Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. When a "Level 1" student takes the plunge, and decides to pursue what I'm going to define here as "Level 2" Tango, she/he makes a commitment to becoming seriously and methodically involved in three specific, interconnected areas of study:

1.     Conscious balance

2.     The mechanics of lead/follow

3.     The understanding and practice of progressive "single-step" movement

As we're going to learn during the next several posts, these three very specific skill sets work together to raise the quality and precision of a student's dancing significantly. In fact, they're indispensable to advancing as a social Tango dancer.

Today, we're going to talk about what I call "conscious balance." A great many dance students insist that they suffer from chronic problems with balance. Let me suggest right here and now that while such factors as age, adverse physical conditions, or inner ear problems can certainly have a negative impact on balance, I have actually come across very few people who have irreparable balance issues.

When we talk about balance in Tango, I believe that it's very important to add the word "conscious" to the equation. If you throw yourself into a movement without thinking about it, for example, the chances of "losing your balance" are much greater than if you plan in advance to achieve balance at the end of the step.

In my opinion, the main reason people experience difficulty with balance is that they really don't think about it at all. A leader, for example, may hurl himself and his unfortunate partner through space, trying to achieve his latest YouTube fantasy, and find that he ends up literally falling into his partner in the process. (Parenthetically, he will, of course, most likely blame her for the problem.) Conversely, a follower may cling to or lean on her leader either because she has developed the habit of doing so over time, or because her leader is running her around a room completely out of control. (How often does this happen on the dance floor?)

I've discussed the subject of balance at some length during previous Tango Tips, so I'm not going to repeat things we've already talked about. (You can go back into our Firehouse Tango archive to find the full discussion, if you're interested.) I do want to remind you, however, that in working with my students I place balance into four categories:

1.     Individual balance at rest

2.     Individual balance at the end of motion

3.     Balance at rest with a partner

4.     Balance at the end of motion with a partner

Developing a strong sense of consciousness with each of these types of balance will go a long way toward insuring that you find yourself able to consistently maintain equilibrium throughout a given dance.

Next week, we'll take a look at the subject of lead/follow, and see how this skill set works together with balance in putting you on the road to achieving "Level 2" competence. In the meantime, start really thinking about your balance. Start planning to achieve balance. See if that doesn't begin to make you feel steadier and more stable in your Tango.

Note:

My special thanks to Michael Ditkoff, who recently pointed out to me that my referring to Tango skill levels during previous posts as "Stage 1", "Stage 2," etc., raised an unfortunate allusion to categories often associated with cancer. For this reason, I'm henceforth changing the word "Stage" to "Level" in order to correct this impropriety

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.

• Tsypoyra Sartan
  
• Elena Syrett
• Elena Titova
  
• Walter Milani
  
• Bill Auer - Thank you so much for helping set up the music
  
• Chris - Aided in setting up
• Jesse Barton