How does a woman know where a man will lead her in Argentine Tango?
She allows him to communicate his “intention” via the connection they share at the point where their bodies connect in the embrace. This is wide open for interpretation since he is touching her with an arm, a hand and in most instances of close embrace, his chest.
So the confusion for most new leaders is that they use what seems to be the simplest – their hands. Unfortunately what works when driving a truck does not work with women, especially when they are leaning into the embrace and moving backwards!
So for us followers it pays special dividends to pay very close attention to the inner motivation of our leader. We can find this inner motivation by tuning into his axis point (in the connection to his chest).
When a leader wants to move forward that should be the first part to move, as we receive the subtle signal we can then harmonize with that intentional movement and create space for him to enter.
For most of us this is the hardest thing to get used to in the tango lesson, recognizing the subtle communication. One way to develop your “listening” is to tune out everything else in the room and just feel what is happening at the point of connection where his chest meets yours. Open your heart and imagine that you are breathing in love. I know it sounds crazy but try it, anytime I find myself “thinking” about my dancing if I do this simple exercise, I find that everything just starts to flow and I enjoy the dance so much more.
I read this snippet in a press release that seemed to confirm my thoughts about tango and communication you may find it useful, at the end there is a link to the full press release, enjoy!
The authentic Argentine Tango is not based on a multitude of sequences of steps memorized and executed according to a certain pattern.
Argentine Tango instead is a permanent subtle dialogue with your partner. Every step is improvised, a new invitation and a new start.
Communication is the magic word.
To learn how to tango is a wonderful, exasperating, lifelong process that keeps on giving. There is community to enjoy, music to soothe your soul and of course the benefit of using both hemispheres of the brain at the same time, some would argue that improves I.Q. as well.
So why not get out there and get your dance shoes on?!