[Tango-L] Lead and follow

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

--- On Sun, 10/12/08, Tom Stermitz <stermitz at tango.org> wrote:

> Leading another person well is a very deep experience, like a martial arts. Doing it yourself is extremely enlightening.
> 
> That's the main benefit. There are a number of other
> reasons. For example
>   - The follower learns technique sooner than the leader.

Even more specifically, it's the work that the woman does with spiraling (ochos, molinetes, boleos) that can most benefit the man.  All that spiraling of the spine gives flexibility that the man can use in every part of his dance. 


>   - By following you feel what you are supposed to feel
> like.
> 

And it works the same way for women, too.  By learning how to lead, women can learn to feel what they are supposed to feel like.  And what the man feels when she does it poorly.  

In leading, the woman also learns better technique for what the guys do all the time (walking forward) and gets to work on developing core muscles (our weak spot).  Women who learn to lead can benefit IF they work on technique.  Those that lead for the purpose of learning steps aren't any better than the guys that learn only steps.

As with any type of learning, the experience is only as good as what one wants to get out of it.  So part of the trick of learning is knowing what is you want to learn.

Trini de Pittsburgh