[Tango-L] Holding a Baby on a Swing

[Keith]

Just so that there's no misinterpretation and I be accused of 'throwing the woman around the floor', I'll add that I do agree with lead 
and follow approach. The man makes the lead with his body - the woman commences her step [the man already knows what it will be] and the 
man follows the movement of the womans's step. 

Keith, HK


On Tue Dec 25 13:00 , Keith  sent:

>I really don't understand why some men have this need to think of their partner in any way other than as their dance partner. No, my 
>partner is not a little baby on a swing and I can't think of anything that would be more likely to take away my tango mood. 
>
>But, more importantly, I have big problems with the words 'suggest' in item 1 and 'interpret' in item 2. This seems to say that the man 
>gives some king of signal, which the woman then has to think about, 'interpret' and then decide what to do. I don't agree with this 
>approach. If she wants to, the woman should be able to turn her brain off completely, think about nothing, interpret nothing, decide 
>nothing and just follow the man - and this is what many [most?] women want. If the woman wants to be more activley involved in the 
>dance, of course she can be - but the man's lead should still be such that the woman has no choice about what the next step will be. 
>However, the expert follower can do many things in making that step and in suggesting how to continue the dance. The man can choose to 
>listen or not, but once he leads the next step, the decision has been taken and the woman must make the step that has been led. I will 
>concede that there are rare occasions, with special women, where this can change - but rare is the operative word and a man's dance 
>shouldn't be based on this idea. 
>
>The man should listen to the woman and give her time to contribute to the dance, but his leads should not be open to interpretation. 
>They should be clear and unambiguous. That's my opinion.
>
>Keith, HK
>
>
>On Mon Dec 24 22:22 , Tango For Her  sent:
>
>>Leaders, imagine your follower as a baby on a swing AND the baby is not strapped in.  It is your job to move with the baby, holding it 
>and not impeeding with its motion.  You want the baby to feel the momentum and pauses in the swing.  But, you want the baby to feel, 
and 
>be, secure.  
>>   
>>  It's a way of moving with your follower and not restricting her movement at the points where she she should feel momentum and 
>pauses.  You see, you suggested the momentum and you suggested the pause, but, it is the follower who is free to intensify those 
>feelings.  This is part of what I mean when I say that women can dance, so I go along for the ride (to an extent).  
>>   
>>  A step is in three parts.  
>>   
>>  1. The leader suggests the direction and feel of the step.
>>   
>>  2. The follower interprets what the leader has suggested and makes the step.
>>   
>>  3. The leader follows the follower through the step.
>>   
>>  Given that sequence, the leader merely suggested the motion.  It is the follower who is taking you through the motion.  You could ( 
>you don't have to ) imagine that you are along for the ride.  You could ( you don't have to ) imagine that you are along for the ride 
to 
>take care of her ( make sure you are not throwing her off balance, assist her if she becomes off balance, etc ).  When you do this, you 
>could imagine that you are there, for the same purpose, taking care of a baby on a swing, where the momentum and the pauses are big and 
>balance is pretty darn important.
>
>
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