[Tango-L] Igor's Question: a woman's perspective - strong lead, no arms, etc.

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

--- Darlene Robertson <luv2dancetango at yahoo.com> wrote:

When a guy is new, he
> doesn't have a clue about the "proper" embrace.  A strong
> lead can take an inexperienced woman and make her look
> and FEEL great.  A weak lead feels completely intimidated
> and like a blubbering idiot.

Shudder.  There's that phrase "strong lead", again!  I was
too busy to put in my 2 cents worth last week, so here it
is.  Choosing words is extremely important since they can
connote different things to different people.  I find that
"strong" implies the use of strength, which is something I
dislike in a lead.  Tell a beginning male that a lead needs
to be strong and he's likely to think of pulling or pushing
the woman into place.  (And it can suggest to the woman
that she needs to be pushed into place.)

A "clear lead" is what is needed and connotes a better
sense of the masculinity desired in tango (as opposed to a
big bruiser of a linebacker, for example).

What is a "clear lead"?  It's simply when every part of the
man tell the woman the same thing.  His chest, his arms,
his hands, his earlobes, etc. send her the same message. 
This is masculine.  This is not the wishy washiness of the
chest saying one thing and the arms saying another thing
and the hands saying yet something else.

Which is why leading with no arms is helpful as an
exercise.  It's hard for men to learn to control different
body parts all at once.  Much easier for them to master
control over their chest first if they also don't have to
worry about their arms and their hands.

Trini de Pittsburgh

PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
  Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh’s most popular social dance!
  http://patangos.home.comcast.net/
   



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