[Tango-L] Leading with whatever you want.

[Crrtango@aol.com]

I still submit that leading with your hands or anything other than your torso 
or upper body, whether open- or close-embrace is not good leading. It just 
sounds like the easy way out, which we all know that many people (mostly male 
leaders) are quick to jump on as a new approach to leading or dancing tango.   
The various permutations like barridas (which most people, including teachers, 
don't do correctly anyway) and sacadas are not really leads.   
Ask your partners about being led by fingers. They don't mind? Most of the 
women I talk to complain about men leading with their hands.

There are many intellectuals and analytical people who study tango which 
unfortunately bogs down these discussions about what are basically very 
fundamental principals that don't change even after one becomes "advanced." Intelligence 
and analytic abilities have nothing to do with being a good dancer. Any truck 
driver or mechanic can do it.  (The worst dancer I ever saw, who was also 
very arrogant, belonged to Mensa.)  In the ten years of dancing, performing and 
teaching that I have done, the problems that most people have, no matter how 
long they have danced, usually have something to do with the basics. I think the 
fact that there are so many awful "advanced" dancers out there speaks for the 
fact that they discarded those basics too soon in favor of newer, more 
interesting "theories." Nothing wrong with all the cute theories and explanations as 
long as you keep in mind that they have very little to do with being a good 
dancer. 

And Pulpo and Luiza are not exactly paradigms of elegant dancing.   Cute, 
tricky and acrobatic, yes.   Be careful about confusing complexity with quality.

Cheers,
Charles