Time is a fuzzy thing in tango. A five hour milonga is gone in an instant. A great tanda can feel like a fall evening.

It is easy to feel rushed as a leader in tango. You are navigating, choreographing, embracing, paying attention to your body and your partner’s body, and the couples around you. Oh yeah, you are dancing, too. AND the next unforgiving beat is coming at you so soon and you.just.have.to.move.NOW!!!

These feelings can lead to anxiety and discomfort. Ultimately, they can disconnect you from your connection to both the music and your partner. And if you feel rushed and anxious, you will become stiff and awkward and you can bet that will translate right to your partner.

What is a leader to do?

A great place to start down the path of tango is to learn the components of a lead and follow within the context of each step and look for the possibility of magically stretching time.

*** Breaking apart the components of a step ***

There is an exercise that DC tango teacher Masha Abapolnikova taught (inspired by Aja Fenn) in which we break down the elements of a leading a step.

In the exercise, you take your partner in practice embrace. The leader places the couple in parallel system on either foot. Then, he initiates the impulse of a lead by pressing the floor with his standing leg. When he does this, he says “A”. The follower feels this impulse and extends her free leg backwards and says, “B”. The leader extends his free foot forward and says, “C”. Then they both transfer weight together onto the new standing leg and both say, “D”.

This exercise brings awareness to the sequence of events within just a very small movement – a single step. On one hand, it seems to add complexity. I think it actually clarifies the actions.

The leader provides the initial impulse which is felt and responded to by the follower. The leader then follows his follower in the movement and they ultimately arrive together.

By expanding the components of the step, you can separate the various impulses and responses.

*** Impulse then move ***

At the 2016 Terrapin Tango Festival at the University of Maryland, teachers Daniela Pucci and Luis Bianchi broke this down in the amusing and unforgettable phrasing of “Oompah-Loompah”.

As you likely recall, in tango music, we tend to step on the 1 and 3 of each measure (measures in tango typically consist of four beats or pulses). We can be on either foot: step left on 1 then step right on 3. In this context, the “pah” lands on the 1 and 3. The “oom” or “loom” represents the beat of 4 getting ready for stepping on the 1 and the 2 getting ready for the 3.

4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1…

Oom – pah’ Loom – pah’ Ooom – pah’…

This exercise ties these four components of a movement to the music.

“A” and “B” reside in the moments of “Oom” or “loom”, while “C” and “D” resolve themselves simultaneously in the “pah”.

In this manner, the leader recognizes where he needs to plan his leading impulses in order for the couple to be on point with the music and to land on the beats he intends.

Oom-pah Loom-pah

Impulse- move Impulse-move

*** Stretching steps/stretching time ***

At the same festival, teachers Juan Cantone and Sol Orozco developed their own idea of creating contrast between how the steps are taken and how the dancers travel with their bodies between the beats and steps.

They used the idea of stepping as a “point” or as a “line”.

Stepping like a point essentially means that you fully arrive on your axis when you take your step such that your axis lands with your foot on the beat.

Stepping as a line means that you take the time of pulse to travel from your current axis point to arrival onto your next axis point. This feels more like a traditional tango step: extend, travel, arrive.

When moving like a point, the whole step mechanics are accomplished within one beat. Moving like a line stretches that movement across two beats.

By varying the quality of your steps like this, arriving like a point with one step and then moving like a line into your next step, it feels like you are stretching time.

***

By dissecting the components of the lead - leader impulse, follower response, leader response, arrival together – you learn how to separate the elements of a movement (A, B, C, D).

When you tie that together with the components of each measure, you can get a feel for how your impulse and arrival tie to the music (oom-pah loom-pah or impulse-move impulse-move)

Combining these ideas, you can consciously play with the quality and nature of the steps you and your partner take.

Altogether, these ideas allow you to manage and plan your time as leader, rather than feeling like the victim of the next incoming note on which you must step.

Now, get out there in your Milonga Tardis and practice being a Tango Time Lord.