Hi Everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. When most leaders in Argentina begin a Tango, most start most of the time with a step to the left side. This isn't a hard and fast rule of any kind; it's just what most leaders in Argentina normally do. Let's ask ourselves why this is the unspoken - but prevailing - tradition.

There are actually two answers to this question. The first has to do with traffic management; the second with comfort. First, we'll talk about traffic.

When beginning a dance on a crowded floor - meaning virtually every dance floor in Argentina after the opening fifteen minutes of any milonga - a forward step would be potentially dangerous because of the number of couples on the floor. A backward step would be positively hazardous to your health; and neither a weight change in place nor a pause would in any way define your presence in the room among the other dancers.

The side step, on the other hand, makes it very clear to everyone around you that you and your partner are beginning your dance, but you're not acting in any sort of threatening way. With a step to the side there is usually very little chance of bumping into other dancers, particularly at the beginning of a dance. And even if you enter the floor after the dance has begun, as long as you do so at a corner of the room and begin with a side step, there is very little chance of interfering with other couples.

Now, let's talk about the second reason for beginning the dance with a step to the side: comfort.

Beginning with the pause or the change of eight in place. We'll start by saying that neither of the two non-traveling elements; i.e., pauses and changes of weight in place, contain the all-important element of movement through space. For this reason they don't give the follower enough of a sense of how the lead is going to feel throughout the dance.

Beginning with the follower's forward step . If we began by taking a backward step - aside from the potential traffic problems mentioned above -- this might tend to pull her unnaturally forward, if invited as a beginning movement. (Later in the dance, when offered as part of an ongoing series of steps, her forward movement will feel much more comfortable.)

Beginning with the follower's backward step . On a crowded dance floor there is nothing quite as uncomfortable for a follower as being sent backwards into traffic. Furthermore, although many contemporary ballroom dances routinely begin with a follower's back step; i.e., Foxtrot, Waltz, Quickstep, Viennese Waltz, and American Tango, the more common tradition in Latin and Swing dancing is to begin with a step to the side. (This point can be argued, of course, but in my experience, it is true.) As with the follower's forward movement, her backward steps are far more comfortable, when taken during the continuum of an ongoing dance.

The side step: ideal for beginning the dance . If you ask any knowledgeable follower which of the basic steps feels the most comfortable, she'll almost certainly reply that it is the step to the side. This step is generally quite easy to lead, and it ends quite definitely once taken; there is virtually no problem with anticipated continuity in which a follower might be tempted to rush into any other movement. It keeps the dancers nicely in front of one another, and it defines very clearly for the follower how the remainder of the dance is likely to feel. In short, it is the ideal beginning.

• Terri Lopez 
• Tony Mele
  
• Tsipoyra Sartan 
• Stephen Maisch 
• steve turi 
• Jesse Barton
  
• Mike Porro
• Elena Syrett (We're delighted to have her back)
  

• Fred Meyer
• Mary Pagano
• Michael Yinglins
• Kathy West
• Bob Brillo
• Edna Negron
• Dan & Georgina
• Jesse Barton
• Terri Lopez
  
• Eduardo Campos