Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Just before the New Year, I introduced three inter-related concepts, which I suggested might actually revolutionize your Tango for the New Year and beyond:

1.     Slowing Down

2.     Stopping

3.     Attaining the "magic moment"

In our Tango Tip last week, we addressed the second idea: stopping. Today, we're going to talk about the third and final concept in our series: The "magic moment."

The "magic moment"

At its best, social Tango is all about possibilities. The leader begins the dance by relating to a piece of music, guiding a follower step-by-step through an improvisation which has been chosen in the moment, leading her with precision, confidence, and gentleness. The follower responds to each invitation by executing each invited movement in turn, bringing herself into balance at the conclusion of every individual step, waiting in this state of equilibrium for the next lead. When I work with a follower during a private lesson, I usually refer this action as "bringing herself into neutral."

Today, I'm going to call this the magic moment.

When a follower is allowed by her leader to finish a movement in balance; i.e., to come to rest on one leg in an upright position without feeling the need to continue moving in any direction, this is the magic moment. This is the moment in the dance, when the magic of improvisation is at its most potent, the moment when all things become possible.

There are two potential impediments to the follower being able to achieve this ideal state at the end of any given step:

1.     The first is a leader who fails to enable the follower to find balance.

2.     The second is the follower herself, who may simply continue to move without consciousness until she is forced to stop by the leader.

If a leader's awareness is focused exclusively on executing a memorized sequence -- in which he concentrates solely on his own movements with little or no regard for what his follower is supposed to be doing -- the follower will have no chance of bringing herself into balance during any part of the figure. The solution to this dilemma is for the leader to allow the follower to achieve balance at the end of each individual step within the figure -- before leading the next step. This requires significant skill, but it is crucial in maintaining the integrity of the dance.

On the other hand, if the follower is somehow unaware of her responsibility to bring herself into balance at every opportunity, her inclination will most likely be to treat every step she takes as a launching pad for continuous movement. Once again, the integrity of the dance is thereby compromised beyond saving. Only when the follower becomes acutely conscious of the need to find upright balance at the end of a single step or where appropriate during a complex sequence of steps will she be properly fulfilling her role in the Tango collaboration.

Slowing down during the dance, learning to consciously incorporate stops, and finding the "magic moment" at the end of every step -- these actions will almost instantaneously make you a better leader or follower. Try incorporating these elements into your Tango for the New Year, and enjoy the very positive results you'll achieve.

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.) 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, you can visit our website at www.franchesleigh.com, call Fran directly at 212-662-7692, or email him at franchesleigh@mac.com Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/franchesleighllc

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

• Tsipoyra Sartan
• Jesse Barton
• ​​​​​​​Steve Maisch
• ​​​​​​​Lynn Gross
• Elena Titova