously and my conscious self is prodding my subconscious with a stick. All I can explain it as is a restlessness where I reject stock sequences and push hard to dig out random thoughts and fly with them. When I'm dancing like that I need a good follower because on a few levels the dancing is utterly crup - no basic, ambiguous leads, 'innovative' timing - but if she manages to hold on for the ride it usually ends up with us both smiling!

In this state, anything might happen. Example catalysts might include:

* CBL but throwing a hand in a random direction

* start a familiar move then just stop her at a place where I have no idea how to get out of it

* pretend to be a wolf

* see how many moves I can do without lifting my right leg off the floor
 
rjoe92057 said:
As I have discussed in a previous thread I can break down any NY On2 dancers moves into one of twenty fundamental moves. So I don't come up with new moves during dance. I may come up with a variation of fundamental move or connect them different depending on the music and feedback I get from my partner.
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Did you list those moves? If you did, where? If not, are you able to?
Having a list like this would be helpful when teaching :D
 
rundino said:
rjoe92057 said:
As I have discussed in a previous thread I can break down any NY On2 dancers moves into one of twenty fundamental moves. So I don't come up with new moves during dance. I may come up with a variation of fundamental move or connect them different depending on the music and feedback I get from my partner.
Click to expand...

Did you list those moves? If you did, where? If not, are you able to?
Having a list like this would be helpful when teaching :D
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salsaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=6144&highlight=fundamental+moves

Where are you from in New Zealand? I am orginally from Christchurch. I live in San Diego now. I go home about once per year.
 
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