tango: walk this way

What follows is very a strong opinion. It is just one opinion. If you take offense to my opinion, my sincere apologies, really! I speak with a strong voice for one so young in the tango world, that can easily be mistaken for arrogance. I am very adamant about my view point for a variety of reasons. In my mind I see that tango is a dance between strong equals, both parties showing up. Meaning that in order for the dance to function on any level that’s actually enjoyable, both parties have to be emotionally, physically, intellectually, spiritually, universally present and intentionally listening to each other. Failure to do that, and someone is being pushed around by a brute, or is dragging around cement! (see ? strong opinion, proceed at your own risk)

The Default Vocabulary.

A Follower has 7 basic moves. Note I said ‘moves’, and not ‘steps’. Let’s review just what those ‘moves’ are so that we can have a vocabulary of understanding each other a little bit.

Those moves are: 1.) Forward. 2.) Side. 3.) Back. The next 2 moves, comprise the first 3, with one minor difference, the judicious application of the principle of disassociation: 4.) Forward Ochos. 5.) Back Ochos. And the 6th comprises the first 5 moves: 6.) A Giro, or Molinete, or ‘Grapevine Turn’ to the left or right. Ok, so what’s the 7th ? The 7th is the Argentine Cross, if you’re ‘classically’ trained then you’ll think of this as steps 3 through 5 of the linear ‘Argentine Basic’ (there is another version of the ‘basic’ that works in the line of dance and curves).

The Leading Fallacy.

The leading fallacy is that the leader is doing all the ‘hard’ work, or the heavy lifting. In my opinion he’s nothing more than wallpaper, very fancy and pretty wallpaper, but wallpaper none the less.

To validate my point, do the following with a partner the next time you are at a practica: As a couple I want you to perform the following vocabulary – Walk*, Walk, Walk, Ocho, Ocho, Ocho, Molinete, Walk, Walk, Walk. Now, I want you to walk both sides of the vocabulary without a partner, just as if you were doing with a partner. Assuming you’ve completed the task, ask this question: Who did all the physical work, leader or follower ? [note: * 'walk' is 2 steps forward, one step forward on the right and one step forward on the left. 'ocho' is a complete ocho to the left or right. 'molinete' is one complete turn of forward, side, back, side, forward.]

Let’s break this down a bit, note what I asked: “Who did all the PHYSICAL work ?”. You’ll hear leaders *AND* followers respond to that question with ,”He’s leading her, he’s choreographing, navigating, interpreting the music, and dancing all at the same time, that’s so hard!”. My response to that is as follows:

“So you’re telling me that the car, horse, buggy, golf cart, train you’re driving isn’t doing anything at all ? That without you, the magical leader, you’d never get anywhere ? Really ? Ok, next time your ___________ (fill in the blank) is taking a day off, just try getting anywhere without it! You my friend are going to do an awful lot of walking that day.”

At this point there’s a lot of eye blinking, looking at of watches, checking cellphones, and a general sound of cricket’s chirping if it’s the right time of year. For those that are paying attention, someone will submit, “What about Musicality?”. My reply is: Tango is a conversation, and what most leaders state as ‘musicality’, is nothing more than a monologue in script! There must be a dialogue, and the space for that dialogue to occur! Otherwise its just someone speaking AT you. To be fair there are some people that like being led around by their noses. Its much easier for them, they don’t have to think or to be an active participant…they just want to let someone else do the driving.

A leader’s job in my opinion is to show off the follower. Create opportunities for the follower to be presented in the best possible light at all times, especially on a social dance floor, and that means dropping the antics and vocabulary and presenting the follower’s best attributes…always!

And in case you haven’t done your homework, and are wondering what the answer is to my query above, who is doing all the physical work ? The answer is: The Follower! The follower is doing all the work. Not the leader. As you’ll discover when you do the exercise, you’ll see that he’s doing nothing more than walking forwards, to and fro, and turning in place. While the follower is walking backwards, in heels, disassociating clearly and cleanly, extending their legs back behind themselves, and oh yeah, then there’s that little detail of a molinete…oy! And the lead is doing what ? hmmmm…yeah, lots of work there.

Summing up the absurdity of leading: The better I get as a lead I realize the less that I actually have to do. Which in turn validates the old axiom that LESS is MORE!

Putting It All Together.

I am not minimizing the importance of a leader, the leader has a role, I am simply putting them in their place, this includes the author. The leader is a guide, a shepherd, and a gentleman in the best sense of the word. At the same time I’m not elevating the follower to take over the dance, I am, however, empowering the follower to take control of their side of the embrace, through their defaults! Expanding a bit, the follower’s role is to perform those defaults mentioned above with an ownership of those movements! Take responsibility for what you do.

Example: As a leader, I may *ASK* for a side step in time to the music, however, the follower takes that request, responds to it to the best of the follower’s ability WITH OWNERSHIP & CONTROL of the MOVEMENT! That means the follower is responsible for the execution, timing within the musical selection, application of technique, and possibly an adornment of options to add a finishing touch!

What ends up happening is a rather amazing dynamic of gender roles personified, and at the same time, literally elevating each other to a greater prominence together than by themselves, i.e.: The sum of the parts is greater than the parts by themselves! By doing nothing, a leader becomes prominent because the leader is allowing the follower to perform their defaults which in turn makes the leader look like they’re being amazing when in fact, it’s an illusion.