[Tango-L] Leading and following

[Sergio Vandekier]

In traditional tango the man leads and the woman follows.

The man determines the speed and the length of every step. A good leader 
will not allow the woman to speed or to slow the dance or the turn but he is 
conscious that there are women that can dance fast (if needed) and there are 
others that only dance slowly.

He "feels" the woman with respect to her taste and skill to dance and adapts 
to her. If she dances slowly he will do so, he will never lead steps or 
figures that she cannot follow with ease, or set a speed for the dance that 
would make her feel ackward.

He will sense the music, and the energy of the room and lead accordingly 
avoiding to disturb the other dancers and at the same time protecting his 
partner from any collisions or injuries.

He will do his best to communicate with her knowing that she is in a 
"floating receptive mood" to his suggestions. doing her best to follow his 
suggestions. He tries to create an interesting conversation of the bodies 
and the legs.

He is tuned and sensitive to her needs.

He allows enough time for her to dance peacefully and express her dance 
artistically.

But he is in charge, he leads most moves, even ornaments by allowing time 
for them.
There are many embellishments where the woman has freedom to select the type 
she wishes to do.
Different types of Amagues (front boleos) for instance, or the type of 
embellishment at a stop or during a calesita, etc.

If he sweeps and wishes her to sweep his foot back he leads that as well.

When he leads a molinete does not allow the woman to run at any speed she 
feels like.

He places her feet at the desired length and regulates the speed of the 
turn.

The "creative woman" as defined by Astrid has a lot of chances to express 
her creations artistically according to her feelings, in the way she does 
her embellishments  and adding moves or steps as she wishes as long as she 
does not interfere with the leader's foot work and the general mood of the 
dance. He continues dancing when she is done and never rushing her through 
her moves.

The same way as the leader does lots of moves between the woman's legs never 
interfering with her foot work.

The result should be a perfect tango created by both of them, in perfect 
harmony and connection with each other. Each one in his proper role: one 
leading and the other one following.

Again I am talking about people that know how to dance not about poor 
dancers.

Astrid described three excellent examples of leaders. The first one (IMO) is 
deficient due to lack of sensitivity to the woman's need and do not 
correspond with an Argentine macho.

The man dances to make sure that the woman is the center of the dance, the 
star of the  show.
His pleasure derives from knowing that she is happy in his arms and 
surrenders without hesitation to his embrace.

Best tangos to everyone, Sergio

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