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It’s time to start the hands-on portion of your
learning experience. Literally—you and your
dance partner are going to build your dance frame one
connection point at a time. To do this, it is best to
stand facing your partner with your feet about
shoulder-width apart, with somewhere between
one-and-a-half and three feet between the two of you.
Check to make sure that you have soft knees. Try to
smile and, most importantly, don’t forget to
breathe!
To
establish connection point 1, the leader’s left
hand and the follower’s right hand should be
held up at the shorter person’s shoulder level,
as though you were both waving a casual hello. The
leader then shifts the angle of his hand so the
fingers are pointing to his upper left rather than
straight up in the air. The follower’s hand can
then meet his, palm to palm, and she can gently close
her fingers down between his thumb and fingers. Both
partners can then close all of the fingers—
gently. It is important to note that the
important part of this connection point is the
pressure between the two palms, not the
clasping of the two hands.
In
other words, you technically could create connection
point 1 by simply pressing your palms
together—the closing of your fingers and thumbs
is simply for looks. Refer to the picture on the
right to check your position. Make sure your
connection point 1 is right in the middle of the
space between the two of you, so that neither partner
has to overextend to make this connection point work.
Each partner should be pushing slightly toward the
other partner through the palm of his or her hand. It
is imperative that each partner hold his or her own
hand up and, most importantly, that neither partner
squeezes the other’s hand. If your partner is
putting too much pressure on your hand or squeezing
it at all, please let him or her know before you get
any further. If you don’t want to say anything,
just squeeze back a time or two in nice, quick,
repetitive motions to let your partner know. Make
sure your eyes are watching your hand when you do it,
then look back at your partner and smile. Chances are
your partner will know what you were doing. Ensure
that connection point 1 does not go above the shorter
person’s shoulder so as to enable optimal
visibility for the dancer as well as onlookers, and
especially if there are going to be any pictures
taken during the dance.
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