[Tango-L] Barridas, sweeps, drags, etc

[Crrtango@aol.com]

re the barrida as "adornment" (?)

Sorry Michael but I disagree about the barrida.   The barrida (sweep, like a 
broom, in Spanish, or loosely, slide or drag) is definitely led, and does 
involve actually moving the follower's foot, but as with some other steps in 
tango, it is often taught incorrectly.   There are several different types of 
barridas but if you are talking about where the lead opens up slightly and places 
the follower to his right while touching her front foot, then stepping across, 
then moving her foot, that is not an adornment.  The lead sets up the follower 
by placing her weight on the back leg, which takes the weight off the front 
foot, which makes it possible and fairly easy to slide it.   But the mistake is 
usually in where the leader is positioned.  All too often it is taught that 
the lead then pushes the foot but that is the mistake. If the lead pushes, he 
and she will be slightly off balance and might have to depend on her moving it, 
i.e. making it her "adornment" to finish, because it can cause her to shift 
her weight to that foot for balance, which firmly plants it instead of leaving 
it without weight, and difficult to move.   The lead should step past her 
foot, then pull her foot to him, not push it away. The only really active part for 
the follower is to stay attached to the man's foot (yes, a little like 
Velcro) until he moves his foot away from it.   There is another barrida where the 
man puts his foot in front of hers, making it appear that she leads or drags 
his foot, but that is also led and not an adornment (but cool to do once in a 
while)   And barridas can also be musical, as can any step.   Musicality is not 
about any particular step but about how and when and where the step is 
executed.   It might look very forced in a fast tango by D'Arienzo, but fit very well 
in a slower one like DiSarli or Pugliese. 

Cheers,
Charles


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