[Tango-L] Do I have to invent every step of the dance, even her's ???

[Stephen.P.Brown@dal.frb.org]

"Tango for Her" wrote:
>Occassionally, I have led very advanced followers who,
>when I lead a boleo, for example, pretty much, take
>over the dance.  No room for conversation.

You mean there's no longer room for the conversation that you direct.  An 
exchange of lead and follow, with or without a change of embrace, is a 
different way to converse--one that is less dominated by the so-called 
leader.

previously Mario wrote:
>[D]o I have to know exactly what the follow is to do
>at all times? Is there no 'creative space' where the
>lead can open his stance and just let the follow invent?

Yes.  Such a space does exist.  You have to find it between yourself and 
your partner by listening to the her movements and creating space in the 
lead.

One natural place for such a space is in turns.  The direction of the 
conversation typically must be handed to the woman during turns.  Yes, she 
can be led into turns, but she is mostly responible for the the timing of 
the turn.  This responsibility creates an easy opportunity for the woman 
to freeze the man to do embellishments, change direction of the turn, or 
even shift the man's weight.  Of course, the latter requires that the 
woman have some knowledge of the moves. 

By the way, I prefer to identify the two roles in tango dancing as the man 
and the woman--not the leader and the follower.  Renaming the roles leader 
and follower (or lead and follow) may create an appearance of gender 
neutrality, but it also tends to put tighter constraints on what might be 
expected from the two dancers.  For some related thoughts see Richard 
Powers' writing on ultimate partnering 
http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/partnering.htm

With best regards,
Steve (de Tejas)