[Tango-L] Back leading

[Michael]

Sergio wrote: 
> When the follower does things on her own that are not lead
> by the man this  is called "Back leading".
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I do not agree with Sergio's definition of back leading.
Back leading is when the woman leads the man from the
follower's position. My ballroom teacher sometimes back
leads me (she is the follower) when I need to feel a
particular lead for a figure I'm having difficulty. In
tango, an example would be the woman leading the man to lead
her ochos. She would rotate his shoulders.

A follower can do anything not lead as long as it doesn't
interfere with the lead, i.e. when walking backwards she
double times her steps so that she remains on the foot the
man wants. 

When the man has stopped, the woman can play. The best
example is from the step over position. O (in NY) loves to
push my out stretched foot before she steps over it. Other
women step over the foot and then drag it. They are playing.

Virginia Kelly, an Argentine living in NY, has taught
"Interleading" at the NY Summer Tango Festival (last week in
July this year). The woman doesn't lead the man to do
something. She stops the man with her frame so that she can
play. As an example, the man can sweep the woman's foot, the
follower uses her frame to stop the man and then uses her
frame to sweep the man's foot.

To me, interleading and playing are fine. Back leading, in
the technical definition I gave, is to be avoided.

Michael Ditkoff
Washington, DC
Heat and humidity slowly descending