[Tango-L] leading w/fingers on back II - The soap opera continues.

[Christopher L. Everett]

Sergio Vandekier wrote:

> The only ones that instruct in leading with the chest only are the 
> instructors of 'Close embrace all the time'  ( Susana Miller, etc.).

That is false to fact WRT to Susanna.  A lot of people put
words in people's mouths on this list. Others need to take
a hefty dose of Sombunal (some-but-not-all).

I've heard Susanna specifically say that milongueros do not
always use the chest to lead, in some situations they also
use the hands, and I took a class in which she specifically
taught a figure where the hands got used.  (And of course,
no one got it right).

Her point at the time was that milongueros use all the tools
they have, and that the primary considerations are the clarity
of communication and comfort of the woman.

In fact, I've heard a lot of people make absolute statements
in the form of  "Milonguero style is this" or "Milonguero style
is that", and in the 10-12 classes I've taken with her, she has
violated every one of those absolute statements.  I have seen
her teach sequences where torsos separate, pivoting back
ochos, figures led with the hands, men to walk backwards for
several beats, you name it.

I am left to conclude that by "Milonguero style" she means
the possibilities of the dance that the bulk of the non-pro
oldtimers (think bell curve) in BsAs choose, and nothing more. 
What the hell, it's still a bigger range of possibilities
than anyone on this list will ever master in this lifetime. 

Being able to dance any style is OK, but that probably leaves
the dancer of average talent and/or practice time as a jack of
all trades, master of none.

Christopher