The embrace
Having a good embrace is the key to being able to dance well in close embrace. Sounds like tautology, doesn’t it? But you’d be surprised at the number of people who were unaware of this and still “imagined” that they were dancing in close embrace, but that’s another story…
Here are some nice writings on the embrace, from people who had the opportunity to stay in Buenos Aires for extended periods of time: one from a leader’s and two from followers’ perspective. Incidentally, all three articles mentioned the style of Javier and Andrea who will be in Singapore next week!
Very worthwhile reading!
Navigation guides for leaders
Been rather busy with work and other personal projects lately that I have neglected this blog of mine, as can be seen by the posting frequency for the past two months…
Anyway, here is something of a “space-filler”. 🙂 Well, actually, the background of this post is that when I went to a milonga about two weeks ago – held at a revamped venue with a smaller dance floor but great atmosphere – I found myself having to mentally readjust for an unfamiliar space. This was a squarish dance floor and quite compact, compared to the usual venues where you can easily find long straight “fairways”.
It just so happens that Jean-Michel had written two informative guides on navigation for leaders. Very worthwhile reading!
Lecturing on the dance floor
Recently read a thread in a Tango forum which prompted the following thoughts.
From time to time, I have noticed that certain leaders have a tendency to lecture/teach their partner on the dance floor, or immediately after the finish of a tanda, during a milonga. To me, this really should not be tolerated during a milonga!
Well, if a leader can’t lead the follower to do something – no matter how simple the movements may be – most likely you are simply not as good as you thought. Secondly, even if the technical fault genuinely lies with the follower, e.g. she is a fresh beginner, there is no point in making her feel even worse by informing her what she is supposed to be doing, is there? The take-home message is that if you can’t lead, then you have lost the plot, so just move on and lead something suitable to your level. Leave the (your own) practice and advice-giving to pracaticas.
For the followers, and especially for the beginners who are easily intimidated, it’s time to walk away knowing full well who is a capable dancer, and who is not… 😉
Everyday cabeceo
To many people who have not had the opportunity to visit Buenos Aires, the cabeceo can be a strange beast. Often, and especially for newcomers to Tango, the cabeceo seems to be just another mysterious tradition, practiced by people in a foreign land and seemingly quite removed from reality. In fact, reading from the discussions on Tango-L, it seems almost like if you have never been to Buenos Aires then you simply won’t get it! For the record, the cabeceo is simply an “invitation and acceptance to dance by exchanging glances”. That is, once this “invitation” is made and a “confirmation” glance has been received, the man approaches the lady and they commence to dance.
However, it occurred to me the other day that, even right here in Singapore, “invitation by eye contact” is something people do very naturally and. surprisingly, quite often. In fact, it is as simple as hailing a taxi.
Don’t believe me?
