Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. In our last post, we discussed two of the most common problems followers have in attempting to respond to a lead. Today, we’re going to address the other side of the equation; i.e., ways in which leaders can — and often do — make their followers’ lives more or less
miserable.
We’ve spent a great deal of time in these pages, talking about good lead/follow technique. Nonetheless, I’m sorry to report that in my observation over the years, the majority of men in this country who purport to dance Tango simply do not learn how to lead. Most focus instead on accumulating a vocabulary of extravagant quasi-stage figures and sequences, which they apparently feel will make them “look good” on the dance floor. As I watch these
misguided souls attempting to execute such material, I’m often amazed that they seem totally unaware of just how ridiculous they look.
Could I possibly be talking about you?
Let’s discuss what actually happens on the dance floor, when a leader isn’t doing his job; i.e., leading. Drawing from the terminology of my Catholic upbringing, I’m going to identify two Cardinal Sins — one of omission, and one of commission.
The sin of omission is, of course, that the leader doesn’t lead at all. He knows in his mind what he wants to do; he knows in his mind what he’d like his follower to do. Yet, somehow, she’s just sort of standing there, not doing anything. What’s going on here? Didn’t she watch the YouTube demo?
Well, of course, what’s happening is that there was no lead. It all seemed so effortless on the video; but when it came to real-world execution, each individual element of the sequence needed to be attended to in order to produce the desired result — meaning that everything needed to be led in order to be followed — duh! — and that just didn’t happen. (Parenthetically, the people who made the video probably addressed the material
choreographically — meaning that they memorized the elements and practiced them, let’s say, a hundred times or so, before the video ever saw the light of day.)
In any event, Cardinal Sin Number One: No lead.
And now, we move on to the Cardinal Sin of COMMISSION. We’ll refer to it as the gorilla lead.
This is the big one, boys. This is where you really make your follower want to claim that her feet hurt, feign sudden illness, or just run screaming from the room — rather than ever, ever dance with you again. Basically, the gorilla lead consists of shoving your partner around the dance floor, and making absolutely sure that she isn’t able to find any semblance of balance between individual movements from the moment you take her out onto the dance floor until the
whirlwind eventually subsides — only because the music is finally over.
I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard the following complaint from leaders: “I don’t like dancing with her, because she just can’t keep up with the music.”
This is virtually a defining characteristic of the gorilla lead. The perpetrator feels that keeping up with the music is absolutely paramount, and that all other considerations such as his follower’s balance — or even her health and wellbeing — mean nothing whatever.
The fact is, gentle gorillas, that the insistence on maintaining an unwavering connection with the musical beat at any cost is completely absurd (Yes, I know, that’s heresy, right?) What is actually important, what is actually the key to a successful interaction with your partner, is for you to be carefully monitoring her balance during every step of the dance, and making certain that she is able to maintain a consistent level of comfort and security while you're
busy doing your thing to impress the folks in the cheap seats.
Conclusion: As a leader, try your best to avoid the two Cardinal Sins; i.e., no lead on the one hand (or foot, if you will), and the gorilla lead on the other. Start today by cancelling your subscription to YouTube, and finding a teacher who will help you build a serious lead/follow skill set. Do it now!
This is what separates the gorillas from the good guys.
