Hey! We are syncing!

To learn a new dance, you first learn your steps, how to transition from one step to the other, and try to make your steps as match the beat as closely as possible. After you nail these basics, you then learn how to add the arms and body movements to make your dancing enticing and appealing. While this sequence of learning stays true, partner dances have an additional step - partnering up! The real test in partner dances takes place when you dance with a partner. I often feel that the first time partnering up is like having a person beamed into my carefully learned, beautiful dance moves… Okay, maybe not beautiful yet. But suddenly, it’s not just you anymore - there is this additional human body in the picture, you still need to do your moves, but with this person together.

“Together” is the key in partner dances. If you go to YouTube and search for dance videos from any professional dancers, the great couples dance “together” - they synchronize, echo and complement each other. The sense of synchronization is created by the temporal fluidity of the movements, the matching visual imagery, and the complementarity between the two create the enticing dynamics that make you want to keep watching the couple dance together. It’s that synchronization that makes the two better than one and creates new dynamics that can only happen when there are two. Although you can’t dance well with another person unless you nail your own part, being able to dance well by oneself doesn’t guarantee a good dance partner. The ability to connect and to communicate with each other play key roles in partner dances.

There are two roles in partner dances: a leader and a follower. A leader is the one who initiates the moves; a follower is the one who follows the lead. The connection between leading and following allows the two people to synchronize and to complement each other. And the quality of the connection is determined by the communication between the two people. The connection between the leader and the follower is not just holding hands. It’s a channel that allows you to communicate your body movements to your dance partner. In dancing, the two people rely on non-verbal cues to communicate. Your partner senses your weight transfer from one foot to another through, your forward and backward movements, and even the initiation of turning. As a leader, these are the cues that you send to your follower through the connection to let your follower know where you are going.

As a follower, you move in response to these cues to follow your leader. For example, when you sense an increase of pressure from your leader through your connecting hands, you know that your leader is moving towards you. In order to maintain your space with your partner, you need to move backward to respond to the lead. Same with turning. One of the very common moves in partner dances is underarm turn. To make an underarm turn, the leader will lift his arm to signal the follower that something is going to happen and to create a space that allows the follower to turn underarm. Then, the leader will make a circular motion over the head of the follower with the leading hand; the follower will then follow this lead and then complete the turn. These interactions create the temporal fluidity between the two dancers and these interactions rely on understanding the intentions behind each of the signal exchanges between the two people. This intentional understanding is the foundation of successful interpersonal interactions; one of the early emergent social competences that we talked about last time.

Another element that creates this “move together” feeling is the matching and supplementary visual imagery between two dancers. Mirroring, a common dance position where two people create mirror images of each other, exemplifies visual imagery in partner dances. When two dancers are in a mirroring position, the idea is to create a mirror image, a body symmetry, or a figural complement. Creating mirror images between two independent human bodies requires a lot of coordination and collaboration. As two people try to match each other’s body, arm and leg positions, constant attention to other person’s movement and corresponding adjustment of your own movements are required. We have not even talked about other tasks like listening to music, moving on beat, smiling, and navigating your eye contact. Doesn’t sound very romantic, does it?

Partner dance, a form of interpersonal movement, requires a lot of attention to the other person you are working with and alert awareness of yourself. You and your partner are constantly communicating with each other - receiving and sending signals. Your interpretations of the signals and calibration with each other create that synchronous fluidity between two bodies. In order to be successful in partner dances, you need to listen carefully and communicate thoughtfully. It is a form of movement that challenges you to look beautiful and elegant while sharpening your listening and communication skills at the same time!

Are you looking for a creative way to improve your partnerships? To be more synched together? You might consider joining the club of partner dance!