[TANGO-L] Larrydla's comments

["Larry E. Carroll" <larrydla @JUNO.COM>]

I have more free time during the holidays (which aren't quite over
for me yet) so I don't feel so guilty about signing on again to
TANGO-L for a few days & reading & even writing a bit.  So here are a
few comments.

 TEACHERS

All the talk about improving the way teachers do their job is wishful
thinking. None of them are going to change.  Instead I found that all
but the worst teachers have something that I can learn.  So I went to
several teachers, getting steps from one, technique from another,
musicality & feeling from a third, etc.

Also, different students need (and want) different things, so one
teacher may be great for some & rotten for others.  And a year later
the "rotten" teacher (who hasn't changed) may be a "great" teacher -
because your skills and your needs have changed.

I also found after the first few years of studying tango I began to
learn more from the other students in group classes than from the
teacher.  Not because my partners lectured me, but because they were
different & (without intending to) challenged me to treat each as an
individual & sharpen my ability to communicate with them with the
silent language of my body.

 BEGINNERS (& OTHERS) & LEADING/FOLLOWING

The talk about the leader giving a lead, then following the follower
oversimplifies & obscures what actually happens.  It suggests that
each signal exchanged between partners is a discreet signal like a
word or number, when the signals are actually more continuous &
flowing.  It suggests that a dancer is a unit, a block.  We are
actually complex & flexible bodies, and different part of us acts at
different times.

Before anything happens, both leader AND follower have to have a good
connection to the other.  The connection is partly physical (the
"frame") but it's also an emotional & intellectual connection that is
more important than the physical.  Among other aspects, both partners
have to be aware of the other, focussed on the other partner & alert
to their mental & emotional states as well as physical ones.

For instance, if I notice that my partner is very willing but also
tired, I know her reflexes are going to be slower & her muscles
unable to do fast & intricate actions.  I also know that she wants to
dance nonetheless & may want more of an emotional & less of an
acrobatic experience.  So I know I will have to adjust my dancing for
this.

The first act of a movement/step/figure is that the leader DECIDES to
move in a certain direction.  Unconsciously he prepares for that
motion in perhaps a dozen ways, such as shifting his weight from one
foot to the other, breathing a little differently, tightening his
embrace very slightly, and so on.  A good follower feels those
unconscious signals (if the connection is good) & prepares herself
(usually without conscious thought) to move in that direction.

And neither one has yet moved a step.

The leader has to have a clear idea of what he wants the two of them
to do, so that he doesn't intellectually vacillate between two or
more actions and confuse his follower.  To do this he has to be
confident in himself, which is the reason why a woman should never do
anything to undermine his confidence.  This does NOT mean not to
criticize him or suggest improvements when they are practicing.  If a
man & woman respect & like each other criticism can be easily and
even eagerly taken.  But it has to be done right, and not when
actually dancing unless an action will hurt or harm someone.

Then the leader moves his upper body in the direction of motion,
without moving his feet.  He is actually unbalancing himself, and
beginning to fall in the direction of motion.  His partner feels
herself going off her balance and moves her legs and feet in that
direction, catching herself and moving back into a balanced position.
Finally the man moves his feet and legs to follow his body & go back
into a balanced position.  And the cycle begins again with the next
step and the next.

In short leading & following is not only motion but also
communication, in a continuous two-way flow, and a heightened
awareness of one's partner's body & heart & mind.

Now how do you teach all that to students in a clear & simple way?
Ah, but I quit teaching tango when I put my tango book on line & left
it to do that job!

     Larry de Los Angeles
     http://larrydla.home.att.net

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