Changing the Tempo (slowdowns vs speed-ups)

The first rule of changing speeds is to contrast as best as you can. It’s not only clearer to differentiate the lead for your partner but also enhances the visual effect for spectators. Go slow before you go fast (half-time to double-time) or go fast before you go slow (double-time to half-time), instead of going from TIME to HALF-TIME/DOUBLE-TIME.

But of course, when we first learn we do just gradual speed changes.

Going from SLOW-to-FAST:

• Arm & upper-body tension – this is the most beginner way. Just muscle it. It works but doesn’t feel so good.
• Stay high, smaller steps – this is common sense and a clever tactic. Raising your height and taking smaller steps will make it easier to hit DOUBLE-TIME and QUADRUPLE-TIME.
• Hip twist – use the torque in your hips to create faster impulses. Only thing is this only works for pivots. You can still use it for linear movements by doing more subtle hip twists.
• Foot press – really hit the ground so the follower can feel your foot press.
• Breath change – I probably wouldn’t breathe faster. It’s more like a hesitation breath. Maybe a little more sudden breathing or just sudden pause of the breath, rather than slow-relaxing exhale. So much you can do with breath change if you use that as a connection mechanism in your dance.

Going from FAST-to-SLOW:

• Arm & upper-body tension – again the most beginner way. It actually might not even work as the tension might make the follower go even faster. Even when it does work, it certainly doesn’t feel good.
• Arm & upper-body tension release – this works well but can feel like a loss of connection for the follower. Ideally, you don’t want to just cut the power on her. You want to ride out the slow parts with her. If anything, going slower should have more intensity and not less…weird, right?
• 2-legged transition – catch her in the middle of the weight change. Slow her down while you’re both on two feet. If you slow down while you’re on one, it’s not only impossible and you feel like falling but it also takes so much energy.
• Breath change – again, use your breathing to signal a slowdown.
• Embellishment mentality – use the speed-up as only a momentary stop. This keeps yours and your partner’s mind in the mentality of holding the original “slow” rhythm. If you speed-up for too long, the default mentality changes and then slowing down will feel like you have to re-enter another world. Think of speeding up as only a moment of sticking your head outside the door into the cold and then pulling it back in. Like you were going fast while you were going slow. Hahahah…so confusing, I know.