Hyperreal

Both Gadget and spindr have useful things to say about returns… Here’s what spindr says:

Hmmm, returns… …step up and close both of your feet together before you lead the return.

If one of your feet is stepped back, then your arm length is effectively shortened — this can pull the lady off balance as she turns — or lead her to move as the hand comes back to waist height.

This could be something, as it sounds a lot like my problem…

Except that in workshops the exercises we were taught didn’t insist on this and doing a small trial I don’t see the difference in my position if I leave one foot behind, but pushing me forward.

I’m going to get my DVD out and watch closely to see where the guy puts his feet when doing a return.

Thanks for the tip.

As for Gadget’s post, I think I’m going to have to read it a few more times to get to get the most out of it.

I think a big part of the problem is that the lady is just too far away from me – perhaps as a result of a spin gone awry. I need to fix this before trying to return her. Probably by either leading the spin better, or making extra steps in to bring her back under control. (Why does this remind me of what someone was saying in the active/passive follow thread about controlling a car as it power slides through a corner? Of course, in my case it’s just a careless skid on a patch of ice.)

Keeping the driving analogy going, this seems to be something that you can only learn about doing real dancing – in the same way as you can’t learn how to control a skidding car until you’re on a skid pan. When you’re in class everything’s much more controlled and (hopefully) both me and my car – err, sorry, I mean my dance partner – will know where we should be and can correct ourselves without requiring me to do the extra work (of fixing my mistakes.)

Of course you remember all the things your instructor told you and eventually it will all comes right in the end.