[Tango-L] body, hand leads

[larrynla@juno.com]

Keith, HK writes ------->

Why should the lady 'ignore' the man's weight changes or, more importantly, how should she know when to ignore them and when to follow them? I've always believed that the man should change weight so that the lady doesn't even feel it. If she does feel it, she should follow it unless the man prevents that in some way, eg. 'suspension'.
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I think Floyd means "ignore during those exercises he was describing." When dancing the weight change of one's partner main body mass before a step is the major clue as to what's happening next.  It's how a man can plan to step onto the next beat of music and his partner step on it at exactly the same time.  She can't read his mind; she must read his body.  And since the human reaction time is typically between 1/4 and 1/2 second, she must have warning in enough time to keep up with him.

Here are some practical applications of this.  The basic rhythm in tango is slow-slow.  The follower habitually steps to that rhythm.  This is how a man can safely do sacadas; he knows where her feet are going to be at any time (though he must glance down for an instant to be sure).  This is also how she can do adornos, which go between steps, because she's secure knowing that she has time to do them, and that he won't intrude without making sure there's space.  (If he's in a close embrace, he can't see but he can feel her legs indirectly through her body motion or directly through the - be still my libido! - silken caress of her thighs.)

It is said that the woman owns the rhythm and the man owns the changing of it - as well changing the direction of the walk.  If he wants to throw in an extra step or two (or more) he must do something extra with his lead.  If he wants her to copy his rhythm change he has to keep a firm (maybe extra firm) embrace.  If he wants her to continue the basic rhythm while he does his rhythm-adorno he must "suspend" (as Keith says) their contact a bit: loosen his embrace and give her added room to reduce body contact.
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If this sounds like an awful lot to think about, it is.  But thinking is what you're supposed to do in practice, to direct your practice to improve enough so that you don't think about details while dancing. You think about your partner and how wonderful hi/r body feels against you, about what s/he means to you, how lovely the moon is, how wonderful the music.

Tango seems to screw up people's brains sometimes.  They may be a competition level tennis player or professional pianist, used to volleying balls against a fence, or playing the scales, for literally hours a week to get new skills or to keep old ones.  But when it comes to more advanced tango dancing, suddenly they want to go right to Olympic levels without work.
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Chris, UK writes -------->

> there are some actions for which hands are crucial to leading properly.

Leading her back to her table? ;)

It's interesting to note how few girls agree with the idea that hand lead is ever "crucial".
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Is pan-universal telepathy with girls a new or an old skill with you?!

Perhaps this bad rap for hand leads got started because so many leaders want to wrestle women into following a lead.  But to dismiss hands  entirely is to ignore basic ergonomics.

Large motions in dance are shaped by the mid-body, the hara in judo and dan-tyen in kungfu. The upper body contact further refines the motions the leader wants.  The arms further refine it.  The hands occasionally refine it further IF NEEDED.

Here's an example.  In a parada, a stop, the leader presses his right hand firmly against his partner's back to arrest the last few inches of her backward motion.  At the same time his left hand presses against the palm of her "balance" hand.  The two pressures counter-balance each other.  The better the leader the lesser the pressures, but there must be some to fine-tune the parada at exactly the desired spot and attitude of his partner's body.

The hand has other uses in dancing tango.  It's very handy in patting a woman's bottom.  And slapping his face.


Larry de Los Angeles

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