Although we have evolved beyond a "machista" view of the roles of lead and follow in tango, the fact remains that lead and follow are intrinsically different roles. So a certain kind of complementary polarity needs to be present in order for the dance to be felt as harmonious from both sides of the embrace.
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*Disclaimer: For simplicity sake I will use "he" and "she" to describe lead and follow but obviously we know those roles can be taken by any gender.
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I personally prefer to view the roles of lead and follow as choreographer and dancer.
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The leader needs to believe himself to be the choreographer, designer, or composer of HER dance. NOT his. That's not to say he does not dance, or that she cannot have influence over the composition, but he is not the primary dancer, and she is not the primary choreographer.
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Now, because we are talking about improvised "choreography," the way in which it is transmitted from choreographer to dancer is through a shared body language, spontaneous impulse, and a constant stream of unconscious feedback from both parties.
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Lead and follow intersect at the point where the follower's natural movement, responsiveness and personal expression inspire and enable the leader to compose more creatively, and the leader's design for her dance, and effective communication there of, free the follower from the burden of wondering, so that she can let go and truly dance.
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When this relationship dynamic is embodied by the couple in a cyclical and simultaneous manner the result is the sensation of co-creation at its highest level.
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The problem is that we often think of the lead as preceding the follow, but forget that THE IDEA of the movement he would like to produce in her body needs to precede his lead. When that lead is interpreted and expressed by the follower, the leader can additionally choose an accompanying movement. If this order is respected, rather than grasping to be the primary dancer himself, the leader might delight in seeing and feeling his ideas executed and enhanced by the follower's body, as though she were an extension of his body and mind.
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To compose at this level, the leader must possess a deep understanding of the structure of her steps first and foremost, and consider his accompanying movement as secondary. Dynamics and musical ideas can of course be layered on top of this.
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This "follower-centric" view of lead and follow is inherent even in the language that we use for the steps. For example "La cruzada" (the cross), the most basic step in tango, describes the followers' steps of that sequence, and not that of the couple, nor his. In fact, he has many ways to accompany her to the cross, which although fun and interesting, are essentially irrelevant to her dance.
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The follower, on the other hand, should take pride in enabling the leader to compose, through her sensitivity, articulation, presence, control of her movement, and willingness to give herself fully to the dance. She must also possess a deep understanding of the structure of her steps so that her energy is not wasted on wondering where to go or expecting the leader to "make her" dance. He has enough on his plate already.
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When she sees HERSELF as the dancer, with her own motor, she might take joy in the responsibility of that. She may suggest her own compositional ideas and share through her body language what she likes and how she feels the music, but always in a tactful way that comes from a deep knowledge of the dance and which inspires rather than imposes upon or confuses the leader.
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In the same way, the leader must be careful that his choreographic ideas are a proposal and not a means of brutally controlling how he thinks the follower should move. He needs to trust and give freedom to the follower to move and express herself within his design for her. If he lets himself feel HOW she moves naturally, he might begin to ask himself how he can use that to enhance his composition to highlight her strengths.
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The success of the partnership depends on each role understanding how to fully embody their own so that they may elevate the other. "Success" being defined as a dance that is felt as harmonious and connected by both roles.
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There are many ways to arrive at this deeper understanding. Studying both roles is perhaps the most obvious one, but at the very least, a shift in mindset and a willingness to look beyond a superficial understanding of lead and follow is essential.
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Unfortunately, many classes are taught as leader-centric or situational, presenting a figure to be memorized as opposed to an overall concept that enables improvisation and true lead and follow. This leaves both followers and leaders with the false belief that knowing the structure of the followers' steps is secondary to that of the leaders.
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One outcome is that the leader learns to make some movement but essentially has very little idea of what it will produce in hers. She is confused at best, and stunted at worst, and he is surprised and unable to utilize her response to create. Another outcome is that she performs her part as though it were a traditional premeditated choreography and this in turn makes him feel that he has indeed led her, but when he tries it with a different dancer who was not present in that class, the response is completely different and he doesn't understand why or else blames the new follower.
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However, I am not here to judge teaching style nor the students' interpretation of the topic, as there are many benefits to why classes are formatted in such ways. My intention is only to shift the mentality of the student so that no matter what class you take, you are able to walk away with a profound understanding of tango and experience connection and flow at its highest level.
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By the way, the concept of both leader and follower understanding the structure of the follower's steps first and foremost is not some radical, anti-machista idea. Historically, in times that were far more machista than now, men learned to dance with men by studying first the followers role and only once they were relatively competent in that did they take on the leader's role. This outdated way of learning tango seems to have been adopted in our modern times mostly by women, as there is an increasingly popular trend of women learning to lead.
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I often hear dancers say things like, "you're not leading me!" or "you're not doing what I lead." Although these statements are valid I believe they come from a superficial understanding of what it is to lead and follow.
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When a leader is just moving and is not proposing anything to her, he may feel that his movement is a lead, but she will feel secondary and thus uncertain about her own movement. When the follower is not dancing and instead just waiting, she may feel that she is available for his ideas but he will feel that he cannot transmit those ideas to her. Both perpetuate, disempower and reduce each other forever continuing the battle of the roles.
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Although I paint a grim picture, I do think that most dancers try to make it work regardless. We are after all both dancing tango in the pursuit of feeling harmony and connection. So when our partner does not fulfill their role at this idealistic level, we look for ways to compensate. In the absence of a true lead a follower might do her best to dance perhaps over-actively. When the follower is reserved, the leader might do his best to animate her movement. It may not be ideal but at least there is some resemblance of harmony and at the very least cooperation from both sides.
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I hope that if you find yourself in situations where there is disharmony between you and your partner or you want to take your dancing beyond "cooperation," this deeper look at the roles of lead and follow raises different kinds of questions and solutions.
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If you have any questions or thoughts about this topic leave a comment below, and if you enjoyed this article, please feel free to share it!
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https://www.verokruta.com/post/leader-follower-roles-in-tango
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Photo by Johanna Jezernicki Ph
Sent from my iPad
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