Connection Dogma
I recently saw quite a few social media posts critiquing higher level wcs dancers for various aspects of their connection. Some of this can be chalked up to ignorance or jealousy (not that there aren't other potential attitudes too), but I think that a lot of misunderstanding comes from a limited point of view.
There's a saying I like: "there are none so righteous as the newly converted." That is, the first time you learn something that you're excited by or are exposed to something that creates a solution to one of your problems, you're likely to go a little crazy for it and maybe proclaim it as the One True Way.
This is prevalent all across our dance (and our lives in general)--you'll encounter west coast swing dancers who are zealots for a certain type of '1' for a follow, for a certain handhold, a certain pitch, certain type of settling action or footwork on an anchor, a certain type of footwear... the lists go on. And the most vocal proponents of the various theories are often mid level dancers who vigorously quote what 'so and so' among the champions said this one time in a workshop, so it must always be true.
Connection is one place where dogma often clashes with reality. After all, no one thinks that they have a 'bad' connection and one way we can experience or perhaps even assess the skill of higher level dancers is through connecting with them during a social dance. But the higher level dancer is often adjusting to the lower level one--adjusting to help with communication as they best see fit, and maybe for their own protection. This can't be taken into account by someone who has no knowledge of the adjustments, to them, things just don't feel the way they 'should'. And that isn't even taking into account the higher level dancer's own philosophy or personal preference, whatever that may be... who they just danced with, what they're working on, etc. etc.
I just saw a comment on facebook by an older gentleman saying something to the effect of "allstars can connect on the anchor but not in the middle of patterns." I could be wrong, but something I've seen in a lot of older leads is a lack of shoulder (overhead) mobility. If a follow doesn't feel good clearance on their passes and tucks, or feels a leader pulling down, they might indeed lighten or completely vanish--for their own safety--and just reconnect on the anchor. To me this is a more likely explanation than that this fellow has a perfect connection of his own (whatever that means) and that every high end follow he encounters has some weird quirk.
A personal example: I carry a lot of residual tension in my forearms and hands. My fingers are, even when hanging relaxed, fairly 'closed'. I actually have to deliberately open my hands a bit to get my basic handhold for dance to where I want it to be. I'd been frustrated in the past by follows being apparently unwilling to give me the momentum and acceleration that I asked for. "I don't know why so-and-so won't trust me," I'd comment. I was eventually told that the tension in my hands made them stiff and it felt to my follows like I wasn't truly ready to receive the energy I actually wanted.
Finally, there's the individual factor. Not all high level wcs dancers connect the same way. I think that a lot of people, especially those who come from a background of other dances get frustrated with the lack of simple or easy answers in wcs. But this doesn't mean that (for example) connection is some magical and unfathomable concept, it just means that different people (gasp) do things differently. For example, I can't think of two follows who feel more different than Torri Zzaoui and Alyssa Glanville. Torri's connection quickly drops off to feather lightness through the middle of her patterns and though her anchor increases in tension, it's still fairly light by most standards. Alyssa's connection is heavy, much more gradually ramped and thick feeling in comparison. They're both absolutely amazing of course, and you had better bet that 1. both of them can use their preferred connection to communicate incredibly well, and 2. they are both adaptable within a certain range, even outside their own comfort zone.
I think that we should try to keep in mind that our partners are often trying to adjust to and understand us as much as we're doing the same. Wcs connection is unique and definitely one of the aspects of this dance that's both fun and interesting, and we should all try to appreciate it--having a mindset of discovery and respect especially when dancing up will help with that!
There's a saying I like: "there are none so righteous as the newly converted." That is, the first time you learn something that you're excited by or are exposed to something that creates a solution to one of your problems, you're likely to go a little crazy for it and maybe proclaim it as the One True Way.
This is prevalent all across our dance (and our lives in general)--you'll encounter west coast swing dancers who are zealots for a certain type of '1' for a follow, for a certain handhold, a certain pitch, certain type of settling action or footwork on an anchor, a certain type of footwear... the lists go on. And the most vocal proponents of the various theories are often mid level dancers who vigorously quote what 'so and so' among the champions said this one time in a workshop, so it must always be true.
Connection is one place where dogma often clashes with reality. After all, no one thinks that they have a 'bad' connection and one way we can experience or perhaps even assess the skill of higher level dancers is through connecting with them during a social dance. But the higher level dancer is often adjusting to the lower level one--adjusting to help with communication as they best see fit, and maybe for their own protection. This can't be taken into account by someone who has no knowledge of the adjustments, to them, things just don't feel the way they 'should'. And that isn't even taking into account the higher level dancer's own philosophy or personal preference, whatever that may be... who they just danced with, what they're working on, etc. etc.
I just saw a comment on facebook by an older gentleman saying something to the effect of "allstars can connect on the anchor but not in the middle of patterns." I could be wrong, but something I've seen in a lot of older leads is a lack of shoulder (overhead) mobility. If a follow doesn't feel good clearance on their passes and tucks, or feels a leader pulling down, they might indeed lighten or completely vanish--for their own safety--and just reconnect on the anchor. To me this is a more likely explanation than that this fellow has a perfect connection of his own (whatever that means) and that every high end follow he encounters has some weird quirk.
A personal example: I carry a lot of residual tension in my forearms and hands. My fingers are, even when hanging relaxed, fairly 'closed'. I actually have to deliberately open my hands a bit to get my basic handhold for dance to where I want it to be. I'd been frustrated in the past by follows being apparently unwilling to give me the momentum and acceleration that I asked for. "I don't know why so-and-so won't trust me," I'd comment. I was eventually told that the tension in my hands made them stiff and it felt to my follows like I wasn't truly ready to receive the energy I actually wanted.
Finally, there's the individual factor. Not all high level wcs dancers connect the same way. I think that a lot of people, especially those who come from a background of other dances get frustrated with the lack of simple or easy answers in wcs. But this doesn't mean that (for example) connection is some magical and unfathomable concept, it just means that different people (gasp) do things differently. For example, I can't think of two follows who feel more different than Torri Zzaoui and Alyssa Glanville. Torri's connection quickly drops off to feather lightness through the middle of her patterns and though her anchor increases in tension, it's still fairly light by most standards. Alyssa's connection is heavy, much more gradually ramped and thick feeling in comparison. They're both absolutely amazing of course, and you had better bet that 1. both of them can use their preferred connection to communicate incredibly well, and 2. they are both adaptable within a certain range, even outside their own comfort zone.
I think that we should try to keep in mind that our partners are often trying to adjust to and understand us as much as we're doing the same. Wcs connection is unique and definitely one of the aspects of this dance that's both fun and interesting, and we should all try to appreciate it--having a mindset of discovery and respect especially when dancing up will help with that!
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