Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Today, I would like to introduce what I call "Square Two" of dancing social Tango. To do this, of course, I'm presupposing that you know what I mean by "Square One." So we’re going to begin with a little review.

In general, the first elements I believe that every student needs to address in order to begin the process of learning how to dance Tango (“Square One”) are the following:

1.     How to create and maintain appropriate posture.

2.     How to start using your body, your legs and your feet appropriately.

3.     How to create fundamental linear movement with a partner, using the very specific -- but often difficult to assimilate -- lead/follow mechanism.

4.     (As a leader) how to become acutely aware of exactly what your follower is actually doing as you invite and execute movement.

Understanding and developing these individual skill sets is quite complex, each requiring a great deal of knowledge as well as concentrated ongoing practice. I would refer to these elements collectively as "Square One" of the Tango learning process. If your own study of Tango hasn't included these subjects in great depth, I would strongly suggest that you consider finding the right teacher, and going back to "Square One," in order to start building a solid, reality-based foundation for your dance.

Moving forward, in the majority of social partner dance forms, the leader and follower collaborate in what we think of as a very logical way. Because the two partners face one another during the dance, as the leader moves the left leg, the follower moves the right leg. As the leader moves the right leg, the follower moves the left. In our "ballroom" dance tradition, we don't have a specific name for this kind of interaction; we accept it as a matter of course -- in fact, we consider it the only way two partners are able to coherently move together.

Now, we arrive at what I call “Square Two.” When we study Tango, we discover that aside from the way of moving together which I just described above, there is another way of interacting -- one which is totally different from anything we're used to. In this way of moving, both partners actually use the same leg as they execute a given step. For example, as the leader employs the left leg, the follower does the same, and vice versa; i.e., leader's right and follower's right move at the same time -- unheard of in our own tradition! To us, this is utterly alien; to an Argentine dancer, it is commonplace.

Because in Tango we encounter two diametrically opposed ways in which leader and follower collaborate as they move together, we must now by necessity come up with a name for our own way of moving. We now call this the parallel system -- leader's left, follower's right, etc. On the other hand, we call the opposite way of moving -- the unique Argentine way -- the crossed system.

Let's now take a further look at the last element of what I call "Square One":

As a leader, you need to become acutely aware of exactly what your follower is actually doing as you invite and execute movement.

When learning to lead, most students concentrate exclusively on what they themselves are doing in any given moment. What their follower might or might not be doing is simply too difficult for them to pay attention to. However, a crucial skill in achieving success with "Square One" is for the leader to develop a state of consciousness in which he/she knows precisely what the follower is doing during any given step or sequence. In fact, this consciousness on the part of the leader is absolutely essential to the ongoing continuity of the lead/follow relationship. If you don't know what your follower is doing, or what you want her to do; if you can't verify that your lead is being appropriately followed, there is simply no relationship and no dance.

"Square Two" involves developing the multi-faceted skill of being able to do all that we've just talked about above in the context of the crossed system. This very important next phase of learning Tango builds upon previously assimilated fundamental skill sets ("Square One"), and amplifies the leader's proficiency significantly.

Because of the intricate complexity of the crossed system, I'm not going to try describing it in detail here. However, I urge you to consult with your teacher at your earliest opportunity in order to begin adding this crucial skill set to your repertoire. The crossed system (what I call "Square Two") will open many important new doors to your growing Tango vocabulary, and pave the way for you to become a more accomplished Tango dancer.

Pat and I want to wish all our Firehouse friends a very joyous holiday season. Be merry, be safe, and be a credit to the Tango community we all love.

See you soon.

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

• ​​​
  

• Barbara Lombardi
• Jack Messing
• George Ngo
• Walter Milani
• Charles Moorman
• Bob Brillo
• Eduardo Campos
  
• Rachele Hunter
  
• Jesse & Cathy
  
• Al & Lilian