Tango Topics: The Reminders.

Today's #Tango Truism 89: 'Thank you' does not mean what you think it does with the dance.  Saying 'Thank you' means you are done dancing with that person.

Today's #Tango Truism 89th Clarity: In western society we have been taught to be in polite society, which means we say 'please' and 'thank you' when invited to do something socially.  However, in the Tango world saying 'thank you' in the middle of a tanda is like saying, "I AM DONE DANCING WITH YOU".  Remember that when you say 'yes' to a dance, you are agreeing to the length of the tanda.  If you are a lead, you are asking to dance with that person for the LENGTH of the remaining tanda.  If you are a follower, you are AGREEING to dancing with that lead for the length of the remaining tanda.  

That said, you may after a little bit decide that it isn't working out for you, and want to get out of dancing with that person.  For that reason we have two slight different codigos for leaders and followers: 

The rule of thumb for FOLLOWERS is that IF the leader is causing you pain, you can say 'thank you' at anytime.  Save yourself for later!  However there are several steps you have to go through to save face (yours and his).   1.) First try adjusting your left arm around his body, by taking it away from the leaders body in a rather large way and then replacing it - do this a few times, making it obvious that something isn't quite right here.  Think "Something can be done about this ?".   2.) If that fails there is absolutely NOTHING WRONG with whispering in your leaders ear if they could possibly loosen their embrace just a little bit to allow you some motion.  However, this is a WHISPER, not a yell at the top of your lungs....You may have to do this more than once, as most people (not just leaders) need to be reminded as they are not aware of what they're doing.  You don't want to invite conversation but at the same time simply state fact.  

3.) If steps 2 has failed...Perform steps 1 and 2 again together at the same time. This is the 3rd and final warning. 4.) If your lead has failed to grasp the importance of the situation and YOU are in the middle of the song, there is nothing wrong with saying 'thank you' right then and there.  Mind you doing so will cause a major 'ouch' for him and may invite a conversation between you and your leader.  Be prepared for that.  However, if you're near the end of the song, ride it out until the end of the song and THEN say 'thank you'.   

Today's #Tango Truism 100: There are 3 ways to lead and 3 ways to follow: a.) ‘Two Pounds of Pressure’. b.) Engagement. c.) Intention.  

Today's #Tango Truism 100th Clarity: Truth be told, there are many ways to lead and follow but these 3 tend to be the most common, and they cover all the other ways.  While the goal is not to promote one over the other, there is one clear choice here.  However, everyone's tastes are different, at the same time I also realize that after having taught for almost 4 years every day, which at this point is literally 1000's of people in my classes, I can safely say that there really is only one of these you every want to use when out social dancing!

Social Dancing!

Unlike other social dances where there are proscribed steps and patterns and you don't really need to show up at all, you can just follow the beat (assuming you hear it to begin with) and without too much work you can dance with just about anyone, throw in a few patterns here and there, and you're good to go.  Tango on the other hand requires that you NOT rely on patterns but something else to generate the improvisational nature of the dance, CONNECTION!  This is a very nebulous subject, and very hard to define for a lot of people.  It is an overused term used to describe all manner of things from 'technique' to the magical wisps of how we dance with each other.  This post touches on the idea of connection, and these three things which create the conduit for connection to occur but is NOT, I repeat IS NOT, CONNECTION!  They are the conduits for connection to occur but is not connection itself!

Conduit #1:  'Two Pounds of Pressure'.  [notation: I am borrowing this phrase often used by Alex Krebs in Portland, OR.  I may be communicating this point slightly differently than he intended it, however, it is an apt way of describing what the function and goal is.  My apologies to Alex.]  In this instance, this conduit refers to the use of FORCE in the leader's left arm, and the equal matching of that force in the follower's right arm, specifically in each...their use of the bicept, and forearms to create a seemingly needed 'stable' frame from which to communicate with each other the required vocabulary,direction, and musical interpretation, or in short: A point of rigidity.  The reason this is called TWO pounds of pressure is 2 pounds of pressure is all that you seemingly need to accomplish the goal of 'communicating' to and with your partner in order to 'hear' each other.  Unfortunately, as many of followers have discovered the hard way, 2 pounds of pressure is usually 25!   The Failing: The reason why this method fails is two fold. 1.) The more pressure that you use, the harder it is to hear the subtly which is the nuance that you seek!  2.) The more pressure that you use consistently the more the leader and really the follower relies on this to move and to move!  It obfuscates the need for the follower to have an independent role in the dance at all when s/he can simply rely on being told what to do, literally by having someone (the leader in this case) push them around with the leader's left arm!  Granted some followers like this behavior, as it allows them to 'let go' and have someone else do the driving for a change. (Please no commentary about women drivers) Most people if they're given an awareness and a choice in the matter would rather NOT have someone else's choices foisted on them in this manner.  Mind you, 30 years ago (at the time of this writing) this was a very acceptable way of dancing.  In today's world, not anymore.  And that's mostly due to the infusion of true dance technique (via ballet entering the form thru its practitioners, as well as yoga technique), as well as the social and societal mores of the day have 'relaxed' in some cases and literally changed and fallen away in others.  Remember that early on, historically speaking, tango was used a dating/mating/marriage ritual for the young upper class for almost 60 years, and is still practiced today to a limited degree. Back to the point, there is another conduit, another way to create and accept the ideas that are being generated.   Conduit #2: [Notation: This is an idea generated by most 'nuevo' style dancers and stage performers as well to a limited degree]  'Engagement', in its simplest form, refers to the use of Oppositional Force on oneself, not on one's partner in the dance.  It is used, generally, to create 'sharpness' of line, accent, and detail in technique in the dance for both lead and follower!  However, and quite unfortunately, it is used all the time as a means of communicating.  In a much larger way you can communicate your ideas thru Engagement, as it is an inordinate amount of work for both lead and follower.  It does create preparedness, and it does create a sharpness of form and style. 

Failing: The use of any level of force to generate an idea is not how we want to send or receive the dance.  Secondarily, it is an inordinate amount of work that most people do not want to perform, as it does require a certain amount of physicality.  This is a social dance, not a performance!  

Conduit #3: Intention. Of the 3 this is the by far the easiest, simplest, and most effective methods and concepts to practice and employ!  In its simplest form we use a metaphor to generate the idea of what we're looking for: Imagine a balloon floating in front of you, at about eye level, and about a 18 inches from you.  You are within an enclosed space, and there is no wind that would act on the balloon, so its just hanging there in front of you.  The balloon has a string attached to it, and the string is hanging towards the ground but isn't attached to anything...so the Balloon is hanging and floating freely!   Now imagine exhaling softly towards the balloon.   Question: What happens to the balloon ?

Answer: It moves away from you!

As effortless as that balloon moved away from you this is how you want to engage the dance as a leader, and as a follower!  We want our embrace, and our dance as a result, to be as light and as soft as to allow the balloon (your partner) the ability to move freely but under their own power!  Ideally what we're looking for is almost a 'jedi mind trick' in terms of leading and following.  Where the follower almost seemingly reads the mind of the lead from the outside looking in.  When in fact, the follower is reading the subtlest of movements in crystal clarity, and by sharp contrast, the leader is sending the smallest and subtlest of movements as though it were thought itself.   Think, and it happens.

Today's #Tango Truism 89: Followers that have been taught to ‘wait’, and leaders that expect this behavior:  You’re missing a whole piece of the spectrum of the ‘conversation’ that is tango!  (See Related TT#97, 101, 147, 151, 192, 205, 206, 251)

Today's #Tango Truism 89th Clarity:  More often than naught, as Followers are being trained, they hear this word over and over and over again, "Wait", or some variation of it, "You're supposed to wait for me!", "Why aren't you waiting ?", and my personal favorite "The Follower is supposed to wait for their lead!".  20 years ago, this would have been an acceptable way of 'receiving' the dance.   Today, due to the influence of a change in music, but more over the infusion of true dance technique thru ballet dancers entering the form, as well as (and probably more importantly) the change in social moors as it pertains to women in general make the idea, and really the practice of 'waiting' a distant and outmoded, but 'quaint' idea for most American, European, and Russian dancers.  First let's examine what it is, then we'll play with another idea that has replaced it, and the much larger concept that has really taken hold of the tango world.

Waiting is...

Waiting is just that, waiting for something to happen.  It is by its very nature, rushing to get to a point where you can relax and THEN 'wait' for something to happen! However, in the tango world this is not entirely true.  Waiting literally means that the follower is being TOLD what to do, when to do it and in a lot of cases (depending on the embrace format) HOW to do it, and through out all of it is told to WAIT as a direct result of this 'rushing'!  

Truthfully, and rightfully if you stop and you think about it, 'waiting' is a really a control dynamic.  How so ? Imagine you are going on a trip, and that means going to the airport, and that generally means in this day and age (in the united states) going thru airport security lines!  When you get to the airport, and ticketing, there's a long, long, long line to get thru security.  At this juncture you have 3 choices.  1.) You can get in the queue to get thru security to get to your plane. 2.) Go to the head of the line (not advisable, unless instructed to do so - pay attention to the usage of language here...'unless instructed') or 3.) leave.  More often than naught you will take option 1, option 2 is just rude, and option 3 does not get the job done as you need to get on the plane!  So let's focus on #1.  

In short, when you submit to the queue of all the people ahead of you, you are literally giving up your choices, and waiting for something to happen.  You're ready, but the world is not!  While there is nothing wrong with this, there's also something else going on that you are not entirely aware of: You are being controlled!  You are giving up your power.  The moment you stepped into the queue for security, you agreed to the societal rules which state that you do not go to the head of the line, there are OTHER people waiting ahead of you, and they need to catch their airplanes too.  So you gave up that choice, even though its not a societal nicety, it's still a choice.  And you also gave up the choice to leave and try another line, because there isn't one and you need to get on the plane.  Waiting is by its very nature is a control dynamic. Meaning that you are literally giving up your choices, your power to make your own choices, in favor of someone else's rules, and judgement, to someone else's control. Like it or not, no one...no human being likes being controlled or ordered around by another willingly unless there is some benefit to it: Pleasure, Money, Money and Pleasure, Personal gain, Advancement, etc.  

This control dynamic is really what 'waiting' is all about.

Relating to Tango ?  So when someone, a teacher, or another dancer is telling the follower that they must 'wait' for the lead and really the leadER, what is actually happening is they're being told what to do, when to do it, and how to do it!  In short, controlling them!  If we continue the metaphor a bit, this is not a conversation, its literally talking AT someone and telling them what to do!  Think of it this way from a leading perspective, you're telling a follower to DO an ocho, over and over and over again because you want to do ochos, or boleo, boleo, boleo...or volcadas again and again and again...and that's literally telling them what to do. Which is no fun, and so that we're clear...this just doesn't apply to repetition but everywhere in the dance.  It means not allowing the follower the freedom to add their ideas of how the dance can be CO-CREATED not just a matter of fact!  

The Sound...

There is another way to dance tango, and that's called 'Listening'.  So that we're clear, the concept of 'Listening' is not just a word replacement.  No. Its more far reaching than simple word replacement.  

'Listening' by its very nature implies a conversation! 

In a conversation there is a dialogue, there are questions being asked and answered, stating of a point of understanding, as well as restating that point, and then thru a process of 'active listening' trying to reach a conclusion that is supportive and clear.  There is an equal balance of give and take.  One person does not try to overtalk the other but actively engages their ability to hear the other person...to listen, to comprehend, to offer companionship and ideas if there is space for it, but the offer is stated as a 'how about we try this' not a 'WE ARE DOING THIS!'.  Do you see the difference ?  This is the same approach we want to take when dancing.   Ideally it would be great if there were a dialogue of questions.  From the Leader's point of view, "Where would you like to go ?", and from the Follower's point of view, "Can we go here ? or here ? or here ?".  

Inviting a conversation in today's tango world offers up a whole different range of options for the follower to engage in the dialogue of the dance to discover what can happen TOGETHER VS being told what to do. At its simplest form, it makes the dance a far more rich experience for both leader and follower IF the leader creates space for the follower to interject their ideas of what they hear in the music.  In its more advanced form it opens up whole swaths of "call and response" dialogue where in the end, there is no lead and no follower...there is dancing together!  

One way to sum up this idea of 'Listening': Ask anyone if they like being told what to do, and if that is fun for them ?  The answer is more than likely 'no'.  If they have their choice (and they do), if they would like to engage in a conversation with someone.  The answer is more than likely 'yes'.  

Today's #Tango Truism 86: There are 3 'Simple' parts to every walking step.  1.) Leg Extension.  2.) Weight Transfer.  3.) Collection.

Today's #Tango Truism 86th Clarity:  In the 'Extension' phase we want to talk about something that causes quite a bit of debate among the initiate of the dance. Which comes first and how!  Specifically, do you walk forwards toe to heel or heel to toe ?

The line of reasoning is that where and how you place your foot on the floor dictates where and how you will move and thereby go! This also dictates what you will look like while in that motion. Fact is, there is some truth to this line of reasoning.  

The main argument that comes up along for leaders is the argument of toe first or heel first when stepping forward ?  Likewise the argument is the same for followers (to a degree) going backwards is usually toe first or ball of the foot first ?

So are these valid questions ?  Yes.  

Is there are 'RIGHT' and 'WRONG' answer ?  No.  Sadly not.   Where and how you place your foot on the floor does in fact dictate where and how you will move.  How ?  Once that foot is placed, it can not be moved because it is a weight-bearing structure!  So that part IS True.  Also where you place your feet in RELATION to your partner is also key.  Example: Stepping away from your partner when walking together in close or open embrace and going in a slight different direction than what was led or followed is generally a bad idea!  ;-)

At the same time, the thing that most folks are up in arms about is not necessarily these things I have laid out but rather what they've seen X, Y, or Z teacher or performer do, claiming that one is more 'right' than the other.  That said X, Y, or Z amazing instructor said this or that.  The fact is that those instructors have their own points of view (just like I do) and more often than naught (sadly) they want you to look exactly like they do.  Mind you there's nothing wrong with that idea if that's what you want from your dance to be a copy of someone else's ideas and styles.  However, the goal is not to copy, but rather create YOUR own style.  Let's be clear before proceeding further that there is a difference between STYLE and flat out poor application of technique or just being lazy.  For instance, Chicho Frumboli has a style of dancing that is clearly his, it is more open, fluid, graceful to a degree, and one might say that he employs a lot of open embrace vocabulary in perfect time to the music on several levels.  Or that Sebastian Arce has changed STYLES several times in the last few years going from Open and Fluid towards Milonguero and at the time of this writing to Performance based dancing with less improvisation but more about presentation.  These are examples of styles of dancing.  You, not practicing your walk for weeks on end, and wobbling every which way possible, and not going out social dancing, not taking classes, not studying the form...is not a style, its ignorance!  

Clarity: The truth is that these are progression of ideas. The fact is that some of these ideas, say for instance as a leader stepping forward so that your toe is pointed and it comes into contact with the floor first will in fact create a nice clean and straight line from the leg upwards for both lead and follow.  True.  At the same time, the other side of that argument is that going HEEL first, which is what you do when you're walking down the street, is ideal because it creates stability and clarity.  Again, true.  Both are true based on usage!  And here's why this is a progression of an idea...and not necessarily right or wrong. Given a particular piece of vocabulary one works better than the other based on one's own personal diligence and mastery over their technique.  So for now, going heel first is 'correct', and later on...toe first.  The same can be said for the follower's arguments as well, for exactly the same reasons!  In the case of the toe first, its functional, gets the job done.  Whereas ball first, is prettier and creates nice lines on the follower.  Again, this is an issue of what looks better based on what works at that point in time for that person.  Overtime the individuals will gravitate to one or the other based on the vocabulary and their mastery over certain techniques.  

Today's #Tango Truism 83: An unfortunate side effect of the dance, Followers apologize for Leader mistakes.  This shouldn't happen, but does!

e.g.: if the leader led it, why are you apologizing for it?

Today's #Tango Truism 83rd Clarity:  Every follower has done this more times than they can shake a stick at. It happens at least once or twice a dance depending on the technical abilities of the leader and more over the follower.  What is this thing ?  The 'Apology'.   It goes something like this:

Said amazing (god's gift) leader who thinks he walks on water ;-), leads some rather amazing piece of vocabulary, and he actually pulls it off! Yea for the Leader Team!  Unfortunately he misses the exit move back to WALKING (you remember that, right ? The thing that the dance is based on ?).  As a result, the follower ends up stumbling over the leader's foot.  And here we have the aforementioned Apology - "I'm Sorry!".

 And just why is the follower apologizing ?  Because said follower thinks that they've done something wrong.  The fact is that's not what's occurred.  What has happened is the leader was sloppy on the exit (95%) of the time, and the follower got tripped up on the exit, literally.  So what does the follower do ? Apologizes for the leader's error!

Let me be clear here, I am not talking about a follower who's technique is less than stellar, that follower has issues that need to be addressed!  No. I am talking about the occasional misread, where the direct result of said slip-up is "I'm Sorry!".

Follower's why are you apologizing for what you clearly felt being led ?  You went with what you felt, yes ?  You didn't anticipate the leader's request, right ? You felt where the leaders was going and you went there, right ?  In short, you read it as X, and the leader clearly meant it as Q and you misread it (because it wasn't clear in the first place), and then you jumped in and apologized for it.  Remember that the whole role of the follower is to ... wait for it... FOLLOW.  However if something is in your way, you can't rightfully follow, right ?  So why on earth are you apologizing for an error that was put in your way ?

I have to make a genderization here and note that most (not all) dancers in the follower's role are women, and as such there is another force at work here.  The force ?  Abdication!  In tango it means to literally give over one's power, in favor of someone else's, or in this case the leader's judgement.  This happens in society as well, Women do this all the time WHEN speaking to men in general, because men tend to overtalk, and interrupt women, always!  Men on the other hand, just jump into to whatever they're doing without thinking about it.  Men tend to over talk one another all the time, they just expect women to do the same and argue for vocal dominance.  Unfortunately, in tango, that dominance is not vocal, its usually physical (the use of arms or hands to 'direct' the follower where they need to go instead of 'asking' them). 

This practice is only endemic of women as a whole.  Men rarely apologize for their screw ups, except the very young (tango age).  They would rather have the follower believe that they meant to do X, Y, and Z.  It does create an air of confidence which is an essential component to dancing well, which is another post all together.  However, the simple fact is that 95% of the time it was the leaders fault to begin with!  

Today's #Tango Truism 78: Learning to dance in a small space no bigger than .5 meters square, with just a 'Milonguero' turn; Pasada; Enrosque; Ocho Cortado; Controlled and clean forward, back, and side step (for leader or follower); Musically, without the use of force in your embrace is absolutely crucial to your future success as a better social dancer anywhere in the world, but more over in Buenos Aires!

Today’s #Tango Truism 78th Clarity: A 'Milonguero' Turn is best described as a Core-On-Core Close Embrace Molinete, where the leader does NOT ask for any level of applied disassociation from the follower, but instead the partnership keeps their hips facing each other at all times during the turn.  The follower's side step is larger to get around the lead (and the follower engages body position & body placement), and the forward step is akin to the ending step of the ocho cortado, and the backstep is a crisp clean (feet in collection) rotating back cross.  

The Milonguero Turn

Some caveats: 1.) Unfortunately this turn is NOT the default turn that is taught anymore.   Instead we have what is commonly referred to as an open embrace turn in close embrace that fails each and every time for 2 reasons.  a.) the follower's backstep can not 'get around' the leader. In fact it will go OUT and AWAY from the partnership thereby sending the partnership off the center point from which the partnership started at. And b.) assuming the follower has made the appropriate applied dissociative adjustments (this is NOT a 'pivot'.  a 'pivot' is something that is done on a singular facing bodily plane as you would do in ballet.  rather think of a screw turning into a piece of wood where the human body is that screw - your shoulders seemingly start the rotation and then then spine follows, and then the hips follow suit), as well as the necessary adjustments to the receiving foot of the backstep, we have yet another problem: The leader doesn't create space for the follower to do their job.  The leader literally gets in the way of the follower!  

2.) The follower WILL default to an open embrace turn and want to rotate their hips perpendicular to their leader!

Today's #Tango Truism 58: A student's understanding and application of any technique is directly proportional to the quality of the instruction!

Today’s #Tango Truism 58th Clarity:  There are LOTS of people out there teaching tango.  Some of them are good, some of them don't know that they're bad, and some of them are teaching because they love it or can make money at it or....etc.  The spectrum is wide.  However, its those first two groups that need addressing.  GOOD or BAD.  Teaching someone to dance the argentine tango is not a simple proposition.  While the premise is simple enough, walking, the application of that, is far greater than you might imagine. Por examplo:  How does the follower take a back step ?  Think about it, and when you've got the answer write it out.  Now try explaining this finding to someone who's never danced tango before.  Look at what they're doing.  Look at what you're explaining, and here's the hard part...does what you explained match what they're doing ? What's different, what's the same, what's not working, what is working ?  And here's the really hard part, how do you fix it ?  

Teaching tango is not the easiest job in the world and its certainly sometimes the most thankless job in the world.  While some teachers are masters of teaching proper technique, they can't dance it to save their lives.  And some teachers are masters of performing proper technique but can't teach it at all!  And some rare teachers, can teach proper technique and dance that same technique!  That last one is a rare gift.  There is also the teacher that doesn't understand that their application of that technique isn't quite right, and they have no desire to fix it, mostly because they've stopped accepting challenges to their tango growth.  But that's a whole different line of reasoning.  The point here is that those same teachers end up teaching that same technique to a whole wide range of students.  And those students become the reflection of what they were taught.  This reflection is very similar to what happens when someone is learning a language.  Take someone that is from UK and has a londoner accent, and speaks fluent German.  Someone that speaks German and wants to learn English, will come away with a LONDONER accent! The same thing is true in tango, you will come away from that instruction with your teacher's accent of tango.

There is another point to this 'reflection', and its the fact that most students don't know the difference between good instruction and bad instruction as it relates to tango until a year or two in!  Until they realize that their teacher's instruction doesn't seem to work under all conditions OR they're not dancing with the better dancers in the room on a regular basis for some reason, or they're sitting a lot.  Something isn't quite right and they have no idea why.  The reasoning is very simple, but hard to break out of....you are the reflection of what you have been taught to do.  So picking a good teacher that understands many forms of the dance and can explain that well to a room full of people...is very difficult.  My rule of thumb is don't follow the crowd, follow what you want to look like, and then go take a private lesson with that teacher! If that teacher starts you off with walking...that's a possible teacher!  Anything else, and its a complete waste of your time.  I say 'possible' teacher because the quality of that walk and how they explain it are two radically different things.  If you're having problems understanding how to accomplish the desired technique that they're after, stop right there.  Example: If the teacher is using phrases like, "Put your foot here, put your leg there, ok...now walk...."  Stop.  Pay them for their time and get out.  What you are looking for is a teacher that talks about what parts of your body are doing what and when.  You want to understand the kinestethics involved of your body in motion. Let's examine one way to describe the answer to the question above:

Well you put your leg back like this, and then you put your foot like this, and then you sort of go back on your heel, oh and your knee should sort of be relaxed, and you want to slide your foot down behind you.  

Or how about this...

There are 5 parts to the follower's back step: Part 1.) 'Presence' which consists of 4 parts in and of itself, however it is the 'canvas' by which we dance, and is the first step of any technique.  Part 2.) extending your leg backwards along a straight line as though it were on a railroad track, while starting that motion with the lower Latissimus Dorsi Muscle (Latts) and the External Abdominal Oblique (Obliques) simultaneously, but NOT bending the knee as it extends backwards.  Part 3.) 'Licking the floor' with the PAD of the foot.  Think of putting a $20 bill under your whole of the pad of your foot.  What's the 'pad', everything from the forward arch of your foot to the edge of where your toes start.  Not just the ball of the foot, but everything in that area of your foot.  Keep the bill under your foot at all times.  Part 4.) You want to create articulation of the foot, ending in a controlled 'ballet rise' or Releve. Your heel should be pointing back, or up.   Part 5.) "You move you!".  Which means that the leader does not want to have to push you around the floor, because you're dragging that foot and keeping pressure on the bill, so instead YOU move those legs to get them out of the way of his instep.  

Today's #Tango Truism 52: Tango is a dance between STRONG equals!

Today's #Tango Truism 51: Leaders, you know those seemingly effortless dances with followers that flow with ease, and you can seemingly do no wrong? It just works? That's called 'work' on part of follower!

Today's #Tango Truism 51st Clarity: Go back to this post, and wherever you see the word leader, exchange that with 'follower', and wherever you see the word follower exchange that with 'leader'.  Replace the question & answer "what is this 'work'" with the following:

Today's #Tango Truism 50: Followers, you know those seemingly effortless dances with leaders that flow with ease, and you can seemingly do no wrong? It just works? That's called 'work' on part of leader.

Today's #Tango Truism 50th Clarity:  First, understand that there is a corollary to this truism, it will get posted later.  Secondly, the truism that being a leader is a certain kind of 'work', that is for most leaders intellectual in nature.  Thirdly, some leaders accomplish this 'work' by pushing, some pull, some use force, some are very sheepish about it, and some seemingly use tango 'mysticism' to accomplish the action of 'leading'.  In all of these incarnations of leads (with the exception of the last), their 'work' is felt by the follower.  

So what is this 'work' ?  In short, leading is mostly planning what to do and when.  Sounds simple enough, and in fact it is simple.  The hard part about leading is getting the follower is to seemingly cooperate with what is being asked of them.  The more practiced the lead, the easier it is for them get the follower to cooperate.  The less practiced they are, the harder that cooperation becomes.  And the practice in this case comes again in planning and execution.  

There is an exception to this statement.  It is an exception that happens in consanguinity: Meaning ? Lead and Follow come together and thru the magic of happenstance they 'connect' for a short time on multiple levels all at once.  The dance functions! Through a conflagration of errors, forms, flavors, and a lot of apologizing without saying a word, things seemingly function, and then they stop functioning almost as quickly as they started to function.  

In the case that is referenced in today's truism, we are talking about the tango mystic who seemingly leads with thought alone, when in fact its not thought. its practice!  Lots of practice to get to a point of proficiency with how to lead and to lead well.  This lead has studied orchestras, composers, taken private lessons (a lot), listens to tango music most of the time, and gone out social dancing a lot, and probably traveled a bit. What you see is that It looks, and after a while, IS effortless for that leader to dance with certain followers.  It is no more effort than it is to breathe for them.  That's because they've practiced and practiced and practiced, and practiced some more to get to that effortless place.   And then they are (usually) asked to dance with a follower who's skillset isn't sharp, isn't clean, isn't clear, isn't at the top their game.  And all that practice, study, and labor, actually pays off.  Because they seemingly can function with that follower and make the dance happen.  When in fact that leader is applying a lot of technique and practice to make it look AND feel effortless.  If the leader has done their job correctly, the follower should feel as though it was almost a breeze to dance with that leader.  

Today's #Tango Truism 49: Passion is an illusion. It is a fusion of technique, musical clarity, cleanliness of form, and vocabulary. It is also perception! Education is the key to seeing the toys underneath the tree of tango!

Some may see 'Passion' or 'Flow' or 'Connection' as the same things. They are not in certain circles.  Before jumping into the Clarity of this Truism, a few things need to be defined (hence the 'Clarity').  

1.) The dance itself is, for those that have elevated themselves (through private lessons, classes, constant diligence and attention to detail) to the level of 'better' dancers in the room, there is an almost antiseptic, physical, kinesthetic, musical, vocabulary based experience that comes to the surface immediately, and runs a few layers down below the surface of their dance.  It is for those that have transcended the superficial, and that are into the deeper experience of clear application of technique, the cleanliness of their form, the use of appropriate musically applied vocabulary, for these people, the dance takes on a completely different experience that is not emotionally based but something else entirely.  

2.) 'Connection' in its simplest form is very similar to that of plug and a wall socket, and the electrical cord on either side.  In terms of Tango, 'Connection' uses this same idea, but can be further defined as the properly applied technique and vocabulary in time to the music with one's partner.  Both are true.  Its the 'in time to the music' part that we're really after here.  

3.) 'Flow' is best defined as an affectation of 'Connection'. Flow happens as a result of Connection.  Flow can not happen independently of 'Connection'.  'Flow' is very similar to the electricity running through an electrical cord in the analogy above.  

4.) Passion is best defined as the emotional response to a series of external series of events or situations.

Today’s #Tango Truism 46: In order to become a better dancer you must do the following 5 things in sequence religiously….. 1.) Breathe, and smile! 2.) Admit you know nothing (very important) 3.) Take feedback. 4.) Listen religiously to the music, and to you partners. 5.) Practice, Practice, Practice!

Today’s Tango Truism 46th Clarity: These 5 things are basic to everyone that dances tango. True: You must go to classes for understanding basic form (not always, as there are followers that have never gone to a single class in their lives and do reach a certain level of functionality and form with the dance). True: You must go out and practice on a regular basis (there are some people that do not need to practice what they have experienced to refine it, they just seemingly get it, but those people are very rare, and unless you’re in the top .0001% of the 7 BILLION people on this planet that posses this skill, or unless you’re a trained professional dancer that can watch and then implement what you have been shown ONCE … otherwise get thine body to the closest tango practica) . True: You must go out social dancing to practice that form in a real environment. All of these things are true. However, embedded in each and every one of those things are the 5 things above! They are foundational elements that when properly combined create the proper framework from which to improve one’s dance, and thereby one’s dancing experience.

These 5 things by themselves wont’ change the quality of your dance very much, but they do provide the proper framework for the information to enter into you through the right channel, and that is to be open without self judgement to be receptive to the information and what it can do for you.

These 5 things are in the ‘canvas’ by which we dance. ’Canvas’ in this case consists of 4 (four) parts in and of itself!

Today’s #Tango Truism 45: Classes and workshops can create a good framework and foundation for your social dance skills. Private lessons give you create clean, clear, consistent, and concentrated information on proper technique, and tailored kinesthetic information for you and how you learn. However, nothing replaces actual social dance. Nothing replaces or does so much for your social dancing skills as actually doing it. The real education of tango happens on a social dance floor!! The lesson? Take classes to give you foundation, clean up that foundation with weekly privates, and go out social dancing A LOT!!!

Today’s #Tango Truism 45th Clarity:

There is a very common line of thinking with learning and then dancing tango, that one that dances, actually WANTS to improve. This is an assumption based on the fact that no one willingly wants to live and dance in ignorance! Today’s truism is based on the line of reasoning that people actually want to improve, and provides a very clear pathway to getting there. However there are those people who just want to get by, and can continue to do so. At the same time they more than likely will become dissatisfied with the dance over a period of time. And the length of time for dissatisfaction to raise its head is based on one’s gender. For women that dissatisfaction will occur much faster, assuming that their primary teacher did not instill them with the idea of leading to start with. For men the dissatisfaction will occur much later, when they’ve essentially burned their tango ‘cred’ (smilar to street cred) and most of the women they started dancing with continually refuse their requests for a dance, and then they turn to women who are new comers with the dance, and there is an ample supply of those. So some men may never get the hint. For these people they tend to see the dance as stressful enough without adding even more pressure to actually succeed at it and some people just don’t want that added pressure, they just want to get by.