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Argentine tango blog
/ with Interaction Design interludes / by Oleh Kovalchuke |
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Tango dance technique
"The only reason for mastering technique is to make sure the body does not prevent the soul from expressing itself."
La MeriCan you lead your partner to shift her weight by shifting your own weight? This is the question being debated at Tango-L lately. My answer is no.
In the way I dance tango, weight shifting per se is not a lead at all. I lead the follower by moving her body axis. As long as I don't move her axis, I can do all kind of steps with my feet: shift weight, do grapevine, whatever, and my partner will not step (for example, independent shift of weight at 1 min 40 sec and at 4 min 10 sec in this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MesNethpYxA ).
Alexis Cousein wrote:
Nobody is claiming that you necessarily lead a weight shift of the follower through your own weight shift, except when the frame is locked (i.e. when your axis and hers are moving in unison).
My "frame" is always "locked" -- I dance in close embrace. That does not mean that, when I shift my weight, the follower will do so too. Unless I move her axis, of course. My feet, on the other hand, can be decoupled (dissociated, in the common dance instructor parlance) from my chest.
Thus "my weight shifting isn't a lead at all". Moving her axis is. Hence the word "balance" in my signature.
Leader can also do the opposite: keep the weight on one foot and move her around without shifting his weight from that foot (at 3'37" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_60K2dAvGc ). Osvaldo Cartery does this all the time (I copied his step in this clip).
July 4, 2006 - What followers can do to express their pesonality
Kat's two cents, worth their weight in gold:
I'm fortunate in that I get to dance with some really great dancers pretty regularly. When that is the case, then I am comfortable enough to explore options with more finesse. playing with my hips more, breaking down steps to tiny parts, fancier flourishy bits, whatever. I find now that often my voice is most effective when it is shown in tiny ways that only we might notice. But that can only happen when the dance is more of a conversation than an excercise with a machine that does rote patterns. I don't think most followers have that opportunity very often.
You can still develop a voice without that, but I think it has very little to do with waiting for pauses. It has to do with finding minutia within every step that you can make your own. the way you move your foot, shift your weight, close your legs, hold your partner's hand, etc. and all those things are almost easier to focus on when you're dancing with someone who's not showing off or trying to make you work for it. clearly, that can't happen all the time. but it definitely doesn't need to wait for a pause.
"the way you move your foot, shift your weight, close your legs... playing with my hips more, breaking down steps to tiny parts, fancier flourishy bits..." - these are the things I pay attention to and teach advanced follwers.
Jun. 1, 2005 - How do I tell if a social dancer is good.
By looking at the dancers:
Follower
- Embrace - left hand on leader’s left shoulder or on his spine opposite to his solar plex (I call the later one "desperation" - it looks dramatic but feels quite nice and in fact improves connection somewhat). Embrace predicts connection level to some extent.
- Graceful ankles. Good dancers in BsAs have them and good dancers who visited the city for longer than two weeks tend to acquire those. Those followers who have them went beyond following the steps.
- Feet are always on the ground or close to the ground. I do not have to worry about hitting furniture, other dancers or myself by flung out foot/leg – as a result I have predictable, well defined dance space to dance in.
Leader.
- Quiet shoulders, gliding feet (quiet shoulders of course result from good balancing either in buttocks or by using entire leg, I saw both in Buenos Aires). Caveat: Nuevo dancers can also display these qualities. Since I am not a fan of Nuevo style I also look at embrace, connection at chest level. Also see below on rhythm. Nuevo style is not overly rhythmic.
- Dancers in Buenos Aires refine their dancing to the rhythm, the best of them are able to dance effortlessly to one rhythm while leading follower to a slower or quicker rhythm. For instance leader dances to a rhythm of bandoneon while leading the follower to step to a slower playing violin or to a singer. Or leader dancing to pizzicato of violin while the follower dances to the main rhythm of bandoneon.
By dancing with the followers:
All good followers in Buenos Aires have different personal styles. Some are very grounded as if they step one foot under the floor surface, others very dynamic, yet others calm, smooth and steady. What common is universally good uninterrupted connection at the ribcage and exceptional responsiveness especially during turns, which tend to be rather quick. The later of course is result of very often rotational nature of the dance at BsAs milongas.
I have just returned from almost three months of nightly dancing at BsAs milongas. Naturally I was eager to see if and how different it would be to dance back in the USA. Denver festival provided just the venue. My first impressions were somewhat disappointing. Moreover I think I was disappointing leader to some of the old friends too.
Followers in BsAs tend to have more rigid bodies (this of course leads to their higher responsiveness). I think this could be because they have to do so many grapevines in any direction when they dance. I got used to this good responsiveness and so tried to lead my turns in Denver with the same gusto I used to in BsAs. It didn’t work quite well with some of the followers. I bet they felt my lead as excessively rough. In turn I felt as if I had to drag them through the turns. What to do? I got accustomed and like the BsAs style. There were five or six exceptions (these included all followers who stayed in BsAs for extended period of time). I guess I’ll have to become more selective?
September 7, 2006 - The way I have danced yesterday
I have reached another steady level in my tango dancing and have realized that I significantly change my dance style about every one or two years. So, yesterday Jani, Betsy and I took video camera and went to Soda Springs park to record the way we dance at the moment for future reference.
I have uploaded video clips from the shoot to YouTube (too bad the site wasn’t around couple years ago, for comparison). The site does have some interesting clips though, which are unavailable at your local TV station. For example, in addition to the footage of ‘El Beso’ milonga, I have found some video of ‘Porteño y Bailarin’ milonga – the two are one block apart in Buenos Aires. ‘Porteño’ has more tourists. Well, both are rather touristy. The young girl zoomed in at 1 min and 7 seconds into the clip is not a tourist, she is local, and very young milonguera.
Tango is the dance of shifting axis and dynamic balance. Connection between the two dancers is needed to communicate the shifts in the body axis and the mastery of dynamic balance by each of the dancers in required to maintain steady connection. The subtlety of the shifts in the axis of the couple is what gives tango its smoothness, unpredictability and grace.
Those dancers, who are not aware of these fundamental principles of lead and follow communication resort to all kinds of replacement techniques. One is to hop up and down to indicate that the step is about to be executed – this technique is often employed by complete beginners. I can think of one dancing in Denver right now.
Another replacement technique is what I call “polka style” tango. Here the leader shakes up and down his left arm to beat the lead. You can find "polka tango" dancers everywhere including Buenos Aires. The result can be comic as in this clip (at 2 min 50 sec) or more subtle as, when Ricardo Viqueira does it. Ricardo is a good dancer, his steps are fun to watch, yet when Ricardo dances, his tango is not nearly as smooth as it can be. For examples of smooth, balance-and-axis based lead see this playlist of milongueros (a great example of smooth milonga dancing from the list - compare to Ricardo’s milonga).
January 27, 2008 - Two fresh(r) dance clips
with Cristina in Cleveland:
with Liya in Santa Fe:
Both are great dancers.
Jul. 30, 2005 - The best form of flattery
I have noticed that couple people in Denver are trying to imitate some of my steps, that rhythmic staff I have absorbed in Buenos Aires. However they try to do them in open frame! What they fail to comprehend of course is that they are approaching them from the wrong end (the feet in this case) because a) they look goofy since they have to make much larger steps (especially for sacadas) and b) they will not get the same effect since those steps are fun because they play with subtle changes in balance, which can be felt only in close embrace. Yet the mood is: flattered.
Jul. 14, 2005 - Another tango blog.
Came accross another tango blog. Tango Beginner by "Pablo" in New York City. Pablo must be very gifted - he has learned and can remember sixty patterns, I can hardly remember three. He also must be very stubborn since he remains a beginner after one and a half years of learning patterns. Being in Buenos Aires twice and having sat without dancing through milongas there he still persist in learning show tango at CITA, jumps for example. There is of course an easier way to learn social tango. This is how the term Milonguero style was born.
Anyway he gave this seminal quote by Gavito:
"I step on the string bass, I lead the woman on the violin; if tango was supposed to be danced on the beat, then one drum would be enough, no need for a full orchestra."
This is indeed how milongueros dance in Buenos Aires by steping to one beat while leading followers to another. This is exactly what I was teaching at Glenwood Springs "Tango the dance of bumblebee" workshop.
The more we practice the more refined become our actions. There is much more refinement in subtle invisible shifts of balance leading to tight highly charged embellishments by follower than in well executed back sacada. Of course to partake in this intimate conversation one need to understand the language. Therefore tango shows are not for connoisseurs (otherwise the paying audience would be too small).
February 12, 2008 - Zarandeo, armonisacion or, simply, wiggle
Apparently there is a name for everything in Argentine tango. A simple wiggle (at 20 seconds in the clip) has two names: zarandeo and armonisacion.
Nov. 20, 2005 - When to push the envelope (and when not to)
Russell Ranno wrote:
"Also, if you are dancing with unfamiliar partners, many are unfortunately not too excited about "pushing the envelope". "
There is a good reason for that. Pushing the envelope is spice of the dance. If you start to push the boundaries right away the unfamiliar partner might decide that this is your usual style of dance, that your style is too spicy to her/his taste and will stop dancing with you. All of this is written from personal experience.
The solution is simple: start simple, establish connection (first of all) and the boundaries - build mutual trust in other words. Then start pushing those boundaries depending on responsiveness and skills of your partner.
Caveat. With some exceptional dancers the connection is so obvious from the embrace you do not have to build the trust - it is there from the start - Laura, milonguera from Buenos Aires, who lives and teaches in Rome at the moment is one recent example that comes to mind.
Jul. 25, 2005 - Connection, input from an active follower.
Hyla Dickinson from Seatle has posted some very eloquent thoughts on role of follower in achieving that eusive perfect connection with a partner. Here are excerpts:
...listen to the music. I would change my breathing, the tension or density throughout my body, the weight of my footfall. I would alter the feel of the embrace, snuggle in or be more aloof... This is something that the more sensitive and musical leaders will always notice, even when I don't notice it myself. It is a "hidden" part of the conversation.
...When my body responded to the mood of the music with a different density or alertness or tension, they would mirror that, or pick up on it in some way. They would alter their own interpretation to include my limited one, or breath deeply so I could feel it bring us closer together into the embrace, the music, the dance.
These musically sofisticated followers are rare and very exciting to dance with. They do need to know and feel music very well though to pull off this kind of meaningful contribution (Hyla is also a tango DJ).
Jan. 6, 2004 - Mechanics of leading with torso in close embrace
In discussion of lead-follow-lead mechanics Brian Dunn quoted Daniel Trenner: "Make her go first, then accompany her".
The issue here is separation of man's torso lead from his feet. The torso lead always precedes the stepping: leader torso lead - follower leg extend - both step (otherwise we would step on each other feet, and beginners often do). I should note that I don't really see any follower lead in this sequence of events. I spend half of the very first lesson teaching leaders how to lead with torso before stepping. Of course when I dance I do not have to think about it since by this time the concept is ingrained in my muscle memory. Hence the apparent smoothness of the lead.
Oct. 26, 2004 - Sir Isaak Newton and Argentine tango
Michael from Washington, DC has uncovered these little known facts from Newton's life:
Sir Isaac Newton, an early tango dancer postulated some rules of tango. 1) No two objects can occupy the same space so move the woman first with the man's chest signaling intention. 2) For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The woman steps backward and the man comes forward the same distance. One of England's queens knighted him for these observations.
Who knew?
Jun. 6, 2005 - Two main types of good followers
Overall follower’s styles are more uniform in BsAs than in the US. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since tango came to the United States and is promoted in the country by many different people, not all of them are good instructors or good social dancers for that matter. There are not so hot instructors in BsAs too but if you live there it is relatively easy to find your way to the better ones.
After about one month of dancing in BsAs I began to distinguish two somewhat distinct types of dancers. One type of dancers dance more upright. Because of this they have exceptionally easy, quick and sharp turns. One example was student of Alicia Ponce. A slight variation of this style was when I had to change my upper body to be more concave. This happened with two shorter followers.
Another more common style is more inclined (a hybrid between inverted Y and inverted V). This style leaves a lot of room between leader and follower’s feet and therefore makes it very easy to play with follower’s axis and with rhythms. One example was student of Gavito and Maria Plazaola. Ana Maria Shapira teaches this style too.
Dec. 2, 2003 - "Torso" lead in open embrace vs. torso lead in close embrace
What I am getting from your message is that I am missing arms, which in addition to hands and torso compose frame, preferably firm. Therefore listening with torso in open embrace involves arms, which are attached to torso thus torso becomes involved. I think it should be called frame lead though for open embrace, as opposed to torso lead in close embrace.
Here is simple illustration of fundamental difference between frame and torso lead from my own recent experience. Last Saturday I was able to dance entire tango without arms/hands contact, leading with direct torso contact doing all the steps I would normally lead in close embrace except volcada and single axis turns. Let me ask you this question: can you do the same - dance tango with no arms at a distance (no direct torso contact) doing all the usual steps? Now ask your follower to close her eyes and still follow.
Mar. 1, 2004 - Role of embrace in close embrace
Michael B Ditkoff wrote:
"The right arm keeps the woman near the man and serves as a receiver of information from the woman. The man can feel which foot the woman is standing through the right arm."
Not me. I feel my partner's feet with my torso. Right arm helps to maintain the connection. However it is not necessary at all. Good follower is quite capable to keep herself near the man.
May 27, 2004 - On dancing close and close embrace dancing
Basically the title says it all. Dancing close is not close embrace dancing.
I was reminded of this recently when I had danced with two "beginners" (6 and 9 months of dancing) with whom I had perfect connection and as a result I was able to lead virtually all steps I know without any problems. Those two dancers where highlights of two milongas to me. At the same milongas I have danced with much more experienced dancers (three and more years) who also followed all the steps but connection was rather poor.
The key difference was embrace. Caveat: many experienced followers dance in close embrace, it just happened so that at those two particular milongas prevalent style of my partners was dancing close. The perfect close embrace to me is this: man's right is opposite to his solar plex, hand reaches almost in the follower's armpit, woman's left hand is on man's left shoulder. Here are two illustrations of what I am talking about: http://www.close-embrace.com/southstreetseaport2052304/index.htm. Middle column first row "close embrace" tango, underneath in the second row "dancing close" tango.
Why is embrace important? In perfect embrace I never have to wrestle, try to lead with my arms or shoulders. Our body axes are necessarily perfectly aligned. All I have to worry about is shift in the common axis.
I assume the "dancing close" followers are students of open embrace instructors they could be exceptional dancers, they simply have never being taught the fundamentals of close embrace tango.
Dec. 18, 2004 - Musicality, what to do during pauses in the music
Jay Rabe from Portland on pauses:
The problem of pauses is that, if you let the movement of energy die when you cease the physical step movement, then you've lost something critical to the connection to your partner and the music. The trick is to keep the energy moving, swaying, rising/falling, but moving, while you're pausing. You can do this with intention, very subtle body movement, or with breath, always slow and controlled and intentional, inhale to raise the energy, or exhale to release it as you prepare for the next movement/step.
Great observation. I didn't analyze it (and no one taught me this) but this is exactly what I happened to do. Basically keep connection dynamic at all times. It's a subtle (invisible to a third party), vacillating movement in the torso full of anticipation of upcoming surge in the rhythm. Build up and release.
Even though controlled breathing sounds a bit too convoluted to me, more and more I shift my dancing from feet to my solar plex. Feet follow (with a good partner).
Dec. 18, 2003 - Two count basic step in tango
Philip Seyer wrote thus:
"From what I'm hearing there are many ways to count the Argentine tango basic. Many refer to an 8 count basic. Daniel Trenner likes a 10 count basic..."
When a beginner asks me to show tango basic I simply walk forward to the beat. The only _essential_ variation is shifting weight in place (to the beat). It's up to the leader when, if and which nonessential variations add to the 2 count basic walk.
This is how I approach teaching tango and that's why I consider tango to be both one of the simplest and one of the most challenging dances to learn.
The 2 count basic fits any tango music. Anything beyond 2 count is not basic enough and shouldn't be called that way, I think.
Jan. 28, 2005 - Basic step examined
Good analysis of tango basic step coming from who else, but Brigitta Winkler via Sean in Pittsburgh, PA. About thousand possibilities and those are only for simple walk, which I think is the most basic of the steps, not counting numerous embelishments.
I have found that a dancer's choice of words when thinking about the dance can cripple their dancing. In my experience, the worst case is misusing the word "step" to refer to a figure. The 8 count basic is a figure, not a step. This may seem like an obvious and trivial point, but the distinction is important. To think of any figure as "basic" is incredibly limiting. In my experience, leaders who think of figures as "steps" are not able to improvise their dance. Likewise, followers who think of figures as "step" are prone to anticipate.
If you can accept that figures are not steps, then we can discuss the basic steps with an eye toward improvisation. I have heard many different ideas about what the basic steps are, but for me, the best explanation came from Briggitte Winkler at a workshop she taught in Ann Arbor last May. She introduced the idea that there are only 3 steps in Tango (and all 3 can be considered basic). These are: open, cross forward, and cross back.
The open step is pretty straight forward: the free leg moves away from the axis, either forward, to the side or backwards. In the cross forward step, the free leg crosses the body's axis and passes between the body and the partner. In the cross backward step, the free leg crosses the bodys axis in the space opposite the partner.
When combined with your partner's 3 steps, these three steps give 9 basic possibilities for movement with your partner: (L = leader, F = follower o = open, xb = cross back, xf = cross forward)
Lo+Fo, Lo+Fxb, Lo+Fxf,
Lxf+Fo, Lxf+Fxb, Lxf+Fxf,
Lxb+Fo, Lxb+Fxb, Lxb+FxfThis is a nice tool to develop improvisational skills without getting bogged down in too many ideas. If you always lead back ochos Lo+Fxb, try Lxf+Fxb, or Lxb+Fxb. These possibilities require pivots and/or shifting between parallel and crossed systems. But it is not necessary to think about either pivoting or footwork. Choose a different basic step, and let your body make the necessary accommodation.
Earlier I mentioned that an open step can go in any open direction. For simplicities sake, consider that there are 8 possible directions to travel in: forward, backward, to either side, or in any of 4 diagonal directions. In addition, the follower can move either with the lead or counter to the lead. Theoretically, with 9 basic step pairs, 8 directions for the leader, and 2 follow dynamics, there are 144 options. I say theoretically because there are some that I just can't make work.
Of course, we can vary the size of the steps too. For simplicities sake, let's use 3 sizes: tiny, average, and large. Multiply 144 theoretical possibilities by 3 sizes, and we have 432 options, using only 3 basic steps. Of course, I shouldn't have limited leading the follower to the same size step as the leader. That eliminated another 864 options.
Nov. 4, 2004 - Balance and connection
A word of advise I should not forget to give to beginners: "Just like in "real" life you have to be on your own balance - the more grounded (self-reliant) you are the more you can contribute to interaction with your partner, the more meaningful is your contribution. Hence stand on your entire foot (no tip-toeing, I need to feel where your feet are) and lean forward just enough to be able to communicate. Do not cling - desperation is wearisome." Well, maybe not to complete beginners.
The very first step I teach is shifting weight from one foot to another in place (no embrace). To facilitate torso comunication I tell students to transfer about 2/3 of their weight on the balls of their feet (in addition to showing the correct posture, leaning without bowing, leaning without presenting perky butt etc.). That leaves about 1/3 of the weight for the rest of the foot. Obviously the exact numbers are bogus, but the concept is there.
I was reminded about this recently by one of my students who told me that her other instructor told her to walk on the balls of her feet. When she was doing that the image of her feet, her "presence" felt too blurry, not crisp enough.
Sep. 9, 2004 - On being grounded
The buns discussion got me thinking about being grounded as this was the main argument for walking the way Robert does.
Here are two _extreme_ examples illustrating the two types of being grounded: from the hip - long distance walker fluidly gyrating his tush at Olympics; using entire leg (bent knees) - Kung Fu practitioner. Both are well connected with the earth and balanced. The second, Kung Fu example allows huge variety of steps and I guess that’s why I like being grounded in this way, since I like to reach out and play with follower’s legs and feet. I would like to repeat that these illustrations are extreme, neither Robert is as fluid in the way he walks no do I bend my knees that much.
The second argument was stress to the knees. The contra-argument could be possible stress to the hip joints, but I prefer an example of all those elderly people doing Kung Fu at sunset – it’s all in the technique.
For some reason only picture of Kung Fu at sunset and on the beach comes to mind. Why is that?.
Sep. 9, 2004 - Root chakra and tango tush spin-off
The comment I have made about Robert Hauk's lesson (see Sep.7) generated a flurry of emails and some discussion on Tango-L. All this activity wasn't in vain - I have clarified to myself some of peculiarities of my own style (it's all about me as usual) and solved a long standing mistery of me being unable to dance well with the followers who are taller than me.
When I go for a long walk I end up with locked legs by the end of the walk not unlike those guys who walk in Olympics - the correct metaphor for Robert's tango tush style. I bend my knees more when I dance for four reasons: because I can (my legs are fairly strong), because it let’s me to give extended, powerful lead with my torso when I step (similar to those large Pugliese steps Robin taught, but smaller, no issues with follower not being able to notice the weight changes), because it keeps me balanced when I fool around the follower’s legs/feet – I like that and need the balance and the reach, and because it gives me the opportunity to contrast with the occasional quick and tiny steps where I completely straighten my leg (in milonga usually). All of the reasons are basically elements of style different from Robert's.
So why do I have so much trouble leading the followers who are taller than me? I straighten up too much, loose my balance, the free leg reach and the strong step lead qualities. Solution? Do not change your posture with tall followers, put your head on their breast and enjoy the feeling.
Sep. 7, 2004 - Labor Day tango festival in Denver – impressions three days and minus three pounds later
Impression #1: The lessons – the farce and the poetry.
Two brightest impressions (besides an amazing display of root charka by Robin):
- Two bickering leaders at “Doing nothing to Pugliese” lesson for ten minutes doing nothing but bumping into each other and locking horns over where the inner and where the outer line of dance is and (in roaring wisper) why the other one is such an imbecile because _he_ crossed that imaginary line. I personally have not taken sides and agreed with both. I wonder what their partners thought about these guys? Granted the step taught at the lesson can be wide and intrusive why not spread a bit more or walk to other part of the room altogether – it is just a class after all.
- New fantastic feeling of actually flying through the single axis turn. This was something I was looking forward to learn for some time now and Hsueh-tze has delivered in spite of all the poetry she spreads liberally throughout her lessons (yes, she is a poet and I remain obstinately unenthusiastic about poetry). It is hard to pick single axis turn just by watching others – the mechanics are significantly different from other steps. All I could do was admire the flair, but I would always loose my balance when I tried to do it myself. Now I have the privilege of doing it because she knows how to break it down to important elements. Thanks Hsueh-tze.
She tantalizingly pointed out that she knows at least twelve different single axis turns and I happen to believe her, but restrained myself from taking private anyway because my rule of thumb is “learn no more than two new steps in any given weekend, you’ll forget the rest”. Hsueh-tze demoed one of the additional turns per my request in one stealthy swoop, which looked uncunningly similar to a move from kung fu movie – quick, beautiful and entirely incomprehensible.Overall the classes I went to where not bad at all.
Robin Thomas and Jeniffer Bratt’s class on Doing nothing to Pugliese was hands down the most entertaining and covered not only the footwork, but also root chakra, follower embellishments, root chakra, fundamentals from the root chakra perspective and of course musicality (root chakra sublimated). One of the followers told me that I am great Pugliese dancer – dubious compliment if you think about it, because now I have to work on being good with hundreds remaining individual orchestras. Robin often uses connecting side steps around the follower. I don’t do it nearly as often – new perspective gained (there is another valuable lesson hidden somewhere here ).
Hsueh-tze’s lesson on “a” single axis turn, as she put it, was great as I have mentioned above. Meticulous and well paced. I have caught only the last ten minutes of her another, milonga lesson where I have learned that I can do one of my usual milonga steps backwards (also by going back) and weaving it a bit (new variation). I have added the weaving brush to my forward step and it does feel good especially with slow milongas. There must have been more in the hour I have missed.
Robert Hauk's and Barbara Durr's lesson for beginners certainly opened new horizons to me too. At some point during the lesson Robert solemnly informed the beginners not yet hardened by rigors of hours of back ocho exercises that he can tell if leader is any good by looking at his behind while he walks and proceeded with demonstration of essentially Travolta walk from Saturday Night Fever as far as butt is concerned.
While I have admired the nonchalant suavity of his butt movement I couldn’t help pondering if I ever be able to be a good dancer in Robert’s eyes, considering that I prefer to use muscles of my entire leg to maintain good balance instead of just buttocks. Then to my utter horror I have recalled that Cacho Dante seemed to be doing the same thing and when later on I shared my concerns with Jani he happily informed me that this is what all of them do in Buenos Aires. Wellllll, I have never analyzed the finer points of gyrating my own tush while I dance, maybe I still have a chance? Or better yet one can still be a good Argentine tango dancer without excessive suavity expressed via his butt? I’ll have to investigate this matter further during upcoming visit to Buenos Aires. By the way I should keep it to myself probably but Barbara happens to be a very good follower (I am talking from connection, not behind perspective).
Impression #2: The dancing – humiliation and humility
It happened again, a follower walked out on me after just two dances in the tanda. Quite a blow, since it does not happen all that often lately. As any average Joe I blame this occurrence on combination of conspiring forces: shoes, floor, afternoon nap, differing dance styles and of course lawyers. (By the way if one does not wish to ever dance with me again the easiest way to achieve this goal is to walk out on me after only two songs in the tanda. Human, only human.) To heal the humiliation I have decided to perform an exercise in humility for the rest of the festival and not to walk out on any not so great dancers if I were to dance with them. As a precaution I decided to dance with only those followers who I know for sure will enjoy the experience. By 4 AM on Monday morning the selection narrowed down to one follower and, boy, would I be a happy puppy dancing with her only if it were not for painful life experience she went through and shared with me. Only now do I understand what makes her such an amazing tango dancer. The sword is brittle.
The music. I have a simple question: “Where can I get Tango in Harlem, besides bribing Robin in some way?” The alternative milonga he DJed this time was absolutely fantabulous. The conventional milongas were also quite good. All DJs even played no more than three milongas in one tanda and played slow milongas mostly, a pleasant surprise. Less people came compare to Memorial day weekend, but overall quality was high especially from the dancers coming from New York.
Discovered another tango blog describing Denver festival. Directly from the Godfather of the Memphis Argentine Tango Society. Impressions from Labor Day festival.
Nov. 19, 2004 - Dancing rhythm with the melody
Insightful quote from Close-Embrace website. Interview with Korey Ireland, tango musician and dancer:
Imagine trying to step on every melodic note of Reliquias Portenas for example. It would be something akin to an epileptic seizure. But we could let melody suggest places to add little rhythmic moments and perhaps places to use less activity. I think often, good dancers use the melody to keep the dance from becoming routine. Melodies often share very human characteristics, like the need to breath, or to balance tension and release. This can be a great influence on the dance.
and some perceptions of tango growth:
...my perception is, the number of tango CDs released in the last year is probably triple the number released in the year 2000. I find that very encouraging. Even better, in this country, the number of tango bands that perform for dancers at least once a month, has probably increased five fold in that same time period.
Dec. 16, 2004 - Musicality, step sets and step patterns
Steve (de Tejas) about using the same steps while dancing to different music:
I mean leaders who ignore the rhythmic signatures of their movement and force the same set of steps or step patterns, some which might be regarded as advanced, onto whatever music is playing, whether it be Donato's A Media Luz, D'Arienzo's El Flete, Tanturi's Cuatro Compases, Di Sarli's Bahia Blanca, Calo's Tristezas de le Calle Corrientes, Pugliese's La Bordona or Color Tango's Zum.
What do you mean? For instance I would do back ochos, rock step, cross and ocho cortado to all of the songs you give as examples. I would change the amplitude of these steps and relative frequency to reflect the music but otherwise they would be recognized as the same steps.
Moreover all of us have individual subsets of the steps, which we favor and most probably will use throughout music played at a milonga (different subset for milonga, the music). The subsets change over the years but will likely be the same at any particular milonga.
Do you mean sequence of steps when you write about set of steps? If so then explanation is simple: a lot of people take classes (workshops) where sequences of steps are taught and dance what they have been taught. Teaching patterns of the steps is very common approach to tango instruction. For me a breakthrough in my understanding of the dance occurred after four months of sequence based instruction when I took a workshop with Brigitta Winkler, an instructor who does not teach patterns. Another instructor who does not teach patterns (at least at workshops I have taken) is Hsueh-tze Lee.
It looks like Steve meant that people do not adjust the amplitude and rythm of any given step to the music. Here are couple examples he gave in his reply:
I saw one leader use the same volcada with every partner to every orchestra. The way he executed the volcada fit well with slow, dramatic music, but it didn't reflect the staccato rhythms of D'Arienzo. I wouldn't say that he was off the rhythm, but that the movements did not well express the rhythmic elements of the music. I saw another leader use the same staccato turn with an ocho cortado that he used with all music, even as the orchestra was taking a dramatic pause. Again, he wasn't off the rhythm, but it was like watching a snare drum solo in the middle of .
Of course, we can say that the teaching of tango as step patterns contributes to the problem, but I was not writing about beginners or even intermediate dancers. Rather I was writing about people who in many ways might be identified as advanced dancers. (One individual I saw was a regional teacher who was dancing the same showy moves with every partner to every piece of music.) I think a lack of feeling for tango music is the problem.
Feb. 19, 2004 - Music feeling of tango, swing and milonga
Tango - smooth walk/steps/music/feel
Swing (Lindy Hop) - hopping walk/steps/music/feel
Milonga - swaying walk/steps/music/feel (mostly)Feb. 6, 2004 - Developing dance musicality
Sean Dockery wrote:
"I found that singing/humming along with the orquestra while concentrating on my partners feet feeling not looking of course) seems to keep me in tune with phrasing."
Great observation. I have looked around and I found the same thing: I enjoy dancing the most (and a become a better dancer) to melodies which make me hum (in my head... mostly). That's why it is important to listen to tangos when you do not dance - you know what to hum. And that's why Miguel Calo, the hummable orchestra of Golden era, is my favorite orchestra.
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