[Tango-L] Leading with hands

[Jay Rabe]

My 2-cents:

"Leading with the hands/arms" is a complicated concept. You can try to 
simplify it by thinking only in terms of the most rough-handling boor 
pushing you around, but that hardly captures the continuum of gentle 
subtleties that are possible.

An exercise often used to practice close-embrace is to dance with no arm 
contact at all - just chest contact. If you haven't tried it, I suggest you 
do so. You'll find it very challenging. The conclusion seems inescapable 
that, even in those leaders who profess and strive (we'll assume 
successfully) to lead with their chest/torso, there is still a subtle 
contribution from the hands and arms.


     J in Portland
     www.TangoMoments.com