--- Darlene Robertson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: When a guy is new, he > doesn't have a clue about the "proper" embrace. A strong > lead can take an inexperienced woman and make her look > and FEEL great. A weak lead feels completely intimidated > and like a blubbering idiot.
Shudder. There's that phrase "strong lead", again! I was too busy to put in my 2 cents worth last week, so here it is. Choosing words is extremely important since they can connote different things to different people. I find that "strong" implies the use of strength, which is something I dislike in a lead. Tell a beginning male that a lead needs to be strong and he's likely to think of pulling or pushing the woman into place. (And it can suggest to the woman that she needs to be pushed into place.) A "clear lead" is what is needed and connotes a better sense of the masculinity desired in tango (as opposed to a big bruiser of a linebacker, for example). What is a "clear lead"? It's simply when every part of the man tell the woman the same thing. His chest, his arms, his hands, his earlobes, etc. send her the same message. This is masculine. This is not the wishy washiness of the chest saying one thing and the arms saying another thing and the hands saying yet something else. Which is why leading with no arms is helpful as an exercise. It's hard for men to learn to control different body parts all at once. Much easier for them to master control over their chest first if they also don't have to worry about their arms and their hands. Trini de Pittsburgh PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburghs most popular social dance! http://patangos.home.comcast.net/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Check out the hottest 2008 models today at Yahoo! Autos. http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l