Three Leaders

Having the opportunity to tango at a jive venue is a bonus for me because I really enjoy both dances. I had the pleasure of dancing tango at one of my favourite jive venues last week and three different leaders gave me some contrasting experiences.

Leader one - the watcher

I danced with a regular who doesn't tango but knows that I do. He is fun to dance with because with his relaxed jive style, he gives me space to play. He says that he just loves watching me do my tango thing and I don't mind because he 'instinctively' considers my balance while I do stuff on one leg. He's happy and I'm happy, so everybody wins.

Leader two - another interpretation

By contrast, another leader showed me another interpretation of tango. He's an experienced jiver who has been bitten by the tango bug and is dancing lots of it. While dancing to a fast track, (yes, I did say a fast track) without pausing or warning he surprised me by shouting "tango" and attempted to instantly yank me into ochos and barridas!

Woah, steady on, wait for me. I was on the wrong foot to do this move, I was facing the wrong way to do that move. Sadly, he seemed to forget that my legs move independently of his, but hey, I survived.

Leader three - the icing

The icing on the cake was when I was treated to a lovely dance with an experienced jiver who dances a lot of tango. He has developed a delicious way of leading a comfortable relaxed jive which paused just enough (not too much and not too little) to pay attention to my weight transfer and axis before blending seamlessly into a tango section complete with change of embrace and footwork. Then as if by magic he guided me back into jive.

It was heavenly.

 - Carole