[Tango-L] Forward Step By Lady

[Tony Rathburn]

no alexis... you're right... you can't just stick your foot out and wait...

but i can move my COG without moving my axis... anyone who's ever tried walking a line... a curb... or, just lost their balance a bit... has experienced it.  an arm or a leg automatically extends... keeping us on balance... hopefully...

when 'I' lead... not specifying the 'right' or 'only' or 'natural/unnatural' way... i have options... i can adjust my COG without moving my axis... creating an extension of both my leg and the leg of my follower... 

i also have the option of moving our legs and axes simultaneously... or moving one of our axes, while not moving the other person's axis...

any of these can be effectively 'lead' without the use of hand signals or subtle winks... for anyone open to exploring what's possible... and working on body control and movement... 

yes... it takes practice... you're not going to master it in an hour lesson... and you're probably not ever going to be perfect... i just happen to like having options available to express what i hear in the music... and in having more variations in the story i tell my follower...

an advantage to the extension followed by axis movement... over simultaneous extension and axis movement, is control of your movement...

feel free to read... better floorcraft and navigation, since you're not committed to a movement, and can adjust more readily to changing circumstances...

once you've started moving your axis, you've committed to a direction... and to occupying a particular space on the floor...

there are few songs i've danced, let alone tandas, where due to navigation issues, i haven't wanted to change my movement in the middle of it... 

if i'm moving my axis, i have to complete that weight transfer... my only alternative is a rather brutal change of direction, or stopping short...

if i've extended my follower's foot... without shifting her axis... i have many more options... i can reverse direction... change direction... pivot... avoid other dancers... or just play with the music. i can make smaller adjustments... or larger ones... until i've placed her foot... and started to make a weight transfer...

the only time i have timing issues, is when i have started moving my partner's axis before i know exactly where her foot is... when i've gotten in a hurry... and already committed to moving my axis before i made sure my follower was ok...

there is no need to 'wrestle' my partner if i keep her on axis... lead her appropriately to the next extension and weight transfer... make sure our relative positions are compatible... and take care of her before i commit to my movement to stay with her...

the hard part... is taking the time to learn to do that... so that it as natural as falling...



--- On Fri, 1/8/10, Alexis Cousein <al at sgi.com> wrote:

> From: Alexis Cousein <al at sgi.com>
> Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Forward Step By Lady
> To: "Tony Rathburn" <webmaster at tonyrathburn.com>
> Cc: "tango-l" <tango-l at mit.edu>
> Date: Friday, January 8, 2010, 7:12 AM
> Tony Rathburn wrote:
> > 
> > Extending your unweighted foot in any direction, and
> then transferring your weight over it, is one option.
> 
> But there is a fundamental difference when you *lead*. You
> don't just extend your foot and then
> brutally transfer your weight. You're leading, and the lead
> is an invite to step forward
> for the lady. The timing is not arbitrary.
> 
> There's a fundamental point: for the lady, the foot
> movement is necessarily an
> *effect* of an invite, given she follows. And as you can't
> have the same
> timing for leader and follower if you reverse cause and
> effect,
> the leader's foot also moves as an *effect* of the lead
> (which is usually a
> COG movement, not hand signals or subtle winking).
> 
> What are you going to do? Stand there first with leg
> extended like a sitting duck,
> until the lady has accepted the invitation to step forward
> and has started
> moving her foot, so that you can coordinate your COG
> movement but *un*coordinate
> the foot movement?
> 
> Yeah, that's going to look graceful (it's an emphatic
> adorno, you don't do this
> by default)....but you're all free to do whatever you want
> - after all, it's
> your free leg by the time you're ready to move in this
> step.
> 
> But don't count on the same leniency from me if you mess up
> the timing of the
> lead and still wrestle to finish it all in one time, which
> is also
> invariably what happens when you ask someone else to do
> just what you advocated.
> 
> 
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