- 00:00
- One of the things that
- 00:04
- I think a lot of followers have in their mind is that I'm not supposed to be heavy.
- 00:09
- I put this in air quotes.
- 00:10
- We should be heavy. It's okay.
- 00:13
- Or
- 00:15
- rather, let's say it's okay for you to use your leader.
- 00:17
- You're dancing, it's partnered, and
- 00:24
- the goal is not to say, "Oh, we're partners," but I don't use him at all, or I
- 00:27
- don't interact with her.
- 00:28
- I'm always relying on him.
- 00:30
- Yeah. And so this interaction is meant to be helpful.
- 00:33
- And so as an example, if you
- 00:37
- are trying to balance by yourself, and I'm trying to balance on one foot, can I do
- 00:41
- it? Uh, yes, but it's hard. But if I'm here and I do this, all of a sudden it
- 00:46
- becomes incredibly easy. And so if you imagine you were holding a doorknob, yeah,
- 00:51
- I'm holding a doorknob.
- 00:54
- For most people, if you ask them to balance on one foot, then balancing on one
- 01:00
- foot is pretty hard.
- 01:05
- You ask them to hold a doorknob, it becomes incredibly easy.
- 01:08
- And while you hold a doorknob, you're like, "Oh, yeah, look at me, I can be
- 01:11
- virtuosic." And so then the question would be, and then you take that same person
- 01:17
- who is still basically balanced holding the doorknob or holding with two hands even
- 01:20
- better yet, and you put another person in front of them, and you say, "All right,
- 01:25
- hold that other person and do the same thing." And then they're here and they're
- 01:30
- like, "Oh, it's really pretty hard." And that's because they're not using their
- 01:33
- partner the way they use the doorknob. And so it should not be the case.
- 01:39
- Here, I'll zoom in for emphasis. Oh, here we go.
- 01:43
- It should not be the case that it is harder to
- 01:46
- dance with your partner than it is a doorknob. That is bad.
- 01:53
- You want it to be better with your partner than a doorknob.
- 01:55
- And so here's the ideal progression.
- 01:58
- Dancing by yourself in tango, from a balance perspective, harder.
- 02:04
- Pivot by yourself on the ball of one foot in a slow, controlled way.
- 02:07
- Doing it with a counter or a doorknob, easier. Doing it with a partner, best.
- 02:13
- That's what we want. And usually what you have actually is that doing it with your
- 02:17
- partner is the same. It's right at the bottom because people don't use each other.
- 02:23
- And so for the followers, here's the exercise. Do this at home.
- 02:27
- Find a doorknob or a counter and just pivot yourself and balance on one foot and
- 02:32
- say, "How hard is that?" And I think the answer will be, it's not that hard from a
- 02:38
- balance perspective. And then find a partner and grab your partner.
- 02:46
- And grabbing your partner,
- 02:49
- balance or pivot, and how hard is that?
- 02:52
- And-
- 02:52
- It's not hard.
- 02:55
- And if you use your partner, if you get a good hold, grip them for real, the same,
- 03:01
- be willing to be firm and just see what it feels like.
- 03:05
- And this-
- 03:06
- Sorry. Now, that only really works if your partner is stable through here.
- 03:11
- And in the same way with a doorknob, with a door, you could adjust a little bit
- 03:15
- forward or backwards, and it's no big deal.
- 03:19
- I want you to try this with a partner.
- 03:21
- Grab their shoulders, lean just a little bit forward or backwards.
- 03:25
- No big deal. All right, so that's for the followers.
- 03:27
- And then for the leaders, to Mom's point, you want to be incredibly stable.
- 03:31
- Right.
- 03:31
- So many times you'll see leaders and they'll lead a pivot and they'll be like this.
- 03:36
- Oh, this is not-
- 03:37
- And you don't see it, but I'm being very weak in my arms.
- 03:40
- Yeah.
- 03:40
- It's very movable. And so the point is, if I'm stable here so that she can use this
- 03:45
- arm, use this hand, go for it, do whatever you want.
- 03:48
- Then this, this stability-
- 03:51
- Oh, this is so great. This is quite easy
- 03:53
- ... makes the pivot really easy.
- 03:56
- So here's the-
- 03:57
- Huge difference
- 03:58
- ... so here's the deal. For the leaders, put your hand up.
- 04:01
- The follower will try to move it. Don't move your arm.
- 04:06
- I'm not doing that.
- 04:06
- Right? And then eventually, well, no, right now she is, right?
- 04:10
- And so then the leaders can say, "Oh, this is what it means to be stable for my
- 04:13
- follower."
- 04:14
- I think you guys should do that exercise.
- 04:16
- So I'm here, and then I'm being super stable, and then the system moves.
- 04:21
- But
- 04:23
- underneath the movement, there's incredible stability.
- 04:26
- The arm isn't going up and down and left and right.
- 04:28
- And I think this stability comes from here.
- 04:31
- Yeah.
- 04:34
- Good luck.
Followers - Balance & Foot placement - Use Your Partner & Stability
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