Tango Tip of the Week
Hi everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. As we discussed during our last Tip, when we dance social Tango, we play two distinct roles as a couple. The leader invites movement/action of some kind; the follower receives the information offered, and executes what
has been asked for. (I talked about this in some detail last week, and you might find it rewarding to consult the Firehouse Tango Tip archive on the Firehouse Tango Web site to bring yourself up to speed before continuing with this week's Tip.)
To start us off, let's quickly identify exactly what a leader can ask a follower to do. We'll name six basic elements here:
1. La pausa -- The pause
2.
El cambio de peso en su lugar -- The change of weight in place
3. El paso al lado -- The step to the side
4. El paso adelante -- The leader's forward step/follower's backward step
5. El paso atras -- The leader's backward step/follower's forward
step
6. El pivoteo -- The pivot
Being able to lead/follow these six fundamental elements makes it possible for a couple to dance most Tango repertoire -- from simple movements all the way to the most complex combinations. To be sure, there are lots of other things we can do; but understanding how to lead/follow these six elements actually forms the basis for our dance.
In general, most leads emanate from the leader's
torso -- rather than from his arms or from some other part of his body. This notion runs counter to the way in which most people tend to think about what is happening in the lead/follow process. When we watch a couple moving together -- if we don't understand what's going on -- most of us quite naturally assume that the leader is somehow directing his follower with his arms, and that the follower is more or less clinging to her leader, and being guided in that way. But as we learn more
about what actually happens (or at least what should be happening), we come to realize that this is not at all what is taking place in the social dance interaction.
How does the leader use his torso in order to invite or indicate movement? This is what we're about to explore in depth. Today, I'm going to talk about the lead/follow for the first element on our list: La pausa.
In la pausa, neither partner does anything at all. Tango
-- or at least what I'm going to call modern Tango -- is a dance of movement on the one hand, and of stillness on the other. Sometimes we move; sometimes we don't. When we not doing anything, both leader and follower are simply standing still -- usually balanced on one foot/side. (In some dances, we're constantly on the move; in Tango that's not the case.)
With this in mind, our first question is: What does the leader do with his torso in order to invite la
pausa? The answer is nothing. If he hasn't started dancing yet, he simply remains still. If he is coming from some other movement, he stops, balances, and gives no indication that he wants his follower to do anything further. The follower receives this information (or lack of it), and responds to this lead by doing nothing. Notice that the leader does not bring his follower to a stop by using his arms in any way. He leaves it up to her to recognize that his lack of any
lead is actually an invitation for her to bring herself to rest.
To state the obvious then: The lead/follow mechanism for producing la pausa is to give no lead at all, or, to put it plainly, to do nothing.
Well, that was easy. We start off our illustrious lead/follow career by doing absolutely nothing. Not bad for a day's work.
Seriously speaking, learning how to come to rest from other movements is a difficult skill to master for both leader and
follower. It requires a great deal of concentration and trust on both sides. If you have questions about this important element in the lead/follow mechanism, please feel free to ask Pat or me about it at anytime. We'll be very happy to help.
Next week, we'll address the second of our basic elements: el cambio de peso en su lugar -- the change of weight in place.
