[Tango-L] Leading and following

[Tom Stermitz]

On Jul 2, 2006, at 5:19 PM, Chris, UK wrote:

>>> I am sure every guy on this list has had an invitation
>>> changed by a "normal" dancer.  The guy thinks he invited a
>>> forward step and she answers it as a back step.  That
>>> dynamic is the most common form of "refusing" an invitation
>>
>> I have never heard of such a thing happening and this has never  
>> happened
>> to me either.
>
> For what it's worth, same here. It's not so much a refusal of a  
> step, but a
> refusal of the dance.
>
>> Using vocabulary such as "invite" or "request" reinforces
>> the notion that tango is a dialogue
>
> That notion is responsible for a great deal of misunderstanding  
> amongst
> beginners. Both before and after they become teachers.


Really? You're kidding!

You really have got to get out more... try different followers or  
other cities?


OBVIOUSLY:

EVERY TIME a woman dances with a leader she enables or disables his  
dance (i.e. THEIR dance), by her skill, technique, axis-control,  
musicality, personality, energy, or lack of any of these things. All  
followers constantly makes decisions and choices that modify the  
dance of the leader.

Good technique by the follower gives the leader a much easier job;  
bad technique, and the leader has to think and work harder.  
Musicality & energy makes the leader come alive; density and  
spaciousness slow him down. If her technique is good, and she follows  
well, then he can go intuitive and channel the music into Dance with  
the conscious brain barely involved.

If she doesn't have the ability to execute turns, then the leader  
might not lead turns.

If she has good balance and energizes her turns, maybe he leads a  
turn faster or sharper.


MORE SUBTLY:

A lot of the follower's contribution can fly below the leader's radar  
or awareness. The leader is focused externally and projecting ideas  
to the follower: he is worrying about navigational problems,  
receiving the music, and making decisions about what to do next. The  
follower's attention is supremely focused on the inner-space of the  
dance, which puts her in a very powerful role.

I'm not sure the leaders realize how transparent they are to the  
follower. Because she has x-ray vision into his heart, she can read  
every hesitation, all his tells, his gathering energy for a move, his  
bobbles, the quality of his embrace, etc...

A good follower has the ability change his mind without him even  
realizing it.


Tom Stermitz
http://www.tango.org