Paradox
Had the opportunity to take over a friend’s Tango class for beginners tonight. During the class, while explaining some drills for molinete, something became to clear to me. Actually, this ideas has been mulling in my head for quite some time. It was not until I got home that it took a shape such that I am able to articulate.
Musings on the embrace
Through my personal experiences and observations of other leaders, I have come to realise that for Argentine Tango, as far as leading the dance is concerned, the left arm of the leader does not have much importance. In fact, ideally, the leading should not be initiated by using the left arm alone. The bulk of the leading action is done through the body and the embracing (right) arm, whether we are dancing in a close or open embrace. Well, one can argue of course that arms are in fact not absolutely necessary for leading, but that is for a higher level and not really the point of discussion here.
Back to basics
It seems I have not commented on Tango for a while now. Not as an excuse, but I have been rather inactive for the past month and a half in order to concentrate on my studies (the ACCA course on Financial Management). Actually, for the people in the know, this is just another sign of ill-preparation up to this point!
Recent Tango workshops
Recently there has been a proliferation of Tango workshops in Singapore – 3 since mid-October in fact – each consisting of about 4-5 classes. We are indeed quite fortunate to receive all the attention, but at the same time, it also means a lot of new material to absorb. This is especially so for anyone game enough to have attended most of the classes, i.e. myself! Of course it has to be said that, given the lack of exposure to the Tango culture for those of us in Singapore, often it is a treat just to see the teachers strut their stuff. Further, these may be the few chances where we have a yardstick to measure ourselves against.
Given this influx of new information, what are we to do?