How To Slow Dance

You may have learned how to slow dance for a wedding, prom or dance. One wrong move, and you could lose some points in the eye of your partner. Follow these simple steps to make yours all the more graceful.

Placement of the Hands
There are a couple ways to approach this. Before dancing, decides who is going to lead. Traditionally, the male dancer leads, with the female following. But it's 2009; anyone can lead as long as he/she knows what he/she is doing. In the more formal style of dancing, the lead will hold onto the follower's right hand with the left, and place the other arm on the hip/waist of the follower-who, in turn, places his/her off hand on the leader's shoulder. This position can also lend itself to the "twirl"-wherein the follower goes underneath the arm of the leader using their two joined hands, performs a twirl, then spins back into the waiting arms of the leader.

If you're feeling more romantic, the lead dancer can place his/her hands around the lower back of the follower, who in turn places his/her hands around the lead's neck, as if hugging. If you really want to go all out, the follower can rest his/her head on the leader's shoulder.

Footwork & Movement
This is the Achilles heel (no pun intended) for any inexperienced dancer. The key is to make sure your feet stay back and underneath you, not stepping on your partner. When it doubt, defer to the follower, as it's a big mistake for a lead dancer to step on the follower's feet. The general pattern is to move to one side for two beats of the song, then back to the other. But, if you have the dance floor to yourselves and are feeling brave, the leader can move over to the right for two beats, then up for two beats (bringing the off-foot up instead of over). Then, move to the left for two beats, and back for two beats-forming a small square of romance.