[Tango-L] Line of Dance

[Huck Kennedy]

On Sat, Oct 9, 2010 at 5:39 PM, Phil Seyer <professionalsguild at gmail.com> wrote:
> I've seen many tango master instructors, dance against the line
> dance for a while.  It's necessary for many dance figures.

       Any "figure" requiring travel against the line of dance either
needs to get chopped into parts redirecting all movent to align with
the line of dance, or far more likely, relegated to the performance
stage where such figures belong.

> In my opinion, the key is to
> know when it is safe to do so,
> and to keep it in moderation, while continuing to progress,
> most of the time down the line of dance.

       Uh oh.  We've agreed on so many musical topics in the past, but
I must regretfully disagree with you on this:   As a dancer, you are
entitled to the space of perhaps one backstep, if you keep it very
short, and the space to direct the woman around you in a tight
molinete, maybe if you are lucky.  You are not entitled to turn 180
degrees and  set off in a backward direction "in moderation", or as
long as you don't do it "most of the time" or if you "only do it when
it's safe."  You are not to do it ever.  You have progressed down the
line, and that space now belongs to the couple next in line in that
lane.  It is not yours.

> One instructor points out in one of his videos that it's safe for him
> to dance backwards into a certain space because he knows the
> space is available since he has just been
> there himself moments ago.

        I would hope this instructor is only talking about trivial
movement such as taking a rock step forward and then immediately
rocking back.

        With regard to any considerable space, the leader next in line
in the ronda knows it is there too, trust me (he's likely even waiting
for it like a voracious dog about to be fed), and he rightfully
considers it to be *his* space because it has been vacated.  Once
you've progressed down the line, any space you've vacated no longer
belongs to you, it  belongs to the next couple in line, and you have
vacated it forever.  You do NOT get to turn around and set off
backwards because "you know you just came from there."  Or "because
it's safe."  Or for any other reason, including the next leader in
line appearing in your humble opinion to be too clueless to
immediately fulfill his responsibility to take up the space vacated.
If you do set off in a backwards direction, you are stealing something
that does not belong to you.

       To be clear, obviously I am not talking about trivial movement
such as taking a forward rock step and rocking right back.  Or facing
backward with a leg extended so your partner can step over it.  I am
talking about the sorry practice of leaders actually turning around
and taking a series of forward steps against the line of dance, as if
they were Don Quijote setting off to conquer windmills.  And I am also
talking about going backwards more than one step.

       Following these and other codigos might seem overly strict to
some, but in my opinion doing so is the only way to acheive the goal
of the entire floor cooperatively dancing as if it were one organism,
rather than a bunch of individuals viciously scrapping for any free
space in a contest to see who is the most dominant.

Huck