For my first 2 years of swing dancing, I have led, almost exclusively. Over the past several months, I have begun committing myself to learning to follow. I have long suspected learning the opposite role would be one of the best ways to grow as a dancer. So far, this has proven true. But besides growth, following has been very fun. At these beginning stages, following feels like a wildly different engagement with swing. A new door opening. I’ve heard friends talk about a follow’s mindset. Sometimes, they speak about trying to empty their mind. I’m careful not to emphasize this emptiness, though, because I know, having danced with a wide variety of follows, that following is a fully artistically expressive role. Part of that artistry involves finding the right balance of receptivity of the ideas of the lead and expression within the spaces that the lead provides. A follow has to be listening carefully to the lead, the music, and their own emotional response. This is also true for the lead, but in the early stages of learning the lead role, there is more emphasis on directing rather than listening. I would guess that the longer one dances, the difference between the roles lessons.

Last weekend, I took a 3-hour swingout intensive as a follow, led by Cole Crutcher and Abbie Reeves. We began class learning the pendulum (John Holmstrom calls it the lead-ulum), which is essentially an 8-count pattern where the lead moves from closed position, to a position facing the follow, and back to closed. We then practiced the follow variation, where the follow travels the same path. These two moves are starting points for the swingout, and I often use them, as a lead, as a way to ease a partnership out of 6 counts and into 8 count rhythms. Coincidently, at this moment, I am becoming more comfortable shifting these patterns without the leadulum transition. As a follow, I appreciate these moves, since I can’t yet quickly pick up on leads shifting the rhythmic pattern.

After the pendulum, we practiced a promenade. This is a pendulum, but instead of return to the original position, the lead steps forward on the 3/4 steps, and ends up in closed on the opposite side of the floor. The promenade helped begin tuning my receptivity as a follow. I started listening to the difference in pressure in the hands, which communicated the wether the lead was suggesting a promenade or a pendulum.

We then moved to Lindy circles. As a follow, this is where footwork started coming more into focus. A circle can often become a move that travels a lot. The lead may look like they are running around their partner. As a follow, I felt unstable at first. To fix both problems, I focused on keeping my feet underneath me. The circle moves rotationally, but the feet stay spread apart. It is not a situation where one tightens the body to generate rotational speed. Instead, the lead and follow maintain a connection which is pulling away from one another slightly. Centripetal force presses away from the axis of rotation. Both partners remain stable on their feet, keeping grounded while turning with controlled, even steps.

Circle practice moved into swingout practice. Abbie spoke about tension, and how the partnership should seek out a tension sweet spot. The follow does not travel too far away, which can cause the initial directional force to pull one off balance. Follows were encourage to sit back in their hips, while staying grounded. We were encouraged to be a little hard to move. We tried to seek out the connection with the lead’s hand on our back.

Cole drew a helpful diagram showing the paths of leads in relation to follows. The follow moves in a relatively straight path, forward and back. At the faceoff, follows concentrated on situating ourselves 180 degrees from where we started. The follow owns that line of travel, and it is the lead’s responsibility to get out of the way. To do this, the lead staggers their position at a slight angle. They start of a little bit to the left, and after the face-off, step out of the way to their (new) left. I enjoyed, as a follow, owning the line of travel.

Swivels are the signature stylistic movement for a follow during a swingout. We practiced making the swivels feel more swivel-ly. To do this, we focused on jutting out the opposite hip, and opening the body. Abbie instructed us to hold onto a door-frame at home and practice swiveling on our own. Like swingouts, swivels are something a follow never stops fine tuning.

I asked Abbie to describe the follow’s weight distribution on the faceoff. I find it tricky to get it right. Swing dance almost always involves a clear weight distribution on one foot or the other. Rarely do both feet share the weight; one foot should always be free to lift of the floor. At the faceoff, the follow’s foot pattern leaves the weight on the right foot. At the same time, the follow must find the connection with the lead’s hand on their back, which requires the weight to shift backwards, away from the right foot. It is tricky to seek out that connection in a direction opposite from where the foot is bearing weight.

We ended the class with some classic swingout variations. We worked on switches and over-rotations. We added two classic Frankie Manning movies: scoots and around-the-worlds with points. Practicing them as a follow made me realize I have been leading the around-the-world’s turn much earlier than what is generally taught. I have been initiating the turn on the 2. We practiced switching the hand position to a palm to palm on the 4, and initiating the turn right after. We then used a behind the back flick of the wrist to communicate the second turn.