More in the Lean - Walking Around in the Lean

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In so many ways, tango is a metaphor for life.

Walking around in the lean makes us think about balance in life and about choosing a goal and keeping yourself aimed straight at that goal.

To be successful in the pivoted lean, you must make very small adjustments on an ongoing basis in order to keep the follower from falling off the leader.

To successfully achieve a goal, you must be prepared to make adjustments for small setbacks that occur along the way and you must keep focused on the desired goal just as the leader and follower need to keep their energy focused toward the other's center.

Artist Name:: Daniel Melingo
Song Title:: Ayer
Album Title:: Santa Milonga
Artist Website:: http://www.danielmelingo.com/

(From the website): Melingo is the legend of Melingo, the main protagonist in a life sometimes too intense, which had, inevitably, to lead to the tango. To be Melingo, one must walk the streets sniffing out poetry like a bloodhound.

00:19: So this starts like any of the other leans.
00:21: So we’ll go side, I’ll change weight, we’ll lean.
00:25: Now comes the slightly harder part.
00:27: But right here you notice, actually,
it’s not exactly the same.
00:30: As I step side, I turn away.
00:32: So the point is, when I walk around her,
I want to be more at a right angle…
00:36: ..so I can just go back around in a circle.
00:38: If I’m like this,
then I have to sort of cut around myself...
00:41: .. and it’s a lot harder.
00:43: So when I step side,
I turn my body a little bit sideways.
00:47: And then I’ll create this lean,
leaning more sideways to her.
00:50: So that I can now just go back around
the outer edges of the circle.
00:53: Now as I do this,
I’m leaning towards her the whole time...
00:57: ..trying to keep the same distance.
00:59: Now if I ever do step, let's say, too close,
that’s just less lean.
01:03: That’s okay as long as it’s deliberate.
01:06: Of course, if you step farther away,
I take it in the abs.
01:09: Right. And then also there’s this idea,
which is even more important than normal…
01:13: ..of stabilizing left and right.
01:15: N: Very important.
D: So that is, if I were leaning…
01:17: ..if I started to fall this way,
she’s pushing with her left side now.
01:21: If I start to fall the other way,
she’ll push with the other.
01:24: So that, if she were to walk around me,…
01:29: ..Man! She makes a big lean.
01:31: Keep going, keep going.
01:34: You did too, make it a big lean.
01:37: She’s like, “Make your abs work, David.”
01:42: Actually, let’s talk about that.
01:44: Amusingly enough, if I were in the mood
to help but not too much...
01:48: ..or if I wanted - how do I say this.
01:49: Normally, if they do a big lean,
you just step and then you wouldn’t be in a big lean.
01:52: N: Right.
D: So normally, if she’s leading me.
01:54: Here maybe I’ll go. If she goes further,
I’ll be like “Man, that’s a lot.”
01:58: And then I’ll step and I’m like “That’s it.”
02:00: However, if I were maybe in a mood to keep the lean…
02:02: ..then, when we’re in this big lean, and ig she goes too big…
02:05: ..go too big, further, I’ll be like okay.
02:09: N: That’s cool.
D: And I’ll just sort of scuttle in just a little...
02:12: ..so that it doesn’t have this hugeness of lean
with my abs screaming.
02:15: But merely with them moaning.
02:16: That’s cool.
02:18: As we do this, if the distance changes...
02:22: ..and it becomes let’s say bigger than you want…
02:25: ..for the leader, you just step in on your next step
and you compensate.
02:28: So it doesn’t have to be perfect all the time...
02:30: ..because you can fix it,
if you need it, next step.
02:34: And just putting this together with the last step,
why not?
02:39: Or with the step before that.
02:45: So when he’s going around us in the lean like that…
02:49: ..it’s really important for us as followers
to keep our energy towards his center…
02:53: ..rather than to let it go off to the side...
02:55: ..because we’re leaning on what feels like his side.
02:58: N: Right?
D: Yes

Series:: More in the Lean
Tags:: Intermediate, Pivot, Lean