Which Feet Have Weight
When the dance partners are facing each other with their feet approximately together, there are several possibilities. The major determinant is which foot is weighted by each of the partners. For almost all tango moves dancers have their weight on only one foot at any time so we need consider only these four possibilities:
- FaceC – Facing with the weight on the closed side feet (leader’s right, follower’s left). Parallel system. Same as #2X in Basic Eight.
- FaceO – Facing with the weight on the open side feet (leader’s left, follower’s right). Parallel system. Same as #2 in Basic Eight.
- FaceR – Facing with both leader’s and follower’s weight on their right foot. Cross system.
- FaceL – Facing with both leader’s and follower’s weight on their left foot. Cross system.
Offset
In a normal tango facing position, the dancers will each be offset slightly to the left of their partner. However, it isn’t unusual for the dancers to be in a right-to-right or left-to-left position. The move that follows must take that into account.
Momentum
Altho partners are facing, there may be momentum from the last move that they wish to take advantage of to facilitate the next.
Crossed or Locked Feet
Another constraint on the following move is that the feet may be in a crossed or locked position. The most common example of this is the Cruzada. The cruzada may be considered a FaceO position because the same moves may be made from it as in other FaceO positions, altho with a a slight extra amount of unwinding.