Argentine Tango Connection
In Argentine Tango much depends on the connection between partners. When the connection is strong, simplicity and repetition in figures is not a problem, indeed it can be strength. When the connection is weak, just adding complexity in figures for the sake of making up for the lack of connection or if one is insecure will not be very satisfying.
There is times when the leader and follower will not have good connection with each other no matter how competent or brilliant their dancing. Having connection between partners is a mutual decision. Dancing tango is not a science, it is an art and personal preferences will invariably play a major part in the establishing the connection.
Good connection comes from listening and connecting with your partner though the music and not only the steps. For the leader, having a variety of steps to draw upon is a perfectly natural wish. Most leaders use only use a fraction of what they know step-wise at a milonga. Sometimes the connection needed for the step is lacking or the music is not suitable.
The second, third, fourth dance of a tanda should not be boring or demand an ever progressing expansion of steps and moves if the couple is connected through the music. Great satisfaction can be had when both appreciate the music, play with it in their steps, and improvise spontaneously as the music suggests and as dance traffic on the floor allows.
The connection begins with a firm embrace and listening to the music. The two dance partners have to make that commitment or they are just going through the motions rather than connecting. If the woman only follows, but does not contribute to the dance by actively engaging her partner there is no connection.
Followers need to feel the presence of the leader in the embrace. An embrace that lets the follower feel the movements of her partner to know what he wants, but is not controlling. It should be an embrace that gives and receives. It is though the embrace that the follower communicates back to the leader when she has finished her adornment.
Having the perfect embrace is a difficult quality to find, but when dance partners are well connected, they move as one. Part of the problem for leaders is that followers rarely give any feedback to let them know whether or not they are dancing well. Sometimes, it is just a matter of simply adjusting to the requirements of different partners.
A good connection flows from the leader’s core, the center of his body, and resonates throughout his body from his fingertips to his toes so that he connects with the follower’s core. As the leader’s body moves one way, there is an instant reaction by the follower in her body. In the next instant, another movement by the leader produces a different reaction in the follower.
When couples are dancing well together, improvisations will appear, some based on steps one or the other have learned or they will just appear and for a few fleeting moments they will fit perfectly with the dance. Some may never be repeated again as they were born of the connectivity for that couple in those moments. In Argentine Tango that is connection.