Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Today, we’re going to conclude our discussion of the “invitation/response cycle for lead/follow,” which we’ve been talking about for the past several weeks. As you’ll remember, we defined this cycle as consisting of four distinct phases:

1.      I invite an action.

2.      The follower responds to my invitation by executing the action.

3.      I monitor her response.

4.      I become the follower as I accompany her action.

In today’s Tip, we’ll turn to the fourth and final element of the cycle: “I become the follower as I accompany her action.”

In the American/European social dance tradition, the lead/follow mechanism is quite different from what we’re talking about here. I’m not going to examine the differences in any depth during this discussion. However, the idea of the leader “becoming the follower” as he accompanies his partner’s movement is noteworthy.

According to the late Carlos Gavito, the right way to interact with the follower as she travels is to accompany — but to enable her to act independently; i.e., without the leader in any way attempting to control her movement. This means that from the moment the leader offers his invitation (the lead), he and his follower become independent of one another as she moves — all the way through her balance at the end of the step.

At that point, the cycle begins again with his next invitation.

In our American tradition, we guide or “carry” the follower through each step as she travels through space. It isn’t that we actually pick her up and move her. But we definitely exercise an element of control over what she does from the beginning to the end of any given movement.

In fact — and I say this with regret — this is actually what the majority of social Tango dancers in this country do as well. They’re not aware of lead/follow as Carlos Gavito described it. They have no idea of what an “invitation/response cycle” is. If they lead at all, they tend to simply push/shove/wrestle their followers through a YouTube-derived inappropriate performance figure.

Why is this the case? In other disciplines, people spend considerable time, learning the fundamentals before they attempt more complex elements. If you want to hit home runs, you first have to learn how to swing a bat. If you want to sing operatic arias, you first have to develop appropriate vocal production. Why is it that social Tango students think they can head for the spotlight after their first lesson?

Without harping on the reasons for this absurd behavior, I’m going to make a suggestion, folks. Take a tip from Carlos Gavito, and investigate the invitation/response cycle. If your teacher doesn’t know what that is, find one who does. This is the only way you’re going to become the Tango dancer you want to be. There just aren’t any shortcuts.

Trust me.