[Tango-L] Leading with hands

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

Hi Jay,

It depends on the woman's ability to follow as much as the
man's ability to lead. The exercise is even more telling in
open embrace. I can lead Trini in salon open embrace
without any body contact at all. Of course, she has to keep
her eyes open. But even very subtle things can be
indicated, such as to extend her leg without a weight
transfer (for a planeo), or to transfer the weight without
closing her legs (to allow me to complete 2 sacadas - one
with each foot). Of course, shared and out of axis things
won't work, but your basic social moves like walking,
ochos, boleos and molinetes are easy if you do them well in
an embrace. Add in the salon toys like sacadas, lapices,
enrosques, drags and ganchos, and you can really impress
the woman shakers. (Milonguero code for guys who lead
noticeably with their arms.) Counter turns are a lot more
dificult, and milonguero style musicality is probably
impossible. 

Trini and I use this exercise mainly to practice, but every
once in a while we will dance a tanda this way at a
milonga. Especially when it is too hot.

Sean

--- Jay Rabe <jayrabe at hotmail.com> wrote:

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

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com