Why Women Fail to Do the Cruzada

Tango dancing begins with a four-step routine called salida, done diagonally on the woman's right and ending with the woman's cruzada. The first step of salida is a side step. In the second and third steps, the man walks on the woman's right, creating the need for her to recover the symmetrical position in line with him. The most convenient way to recover that position is to cross her left leg in front of her right leg in the fourth step. There is no other signal instructing her to cross, except that he is walking on her right. In other words, the woman relies on her sense of equilibrium to realign herself with the man by crossing her left leg in front of her right.

Tango dancers must be able to perceive and adjust their body position in relation to their partner. The sense of equilibrium is essential for maintaining alignment. A well-developed sense of equilibrium not only provides women with balance, stability, and control over their movements, which helps create a visually pleasing appearance, but it also makes them sensitive to changes in their body position relative to their partner, enhancing their ability to maintain proper alignment and weight distribution in partnering work.

Students with a good sense of equilibrium can quickly adapt to crossing their left leg in front of their right when the man walks on their right, whereas those with a weaker sense of equilibrium are less sensitive to changes in body position, and thus often fail to perform the cruzada. For such women, practicing salida helps them develop the habit of executing the cruzada when the man walks on their right.

A poor embrace can also hinder women’s sensitivity to changes in body position relative to their partner. Some women place their bodies on the right side of the man's body, with their left arm hugging his right side, which creates a misalignment that reduces sensitivity to the man’s movements when he tries to initiate the cruzada by walking on their right. Similarly, novice women using an open dance hold often fail to perceive subtle changes in their partner's body position due to the lack of physical contact. Both scenarios may result in the woman not performing the cruzada when she should.

The proper embrace is symmetrical, where the two partners face each other chest-to-chest. His left hand holds her right hand at shoulder height, his right arm wraps around her body, and her left arm hooks around his right shoulder, creating perfect alignment. This correct embrace is not only the most comfortable, but it also allows the woman to feel subtle changes in the man's body position. Thus, when he walks on her right, she will naturally reposition herself with the cruzada, restoring alignment with him.

In my experience, failing to perform the cruzada is a common issue many women encounter. Probably a third of the women I dance with fail to execute the cruzada from time to time, even though they may not realize it, and most of them are not novice dancers. By adding an extra step, the cruzada enables the woman to shift her weight, transforming the dance system from parallel to cross system, or vice versa. Because this affects how the man leads the next step, it is vital for the woman to perform the cruzada when the man signals it by walking on her right. Developing a strong sense of equilibrium, adopting the correct embrace, maintaining proper body alignment, paying attention to changes in body position relative to the partner, and practicing salida are all key to forming the habit of performing the cruzada.