Demonstration of Lead and Follow in Israeli Partner Dancing
These are demonstrations to show that a person
can dance Israeli partner dances adequately enough for social dancing,
without knowing the choreography.
These are demonstrations of women doing advanced
Israeli Partner Dances without any instruction.
Margaret is a novice dancer and has been dancing one month.
She has been instructed in the Weitzen Partnership Dance system.
Juliana, Kelli and Cathy had no Israeli partner dance experience.
Juliana has performed Israeli circle dances.
Kelli and Cathy had not seen Israeli dancing before.
None had been instructed in the Weitzen Partnership Dance system.
Juliana is a professional dancer.
Kelli is an experienced social dancer and international clogging
instructor.
Cathy is a competitive West Coast Swing dancer.
These women are using their following skills acquired from
their experience in social dancing.
Their videos demonstrate that at least some experienced social dancers
can do Israeli Partner Dances adequately without learning choreography.
Margaret is a novice dancer in her first month of dancing.
Margaret, unlike Juliana, Kelli and Cathy,
has been learning the Andrew Weitzen Partnership
Dancing™ system for one month.
Her video demonstrates that novice dancers,
if taught how to follow,
can do advanced Israeli partner dances without
learning choreography.
All the women walked onto the floor and started dancing
without any instruction
or advanced indication of either the music
or choreography.
Juliana and Margaret had seen Israeli dancing before,
but Kelli and Cathy had no idea of what to expect before
we started dancing.
The women have no other women dancers around to take clues from.
They have not seen others do the dance.
They are dancing to these dances while they are hearing the
music for the first time.
They are relying only on their partner.
Note: you should not use these videos as an authoritative source
for the choreography. I make many mistakes in these dances.
Interestingly, my mistakes show another advantage of the women
following,
because we go right on happily dancing, enjoying the music and our
connection without unpleasant wrestling or struggle for control.
Remember the women are doing these dances without
instruction.
Be sure to watch the video of
Margaret
doing Ani Eshtagea.
This is in her first month of any kind of dancing.
Also make sure you see
Kelli
doing Tango Achshav.
This is Kelli's first hour of Israeli Dancing.
In these demonstrations, the man knows the dances
and the woman does not.
However, the techniques of the Weitzen Partnership Dance system
work regardless of who knows the dance, and even if neither
partner knows the dance, but another person in the room does.
Though the women do not know the dances,
dancing with them is a pleasure.
Dancing with them is comfortable and relaxed.
There is no tension, pushing or pulling.
The women take every step on their own by lightly
following the connection, with no application of force.
Juliana, Kelli and Cathy have not been through the workshop.
There are certain simple principles they do not know
that would let them follow the steps they missed.
Beginning Dancers
Sure Juliana, Kelli and Cathy are great dancers,
but this system works equally well for all skill levels, even novices
as Margaret's videos demonstrate.
One thing to note, this is a partnership.
The man has to know how to give signals to his partner.
Of course, I know the system and there are certain things I
am doing that allow the women to follow the dances.
Many men who know the dances,
still struggle with women who do not know the dances,
even when the women are willing to follow.
There are certain things the man needs to do,
or not do, that make following easier for the women.
The Weitzen Partnership Dance™ system
shows both the women and men exactly what to do,
so they can enjoy every dance, regardless of who
knows the choreography.