[Tango-L] Leading with whatever you want.

[Euroking@aol.com]

Key word:  Basics.  It is amazing what worlds open when you master  the 
basics. It is also the hardest to master, as it seems the most boring. Need  to 
learn new things, need to look better, new move, new me!  NOT really,  that path 
only leads to sustained or minimally long-term mediocrity. A  solid foothold 
in the basics means that "new" moves are variations of a  theme, not really new 
moves you have to learn and plug into your  knowledge base. 
Leading with  your hand(s) is natural when you partner does go where you 
wanted her to go. It  also occurs when you are concentrating on a move and your 
upper torso is not  inline with your feet and thinking, you react. My teachers 
have taught me  and continue to teach me not to use my hands or arms 
independently of my  upper torso.  It doesn't mean to not use them but rather not to  
use them independently.  Like every rule there are exceptions, emergency  crowd 
avoidance, for one.  In these  cases, one must modify the rule to use your 
hands or arms as subtly as the  situation allows.  
Not learning  the basics, means some of the time, for some much of the time, 
you use your  hands and arms to cheat or make up for your lack of leading 
skills. I speak from  experience here, as a majority of the time that I find 
myself using my arms  and hands it is because I screwed up or am not thinking and 
am reacting to  get it right.  The good news this is getting less and less an  
issue. 
As a lead, I  have had a partner use pressure to keep me from moving in a 
direction, it was a  safety issue and I greatly appreciated the gesture. 
Just some  thoughts, 
Bill  in Seattle