There's More Than One Way to Teach Dancing
If you've ever watched a dance show on television, you've probably seen couples performing beautifully choreographed routines — every step planned, every movement rehearsed, every moment perfectly synchronised. It looks stunning. And for performance and competition, that approach has its place.
But at Aspirations Dance, we do things differently. And we think it makes all the difference.
What Is Lead & Follow?
Rather than teaching set routines that both partners memorise and perform in sequence, we teach a lead and follow approach. This means:
- One partner (the lead) communicates what's coming next through subtle physical signals — a shift of weight, a gentle pressure, a change in frame.
- The other partner (the follow) responds to those signals in real time, moving with their partner rather than from memory.
The result is a dance that's alive, responsive, and genuinely connected — rather than two people independently performing their half of a memorised sequence and hoping it lines up.
The Problem with Routine-Based Dancing
Here's something that anyone who's learned a routine with a partner will recognise: two people rarely remember it the same way.
One of you remembers the turn happening on count three. The other is certain it was count four. One of you steps left, the other steps left too — and suddenly what was supposed to be a dance has turned into a quiet (or not so quiet!) disagreement about who got it wrong.
The frustrating thing is that in routine-based dancing, someone has to be wrong. The routine is fixed. If you don't both remember it identically, it breaks down.
We've seen this cause real tension — especially for couples — and it's one of the main reasons people give up on dancing before they've really had a chance to enjoy it.
With Lead & Follow, Nobody Can Do Anything Wrong
This is the beautiful thing about connection-based dancing: there is no fixed routine to get wrong.
The lead decides, in the moment, what comes next. The follow responds to what they feel. If the lead changes their mind mid-step, the follow adapts. If something unexpected happens — a stumble, a missed beat, a crowded dance floor — you simply respond to each other and keep going.
Because the dance is built on communication and connection rather than memorisation, there's no script to deviate from. You're not trying to recreate something you both learned separately — you're creating something together, in real time.
That means no blame. No "you went the wrong way." No arguments about who remembered it correctly. Just dancing.
It Also Makes You a Much Better Dancer
Beyond the harmony it brings to partnerships, lead and follow has some significant practical advantages:
- You can dance anywhere. Because you and your partner respond to each other rather than relying on a memorised routine, the same skills work at a wedding, a party, a social or on holiday, whatever music is playing. This is what makes social dancing so joyful.
- You're truly listening to the music. Without a fixed sequence to follow, you're free to respond to the music as it happens — to pause, to play, to let the rhythm guide you.
- Your skills transfer across styles. The principles of lead and follow are consistent across many dance styles. Once you understand connection, you'll find it easier to pick up new dances throughout our course programme.
- It grows with you. A beginner lead and follow looks different to an advanced one — but the foundation is the same. Your dancing deepens naturally as your sensitivity and communication improve.
What This Feels Like in Practice
In our classes, you'll learn to feel the dance rather than just think it. Leads learn how to communicate clearly and confidently without forcing or gripping. Follows learn how to stay connected and responsive without anticipating or back-leading.
It takes a little getting used to — especially if you've danced before and are used to routines — but most students find that once it clicks, it feels completely natural. Because it is. It's how humans communicate through movement.
Dancing as Conversation
We like to think of lead and follow dancing as a conversation. In a good conversation, one person speaks and the other listens — then they respond, and the dialogue flows naturally. Nobody reads from a script. Nobody argues about who said what in the wrong order.
That's exactly what connection-based dancing feels like at its best. Two people, listening to each other and to the music, creating something together that neither of them could have planned in advance.
It's one of the most satisfying feelings in the world — and it's what we've been teaching at Aspirations Dance since 1997.
Come and Experience the Difference
Whether you're a complete beginner or you've tried routine-based classes before and found them frustrating, we'd love to show you what connection-based dancing feels like. Our classes in Chester and Buckley are friendly, relaxed, and built around this philosophy from the very first lesson.
Take a look at our How It Works page to find out more about our approach and course structure. We think you'll find it refreshingly different.
Aspirations Dance — Putting the fun into dance since 1997. 🌟