Being musical and staying on beat are different concepts. Being musical means more than staying on beat, and it is more expressing the music. Staying on beat merely restricting the dancer step according to the beats.
However for partner dance, lead and follow gets an overwhelming emphasis.
It is because if the partners are not leading and following well, the two can never stay on beat.
It is easy to understand why a good lead gives a nice flow to the music, but what about the follow?
If the lady is not following, the man will feel like he is pushing a heavy lady- heavier than her actual weight. It is because the man need to push harder.
You can easily imagine if you need to push hard to move, pushing force will be larger than normal and the prep time will obviously be lengthened.
Given that the music won't stop or slower to accommodate the dancers' actions, the only result is missing all the beats.
Don't overlook any tiny moment, late for even 0.5 second can ruin the dance.
All in all, to make sure you yourself dance well, to make sure your dance partner feels well, to make sure the two of you look well, improve the connection between the two of you.
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