I’ve been learning to follow in dance recently and it has been a revealing experience. There is something special about being able to rest my head on my partner’s, let my body rest against theirs, and follow the rhythm of the music and the dance we are carving within it.

Leading can take a lot of energy; constantly creating choreography and orchestrating each part of the dance. It is amazing when you’re met and the conversation becomes more balanced but yet there is something about being able to simply follow the path set out for you and add your own detour only when it suits you.

I am proud of myself that I can so easily let go now. I can allow myself to be in the dance that someone else creates. I can still create, and meet, and match but there is no pressure to do so, only the music and my partner. Somehow the experience of following is so much more sensual. Perhaps its that I am allowed to rest more in my senses, to feel the rhythm of my partner and the music. I’m asked to pay attention so much more to the breath, the tone, the pulse. This listening asks me to be quiet. I can only hear when I bring my thoughts to silence.

In this silence I hear myself better. Following has been a sensual experience not only of my partner but with myself. There is so much room for me to feel my place in the dance, to feel my place in myself, and to work with the natural energy that is there and provided rather than generated and inspired.

Following allows you room to learn what it means to be physically soft yet mentally sharp. To blend with a movement yet still hold your own idea of the destination. And to follow through meeting and giving.