Hi Everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. If you've ever taken one of my basic Tango classes, you've heard me stress the importance of what I call "single-step movement." This occurs when a leader invites a follower to take one step (forward, backward or to the side), and then bring the feet together, coming to a complete, balanced stop. In my pedagogical approach to Tango, this is a crucial skill that needs to be developed right in the beginning in order to make any sort of advancement possible. Today, I want to share with you why I think this is so.

Contemporary Argentine Tango is a dance of movement and of stillness . Sometimes we move one, two, three, or more steps in sequence; sometimes we come to a full stop at the end of a single step. A follower doesn't know in advance whether the leader will continue after any given movement - so she learns to stop at the end of each step. This is a crucial skill for followers who want to dance Tango well.

In Tango we don't have the same sense of implied continuity that exists in American and European ballroom dance. This means that every step must be invited individually by the leader. It also means that the leader's job is first to invite a movement, then to allow the follower to execute that movement before continuing on to the next step. In the process of monitoring her execution of the movement, the leader may choose to accompany the follower in any one of several different ways. Under certain circumstances, he may decide not to accompany her at all, but to remain still.

In the ideal, the dynamic of each step involves at minimum the following elements:

1.     The invitation by the leader.

2.     The execution of the movement by the follower.

3.     The monitoring of the follower's movement by the leader.

4.     The selected accompaniment by the leader.

5.     The balancing by both partners at the conclusion of the movement.

All this takes place in a single step!

What I want to stress today is that once the leader has provided a credible lead, he carefully monitors what his follower actually does in response - and he gives her all the time she needs to complete the invited movement. If he plans to dance a musical phrase, for example, and his follower is for any reason not ready at the end of any given part of the planned sequence, the leader slows down or even stops, sacrificing the intended timing for her comfort in the moment. What he never does is attempt to force her through a sequence for which she isn't prepared. How does he know whether she's prepared or not? He pays very careful attention to her - rather than to the elements of his planned sequence. In fact, he needs to focus on both, but she comes first.

Try the following in your dance. Lead your follower to take a single step. Notice how she responds as you accompany her through the movement. See whether you can determine exactly when she reaches optimum balance and comes to a complete stop. Make sure that you bring yourself into balance as well. Don't be in a hurry to take the next step.

Hello everyone, Pat here, with our first announcement about the annual Cat's Away Milongas! This year these two special occasions will be held on March 14 and 21, 2013. For those of you who are new to Firehouse during the past year, the Cat's Away Milongas are traditionally held when our cool cats, Joe and Sue, (collectively referred to as one in our title} are taking their trip to Buenos Aires -- and the rest of us mice cook sumptuous dishes good enough for a 4-star restaurant!

• Terri Lopez 
• Tony Mele
  
• Tsipoyra Sartan 
• Stephen Maisch 
• steve turi 
• Jesse Barton
• Mary Epiphan
• Norma Arias
• Mara

• Barbara Lombardi
• Michael Yinglins
• Fred Bilyk
• George Ngo
• Jean Gastfriend
• Dan & Georgina Blitzer
• Jack Messing
• Bob Brillo
• Jean Shedlock
• Enrique Zuniga
• Francis & Marie
  
• Terri Lopez