What defines the leaders and followers roles in tango?
– the following is an extract from Tango, Tangoing: Poems and Art by Mong-Lan, with permission (see www.monglan.com) A: if you dancing the man’s role, you must be confident, deliberate, precisely knowing what you want to do and what you ask your partner to do. You must hold her securely, as if this will be the last dance in which you are intimate with her. And most importantly, you must play with her, listen to her, watch her. What is she suggesting, what is she asking? If dancing the woman’s role, you must interpret the leader’s signals. You must quiet yourself and listen to what the leader is asking, hinting; and thus, flowing as a part of the other’s body. If you are knowledgeable, at certain points in the dance, you may initiate as well. You may tease, your legs running up the length of his thighs. You can be in earnest, the gallant lady, the seductress.
