tangophilia blog

In my tango foundations classes, I’ve often addressed the tendency of a nervous follower to second-guess her choice (or the leader’s lead, or the lack thereof) and take double or triple steps when one or zero would be best. The tendency sometimes arises because of a mistaken belief that it is the follower’s job to know or guess what the leader wanted and if she thinks she did the wrong thing, to try to fix it herself. I prefer to teach that the follower makes the best decision she can to take either a single step or no step, and that it is the leader’s job to then decide whether to accept or adjust the outcome.

I generally compare the result of the follower’s second-guessing to the situation in which two pedestrians are approaching each other on a narrow walkway, and then spend a few awkward moments stumbling and shuffling, trying to get out of each other’s way.

Today I came across a recent article on The Straight Dope in which Cecil Adams discusses Is there a word for the jig you do trying to get around someone on the sidewalk?. My personal favorites are faux pas de deux, ambi-ambulation, or avoidancing. Do you have a preference or an alternative?