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Leading and Following versus
Choreography Part I
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| Leading and Following versus
Choreography (Part I What are They?) |
| by: Shawn
Trautman |
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| They're so beautiful together out
on the dance floor. They must have had their dance
choreographed! Did they? Maybe. What exactly is
choreography, and how is it different than
lead-and-follow dancing? Well, each dance is a
compilation of various moves that can be matched and
mismatched throughout a song to produce the end-product
dance. Choreography is when these moves are arranged in
a predetermined pattern and are performed the same way
with each repetition. Lead-and-follow dancing differs
from choreography in the freedom of arrangement of the
moves within a dance. A choreographed dance and a
lead-and-follow dance can both have the same 15 moves
used three times apiece. In the choreographed dance,
you would end up with the same choreographed routine
repeated three times, but in the lead-and-follow
routine, you would see a dance with no discernable
repetition. |
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| Is it possible to have a
beautiful, flowing dance without choreography?
Absolutely. Lead-and-follow dancing can be just as
elegant as choreographed dancing if both partners
clearly understand the basic steps of the dance and
their individual roles in their partnership on the
dance floor. |
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| Social dancing parallels other
sports in more than just cardiovascular and
physiological benefits for the participants.
Lead-and-follow relationships exist in other corners of
the sporting world in addition to the dance floor of a
ballroom. For instance, imagine an all-American
football game the stands are packed with excited
spectators, and the energy from the field is palpable.
An intricate lead-and-follow plotline is about to
unfold as the ball is kicked off. |
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| Leading would be the equivalent of
the quarterback calling each play at the line of
scrimmage based on the situation (the players, the
defense, the time clock, and so on). Following would be
what the rest of the offense would do based on what the
quarterback called. When the play is over, the
quarterback reassesses the field and game situation and
calls another play, and the game continues with the
quarterback leading the offense through a selection of
plays based on the score, field position, player
composition, weather, and so on. |
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| Choreography would be the
equivalent of the entire offense putting a collection
of plays together in a very specific order and calling
it something like First Quarter Plays.With
choreography, when the offense takes the field, they
know exactly what they're going to do on the first
play, on the second play, on the third, and so on,
regardless of the situation or who they're playing. If
someone is injured, the play continues on, just less
that player and their role in the play sequence. |
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