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Leading and Following versus Choreography Part I |
| Leading and Following versus Choreography (Part I What are They?) |
| by: Shawn Trautman |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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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