Lately I’ve been on a rampage to get people using the follower’s back sacada. Why am I spending much power on a move so rarely led and so poorly followed, if at all?
As a leader, the dynamic of this move opens up sensation and territory.
But I’m starting to think there’s more to it than that. The follower’s back sacada demands that the follower really, truly dance. If she’s just along for the ride, she’s going to miss this one and never know it. It’s the move that shows followers what they can do in the dance, if they are willing to work. Once a follower feels herself do it right for the first time, she exclaims “isn’t that beautiful!” Unlike so many other fancy, showy moves, this one feels beautiful to her because she can feel her strength and grace making it possible.
A contra voleo doesn’t require so much activeness on the part of the follower, who lets the leader’s power travel through her. But a follower’s back sacada requires her perceptiveness to receive more torsion, her strength to pivot extensively, her confidence to project fiercely in an unusual direction, and her presence to step and reestablish her axis without much support from the embrace. Followers get to feel themselves making the difference and this can be an eye-opener to their role in the rest of the dance.
