In the Rumba, the gentleman is constantly sending the lady away from him and bringing her back close to him. Every figure is made up of these actions, leading to the beautiful elastic quality of this dance.
Unfortunately, a common problem that results from this interplay is that the man tries to bring the lady back before he has given her a chance to use the movement that he has initiated by sending her out. As a result, because he pulls her back before she can actually be positioned to respond, he complains that “she is heavy.”
In this short video, we cover this common technical issue in more detail.
This aspect of lead and follow takes place in other Latin dances as well, but we focus on Rumba at this time because the music is slower and gaining an understanding of this technique is thus easier.
Note that this lesson is suited to intermediate and advanced dancers who already have an understanding of how to lead the elastic properties of the figures. A clear understanding of Rumba timing is required to make use of the technique covered in this video.
