Hi everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Over the past several Tango Tips, Pat and I have been defining the fundamental vocabulary leaders/followers use in dancing social Tango. Today, we come to our fifth and final "linear" element -- the leader's backward step. (By "linear" I mean those elements, which enable couples to travel around the line of dance, known in Argentina as la ronda.

As I've been doing with our other linear elements, I'm going to break down the lead/follow mechanism for the backward step and its resulting actions into four distinct parts:

·      Lowering

·      Initiating movement through space

·      Traveling

·      Balancing (creating the neutral position)

As we've done before, we'll talk about each of these four parts separately.

Lowering:

Our leader begins this movement by flexing his knees very slightly in order to lower his torso. As discussed before, we know that this lowering serves as an indication to the follower that the leader is about to ask her to travel. The flexion at the knees -- and the resulting very slight lowering of the leader's torso -- says to the follower, "I'm about to travel somewhere; get ready to move, please."

Initiating movement through space:

Immediately following this lowering of his torso, the leader will begin to move his entire body in the direction to which he has elected to travel -- in this case, backward. This includes both his upper and lower body. The confident, definite movement of the leader's torso as he travels tells his follower that he wants her to move forward. If she's a skilled follower, she'll now take her forward step with confidence, knowing that she needn't be afraid that she might step on her leader's feet.

Traveling:

Once the leader has provided his follower with the lead (lowering, followed immediately by a backward movement of his torso), both partners now move independently of one another as they travel through space. The leader needs to be especially careful here not to pull his follower forward with his right hand, which should remain in a neutral state as it rests gently on her upper back. The follower knows exactly what she has been invited to do, and she does it. (Next week, we'll have much more about exactly how she moves, when Pat discusses the follower's technique of moving forward in Tango.)

Balancing (Creating the neutral position):

At the end of the traveling phase of this movement, both leader and follower bring themselves into balance independently -- as they did with the step to the side and the leader's forward step. Let me repeat here once again that In Tango, both leader and follower must be acutely conscious of getting to the end of any given step with balance in mind -- not rushing headlong into an individual step (or series of sequential steps), and either vaguely hoping for the best or being entirely oblivious of the need to balance at the end. By finishing their steps in balance, each of the partners is completely ready for any further movement that the leader may wish to invite. If either or both of the partners is out of balance, the couple can't do much of anything in that moment except fight for balance.

Next week, Pat will discuss the follower's experience in being invited to take a forward step, including her response to the lead, her execution of the movement, and her attempt to balance at its completion. In the meantime, if you have any questions about any of this, please feel free to ask.

Our Cat’s Away Milonga is now only 2 weeks away!! We are looking forward to some great homemade recipes! However, if you'd rather not cook, you can bring something from the store or the deli or the dessert shop! Many people do this for Cat's Away, and it's just fine.

The point is: please sign up on the poster!

If you're cooking, please bring your food in your own dishes (these can be disposable, if appropriate); we can also warm food in the large oven in the Firehouse Kitchen. For salad makers, there are two large bowls at the Firehouse, plus a couple of smaller bowls. Contact me at paltman21@gmail.com or Fran atfranchesleigh@mac.com with any questions.

Please join us for our Saturday Practica at Dardo Galletto Studios, 151 West 46^th Street (between 6^th and 7^th Avenues), 11^th floor; 2-4pm, $10 per person. (Bringing a partner isn't necessary.) We think it’s just like being in Buenos Aires! Pat and I will both be on hand to answer any questions you may have about your dancing, and to help you with material you're working on. Plus you get a new “must-have” tango move each week! If you’d like a private lesson, call Fran directly at 212-662-7692, or email him at franchesleigh@mac.com  

Don’t forget to visit our Web site at www.franchesleigh.com and join is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/franchesleighllc

Experience the finest of Buenos Aires at our Saturday night Milonga at
VFW.

Los Pitucos is a Monthly event which is held on the Third Saturday of the month...

Find yourself engulfed in the spirit of Buenos Aires, circa 1940.  Mingle with other delightful Tango
dancers.

Allow the romance of the period music to move you.

Your evening's hosts "El Tordo" and "El Zurdo" are dedicated to an authentic and enjoyable Tango

experience.  Our DJ (and instructor) El Tordo, incorporates composers from the

"Golden Age of Tango" to replicate the best of the Milongas of Buenos Aires.

Milonga Los Pitucos is the first and
only Milonga to offer gourmet food, prepared fresh,

by our chef "El Tordo".  Chef Tordo takes pride in creating a new dish for every event.

We have been bringing the finest Tango events and music to New Jersey since
2009.

         ● Beginners Welcome... no partner necessary.

                 ● Cocktail Bar area - BYOB

         ● Munchies & Finger food (Feel free to bring a dish to share...)

         ●
The evenings "delight" is made fresh before the Milonga by chef "El Tordo"

Facebook Members: Please join Los Pitucos Milonga group by clicking here

The following folks helped set up, break down and clean up before and after the milonga. Without them, there would be no Firehouse Tango.

• ​Elena Titova
• Elena Syrett
• Hilda and Rafael 
• Bob Brillo
• Tsipoyra Sartan 
• Steve Maisch
• ​​Steve Turi​​