Hi everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. If I ask leaders what they consider their number one problem on the social dance floor, most would immediately respond: “Followers who can’t follow!” If I ask followers the same question, they would usually counter with — you guessed it — “Leaders who can’t lead!”

He said, she said.

Although, personally, I would never be so quick to blame my partner for problems we experience in dancing together, most leaders seem to feel no compunction whatever in blaming their follower for anything and everything that goes wrong. At the same time — sadly — most followers tend to make the a priori assumption that somehow they must be to blame. And the result is that on dance floors all over America today, one witnesses men imperiously pointing out to women what they’re doing wrong (usually beginning their admonitions with phrases such as “You were supposed to …”), while women stand by sheepishly, nodding in silent acquiescence.

What, may I ask, ladies and gentlemen, is all this about?

In any event — without pointing the finger at either leaders or followers — I think that the vast majority of difficulties people encounter in social Tango today can be directly attributed to a misuse of the lead/follow mechanism. Which means that the idea of “she can’t lead, he can’t follow” is relevant, but not as an occasion for gratuitous ad hominem attacks emanating from either camp.

I’m not going to redefine the entire lead/follow mechanism right here — an essential skill set you MUST, MUST, MUST discover, understand, and master through the ongoing expert guidance of your knowledgeable, indispensable, enlightened teacher. However, I would like to enumerate specific difficulties, which are more likely to be found among one group rather than the other.

A very specific stumbling block for followers is what we’ll refer to as anticipation — initiating, or attempting to initiate, a movement, which hasn’t been led.

For leaders, a major difficulty is assumption, the conviction that something has indeed been properly led, when, in fact, it hasn’t.

We’re going to begin exploring these problems next week. And, of course, we’ll also be discussing a challenge, which both leaders and followers have in common: balance.

In the meantime, please try to stop casting blame for difficulties, which occur on the dance floor. Social Tango, as you no doubt realize by now, calls for a difficult, demanding, and often-illusive discipline in order to make it work. Only when leaders start to focus on their own problems, and let follows worry about theirs can we all start to feel better about taking this complex — but ultimately very rewarding — journey of discovery together.

More next week.

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

Announcing a New Class in American Social Dance

with Fran Chesleigh and Pat Altman

Pat and I invite you to our all new initiative, the American Social Dance Project,
an ongoing series of weekly classes, beginning with

CLASS ONE

Concentrating on authentic
American Foxtrot, Triple Swing and Salsa

Monday, October 2, 2017

8:00 p.m

Studios 353

353 West 48^th Street

(between 8^th and 9^th Avenues)

2^nd floor, Studio 3

In America, we have a very long and rich social dance tradition, which includes progressive dances like Foxtrot and Waltz as well as various forms of Swing and Hustle, and a full range of “Latin” styles like Salsa, Cha Cha Cha, Merengue, Rumba and Samba. Over the past several decades, our unique American social dance tradition has been all but completely replaced by a hybrid of International competitive dance, often called “American Standard.”

We think that now is the time to rediscover the world of authentic American social dance!

Ø Class One of our American Social Dance Project concentrates on authentic
American Foxtrot, Triple Swing, and Salsa.

Ø Now, you have the opportunity to learn these dances the way they’re supposed
to be done on the social dance floor!

Ø In the near future, we’ll be offering a variety of additional classes in other
dances in the authentic American tradition.

Don’t miss it!

Register online: $25 per person at www.franchesleigh.com
Checks and cash accepted at the door.
All levels welcome. No refunds. No exchanges.

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

• Steve Turi
• Lynn Gross
•