[Tango-L] Not leading vs.leading the cross

[Sergio Vandekier]

I would like to know what is the benefit of leading vs. not leading the cross.

My impression is that most people (both in Argentina and abroad) do not lead the cross. 

The woman automatically locks her left leg in front of her right one,
 (and puts her weight on that left foot), two steps after the man steps to her right.
Women are taught to do this very early in her learning process.

This means that the woman does not cross if the man walks in front of her or to her left.
She does when he steps to her right.

Sometimes he force a cross on different circumstances by slightly touching her leg with his leg.

If the man walks to her right and wishes to prevent her from crossing (this is not frequent) he does so by placing 
his foot close to her right one so that she is deprived of that option.

Most of us know how to lead the cross of course, but we only do that if absolutely necessary for 
some particular reason, otherwise we allow and expect , the woman to cross by default.
If she does not do it (rare except beginners), then we lead her to do it.

Summary: There are many ways to dance tango, this makes it more interesting. 
So you have two choices: lead or not to lead the cross... that's is the question.

So I wonder what is the big deal about all this? ... "To be or not to be".

Sergio
Mar del Plata, Argentina






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