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

[Dubravko Kakarigi]

Okay, now that this discussion is quite nice and respectful of different views, let me put in my two centavos...

Here is how I see those and related things. In principle, we dance tango with our bodies/torsos -- not with our legs or other parts (I hope you do not understand this as me saying that we leave those other parts at the table :-). So a leg moves as a result of the torso moving (or sometimes in preparation for a torso movement, mostly true for men -- although, even then the beginning of the movement is done my torso). The foot is placed at the optimal place on the floor so that a dynamic balance is maintained. In chest-to-chest embrace sort of dancing, the two torsos move as one. The initiation of the move is usually done by the man. 

The consequence of this paradigm is that the woman will (or has a good opportunity to) cross (the kind where her left leg ends up in front of the right, her left foot to the right of her right foot--although, the same holds true for all other cross situations) because her torso is moving in such a direction that makes it, the cross, the most comfortable and natural step. In that context, ultimately the cross step happens as a result of the "invitation to cross" and is not made because it is some kind of a rule.

Of course, there are many variations on this theme. There is also much to be said about the energy (not only the kinetic kind) that a movement projects and is felt that also hopefully affects where the leg/foot goes.

...dubravko

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