Tango is not only a fascinating dance but also a fascinating philosophy, culture and lifestyle. The search of tango is the search of connection, love, fellowship, unity, harmony and beauty, i.e., an idealism that is not consistent with the dehumanizing reality of the modern world. The world divides us into individuals, but tango unites us into a team, community and species. In tango we are not individualists, feminists, nationalists, Democrats, Republicans, etc., but interconnected and interdependent members of the human family. Tango calls us to tear down the walls, to build bridges, and to regain humanity through affinity, altruism, cooperation, and accommodation. It is a dance that teaches the world to love.



October 8, 2012

Three Theories on Leading


The traditional theory on leading is the drive theory, which defines the lead as a driving force. According to this theory the man is the driver who activates the woman with his body. This theory reflects the macho culture and traditional gender roles in Argentine tango. The man holds the woman tenderly in his arms, and the woman settles comfortably in them in a slightly leaning position, with her breasts pressing against his chest and her arm hooked around his shoulder. She doesn’t need to think, plan and initiate the steps. She simply surrenders herself and lets him drive her. With the torso-to-torso connection the man can easily activate the woman. He can propel her with his torso, turn his torso to make her step on his side, twirl his torso and move it clockwise or counterclockwise to make her revolve around him, sway her torso with his torso to bring her body and leg to swing, swivel her torso with his torso to make her do a planeo, or interrupt and reverse the swivel to make her do a boleo, etc. The drive method is popular among feeling-oriented dancers who incline to the coziness of the embrace, the intimate physical interactions and soulful communication of feelings between the partners, and the comforting sensation of the two intimately connected bodies moving in sync to the music. For them, tango is synchronization. What makes a good leader is his ability to use his body to effect the movement of the woman. What makes a good follower is her ability to synchronize her movement to his. Steps are used to facilitate the embrace and synchronization so that the two partners may remain one in motion. The feeling-oriented dancers use simple steps to avoid complication and distraction. They focus on the music, embrace, connection, feelings, communication, and being one with each other. This theory is the foundation of the milonguero style of tango.
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Another theory is the la marca theory, which defines the lead as a mark or signal. The mark can be a push on her palm with his palm, a pull on her back with his forearm, a tap on her side with his finger tip, a squeeze or drag of her hand with his hand, a sideways use of strength with his arms, a pressure on her thigh with his thigh, a touch of her foot with his foot, a body posturing, or any combination of such. It is a secret code used by the man to tell the woman how he wants her to move. According to this theory, “Mastering tango is mastering the making of signals.” (Tango, the Art History of Love, by Robert Farris Thompson.) The shortage of this approach is the lack of uniformity in signaling. Each man marks the steps in his own way. Without knowing the personalized signals of each individual man, it's difficult for the woman to follow with accuracy and perfect agreement. Because this method is not well defined, it can cause inconsistancy, misleading, coerce, incoherence and discomfort. Nevertheless, the theory has a significant impact on the development of tango. Using signals to lead creates the need for the woman to interpret the signals, and the man has to adapt to her subjectivity. This changed the way tango is danced. The Villa Urquiza style of tango danced in a loose embrace in favor of fancy footwork, hence relies more on the arms and hands to lead, is associated with this theory.




A new theory on leading is the invitation theory promoted by some people in the West who, under the influence of Western liberal ideologies such as individualism, feminism and political correctness, oppose the traditional gender roles, and advocate for dancing in an open dance hold that allows of more independence and individuality. This theory defines the lead as an invitation. According to this theory the leader's job is to offer invitations or proposals, and he must respect the follower's decision on how she takes them. The process is being described as such: “The leader ‘invites’ the lady to enter a room. She accepts the invitation and, in her own time, enters, and he then follows. In a sense, therefore, the leader has become the follower.” (A Passion for Tango, by David Turner.) This theory leads to significant modifications on the way tango is danced. First, it changes the dance frame from an A-shaped frame to an H-shaped fram, wherein the woman cannot feel the man with her torso and has to rely on her arms and hands to get the information, which, compared to direct torso communication, is more compulsive and less comfortable. Second, it only works if the woman is an experienced dancer who knows how to follow the man's torso in absence of torso contact, otherwise he has to make her with his arms and hands, which not only is uncomfortable but also may cause confusion if his arms and hands do not act consistently with his torso. (See Men's Common Mistakes in Tango.) Finally, even if she knows how to follow his torso, since there is no torso contact, the lead that comes from his torso becomes less assertive, leaving room for her to act on her own, and he in turn has to adapt to her response. As a result, gender roles reverse, individual performance replaces synchronization, fanciness supplants elegance, and tango is transformed from a feeling-oriented dance to a movement-oriented show. (See Social Tango and Performance Tango.)