I remember in classes, the discussions of leading versus automatic movement relative to the cross. But, as you mature, from the leader's point of view, there is no automatic cross.
If you want her to cross, then you lead such that the path of her upper body suggests that the left foot should pass in front of the right. If you do not want her to cross, you lead with a strong enough intention so as to communicate to your follower that her foot should not cross. There is a gray area in between. That gray area is the "automatic" area for followers. They have been taught that it is (can be) automatic, so they, typically, choose to cross. That's fine. I DO think that a lot of leaders are thinking in terms of "automatic" and, therefore, aren't thinking in terms of clarity for the woman. So, to come around full circle, there shouldn't be any "automatic" thinking for the leader. There should only be the awareness that there is "automatic" thinking by the follower. And, even at that, "automatic" is a bad word. Doing what someone (a lot of people) called the "protocol" is a better way to put it. With all that said, it is still an improvised dance, an improvised dance where accurateness sure makes it so that the follower doesn't have to help the leader do his part by operating in automatic mode to cover for the leader who is leading with ambiguity! ____________________________________________________________________________________ You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l