Partnership Dancing(tm) meets another challenge. This time one provided by Argentine Tango.
Tonight in Tango class, Andrea tried to lead the women in class in a particular step and they all did it wrong. Only Brian followed and that was because Andrea has been working with him individually much more and had already taught him what to do.
This was a step I have been struggling with for a long time and was glad it came up. I was not able to do this step and and did not know what was wrong. I did not know why Andrea could lead this step and I could not. (I know now, she told them what to do.) To get them to do what I wanted, I had developed an awkward method of twisting and leaning my body, which worked, but was uncomfortable and incorrect.
When Andrea explained what the followers were supposed to do, she said they had to be loose and feel what she was leading. They did not get it at first.
I saw right away that what they were supposed to do was follow the laws of Partnership Dancing(tm).
That excited me. For a few reasons.
First, Partnership Dancing(tm) explained exactly what the woman was to do by following the general principles, without needing to know the pattern.
Secondly, the author of Partnership Dancing(tm), me, could not do the step and did not understand why, but Partnership Dancing(tm) still worked. This is an indication of how powerful the principles of Partnership Dancing(tm) are, that they transcend the ability of the author.
Lastly, I was excited to see that Partnership Dancing(tm) worked for Argentine Tango and was more precise than the instructor's explanation.
Here is what we were doing.
The step, for the man, is a forward rock with the left foot, step behind on the right with a quarter turn to the right and close with the left.
For the lady the step is a back rock on the right, a forward step with the left
and a forward step crossing in front with the right, finishing with a quarter turn to her right and close with the left.
The lady's that did not know the step, all followed the same way. They naturally turned on step three closing with their right without crossing in front.
Steps
Man
1. Left forward
2. Right behind
3. Left close and turn 1/4 right
4. Right in place
(A) Lady Not Disassociating
1. Left back
2. Right forward
3. Left close and turn 1/4 right
4. Right in place
(B) Lady Disasociating
1. Left back
2. Right forward
3. Left forward crossing over with a full step
4. Right close and turn 1/4
The key moment is on step 3, where the man gets out of the woman's way after she has started her forward movement.
Without instruction, women naturally do (A). When they feel the man turn, on step 3, they turn on step 3. This is not what we want.
What we want is (B). On step 3 we want the woman to complete her forward step and cross over.
Every woman in our class did (A) until she was instructed to do (B). As a general rule, how does the woman know to do (B) not (A)?
Partnership Dancing(tm) answers this question. Here is how.
1. At the beginnning of step 3 the woman is given the signal to step forward.
2. According to the Law of Direction she is to continue in the forward direction until she is stopped.
3. She is stopped if she is blocked or when she reaches the end of her connection.
4. Since the man stepped out of her way, she is not blocked, so she is to continue forward until she reaches the end of her connection.
5. When she completes her forward step, she is at the end of the connection and stops going forward.
What is wrong with option (A) is that in number 4 above, she cuts short her forward step and turns to face the man. This violates the Law of Direction which is she is not to stop her direction until she reaches the end of the connection or is blocked.
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