The most numerous tanguera comment I recieved, "It is so refreshing to dance with a leader who dances on and to the music and who I feel is taking care of me on the dance floor".  The quote is not an exact quote, I combined the two comments I recieved numerous times.  After a few of these comments I began observing more closely when I was not dancing and I was surprised at the percentage of leaders who obviously were dancing the steps they knew oblivous to the music and what the dance floor was giving them.  When I had been dancing for about 7 months I had the pleasure of meeting and taking lessons from Cacho Dante [a famous dancer in Buenos Aires].  In a milonga, as I watched ladies leave his embrace and dance with almost glazed over eyes, I decided to ask them why they enjoyed the dance with Cacho and why they were lining up for more.  These are the three reasons I recieved.  When in his embrace they felt totally taken care of and safe.  They felt like the they were the only woman on the dance floor and thirdly what he asked them to do in the dance was crystal clear.  Then and there I decided those were my goals in tango and Cacho became my "hero".  I quickly learned tango is about QUALITY not quantity.  Therefore, in all my lessons, practicing, privates I began working on posture, lead, technique, relaxation, etc.  All my feed back from followers I dance with tells me I was right to listen to what they told me.  For the past 6 months I have been working on how my feet contact the floor.  Its getting there and still not yet.  The more relaxed my feet and toes into the floor the clearer my lead.  Still in my infancy in this dance, only 6 years, I know the simpler and clearer the better for the follower and they do keep coming back to dance with me.

I was having a conversation with a few leaders who had asked my why I enjoyed dancing tango and the ladies seemed to enjoy dancing with me.  I began explaining the connection, the sharing of energies, heart to heart, in other words, the silent conversation between two people.  As I was looking at the guys I realized very quickly that a number of them had no clue what I was talking about.  I played with that with other leaders for the rest of the weekend and was surprised again at how many truthfully had no clue of what I call the "sweetness" of tango.  It is the real reason I keep dancing tango and why I have such an addiction to it.  People ask me what I mean by an addiction and I usually say if I go more than 3 or 4 days without dancing tango I get the DTs or withdrawal symptoms like on a drug.  Joking of course and yet, not really.  When I have the dance I am looking for is when the partner I am dancing with gives me more than her body.  She talks to me from within through her body.  It comes mostly from followers who have become comfortable in the dance so that they can let go and just dance, but not always.  Little surprises happen all the time.  One of the best dances I have had was with a lady who had only been dancing 3 months.  She talked to me like she had been dancing for years.  We dance together whenever we see each other and it has only gotton better.  The old milongueros will tell you, "90% of tango is what you don't see".

What I have learned in my short tango life as a leader (I did also learn to follow, great benefit as a leader).  Dance on the music and to the music with feeling.  Pugliese, Calo, Biagi, D'Arienzo, Rodriquez have
different rhythms.  Tangos, vals, milonga are different.  Let the music talk to you and dance what it says to you.  The leaders number one priority.  Give your follower the best dance you can give her.  Don't dance above her, dance with her and make her feel like the bell of the ball for the  2.5 to 3 minutes of the dance. If you do tango will become a soul satisfying experience and the followers will seek you out.

Many blessings and happy feet.