[Tango-L] Right hand lead?

[Jay Rabe]

My very first Argentine instructor that came to Portland in 98 (Manuel 
Ortiz - haven't heard from him since) taught right hand lead. I'm with 
Trini & others that I'm glad it's out of fashion as an emphasis or 
core principle. That said, I also agree with Sergio (I think) that said 
that, when done gently/correctly, it's effective and not at all 
uncomfortable for the follower. 



I suspect that whenever a new young instructor uses a term about 
directing "energy," eg. down through the followers left leg/foot, a 
sensitive tranducer would be able to measure an actual force through the
 right hand. It may be grams, small fractions of an ounce, but certainly
 a sensitive follower will feel it, even if it's below her conscious 
awareness. But the intuitive nature of following allows even such subtle
 cues to be responded to.



In net, I agree that leading (as well as following) requires a 
whole-body involvement, and the right hand is an indispensable part of 
that. It's often been discussed here about the exercise with the leader 
making no right hand or arm contact. While it's unquestionably an 
excellent exercise in training a leader to move his torso as the main 
component of the lead, it's also acknowledged that it's very difficult, 
even for experienced leaders & followers to dance this way. So when 
you start using your right arm again after such an exercise, you first 
should be mindful of using a minimum amount of right hand force, but 
second you may be able to get a glimpse of the oh-so subtle hand/arm 
movements that you do use, and the contribution they make to an organic 
whole-body leading movement.



J