* When I wrote the 3 part article ‘The Best Leaders & Followers’ I said that in the future I will post some of the emails that I received  that were so danm good you had to read their words directly. Below are the words of Jocelyn Rosero International Salsera – co-host of Addicted2Salsa.com.*

When it comes to what a follow likes in a lead, I think everyone is different.  With that said, here’s a few things that I prefer:

–Quality over quantity. I’d rather do the 6 moves you really know than the 26 you just learned and haven’t worked on yet.  In every song, I think it’s fair to throw in a couple of new moves you’re trying out, but I want the lead to make me feel comfortable and relaxed, and that means being sensitive to what you can and cannot smoothly lead.

-Be gentle, but clear. I like a lead that is firm enough to be understandable (no spaghetti arms), but not so stiff that I feel like I’m being dragged around.  I think the job of the lead is to indicate what moves he wants and provide me some stability, direction and sometimes momentum, not to force me through the motions.

-I like a lead who tailors the dance to what I am capable of. Especially as a beginner and intermediate dancer, I always hated it when leads tried to get me through combo after combo that I was clearly having trouble with.  Push me a little (I like a challenge), but don’t make me feel bad about myself because I stumble through all your moves.

-Dress simply. Neat, clean is all I ask, and please make sure whatever you’re wearing doesn’t hit me (gold chains, jackets/blazers that flap around, wrist watch…)

-Smell nice. Deodorant and a small amount of cologne, if you want.

-Leave some time for shines/footwork. A whole song of combo after combo can be tiring – let me have a few 8-counts to show my stuff and interpret the music the way I want, plus you get a chance to think of some more moves.

-Smile! Hey, this is fun, right?