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Leading and following is all done through that elusive thing called "connection." Professionals talk about making the three connections: with your partner, with the music, and with the floor. Connection is a magic that happens through the physical contact between two dancers and their common interpretation of the music that makes the two individuals dance as one unit. Eventually the leads get so subtle that it seems that just a thought carries the couple through a dance, in directions neither had thought of before. Magic? No, just something that we wish we could do on every dance. Being mortal we struggle with "centering" and "flashlights" and "anchoring" and "finger-tip leads" and "body leads" and all those things that we hear help to capture that magic that happens once or twice each time we go dancing. Have you ever been fortunate enough to dance with a real _dancer_? ...a woman with such wonderful connection that, without ever saying a word, you can have an entire conversation with her through your fingertips ? ...a woman who will bring a huge smile to your face almost immediately upon taking dance position, open or closed, because you can "feel" that she's there and moving with you; not moving on her own or wrestling with you ? ...a woman who, using only one hand... Oh heck, with two fingers as your entire connection, you can lead nearly ANYTHING and have it appear in her body as if she was reading your mind ? Those magic moments and feelings of connection are a big part of why I dance. (Of course when I dance with women who are that good, I tend to focus on all my faults, which suddenly become _very_ evident to me :-) Normally teaching "connection" is best left to private lessons (but then again, isn't everything?). I used to think this too until I attended a workshop. I would like to ask the dance teachers reading this: How do 'you' teach connection in a group setting? and in a private lesson? How do you explain the concept, what methods do you employ, what exercises do you have your students practice? I would like to ask the dance students reading this: What concepts, methods and exercises have your teachers used to give you a good understanding of connection? Connection is a difficult subject that is so much more than just level of force. But how do you define and explain it? The trick to keeping a good connection has two parts. One is feeling that your hips/groins are pushing into the balls of your feet as you step. The other is feeling your lower shoulders / ribs connect with a) your arms and hands and b) your partners' spine. Is this definition adequate? "Leverage" is a tension or pull connection, and "compression" to mean a push connection. So many teachers use "tension" to refer to both push and pull, leaving it up to you to try and figure it out from the context. Leverage should have a bungee-cord-like feeling - elastic and springy; NOT like a rope (alternately taut or slack). One of the exercises we teach our beg & intermediate levels is to dance open hand palm to palm with a Federal reserve bill held by counterpressure. If the lady lets the hand separate (and the bill drops) she buys him lunch.

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