More means less
“Less means more” is an oft-used cliche in Tango. More often than not, it is just regurgitated without the speaker having a full understanding of the words’ meaning…
Here are some examples where it may be true that “less” really can lead to “more”:
- In close embrace, men/women over-emphasising the forward projection of the chest. This can lead to chest “pushing away” the partner and arching of the back due to shoulders opening out too much.
- Walking forward. Sometimes men/women can concentrate so much on “correct” techniques that the resulting actions are ironically either too mechanical or controlled. Meanwhile, we are forgetting that most of us already knows how to walk, and in the most natural and individualistic ways. In other words, relax and just… walk!!
- Being direct and natural. This is the essence of Javier and Andrea’s dance technique.
Mathematics
Had a private class with Javier and Andrea last night.
One of the many points highlighted was that of being “too precise” and, in particular, too synchronised. That is, both couples land with the same timing. This, to them, is too mathematical/clinical and lacks spice. How to rectify this? Play with alternate timing, and free the legs. As to exactly how this can be achieved, well, it’s a trade secret… 🙂
“Simple” milonga with Javier y Andrea
A wonderful song (“La Cicatriz” by D’Arienzo) and demo by one of the most fabulous dancers of the milonga!
The Tango community in Singapore has been very privileged to have Javier Rodriguez and Andrea Missé with us for the past few days, considering how highly sought after they are worldwide! During their first trip to Singapore, Javier and Andrea were hosted by IXI Danza and conducted a number of workshops.
While looking at the clip above, it is not difficult to appreciate the generosity of these wonderful teachers when you realise that all of the techniques used in the video were in fact taught, and explained in great details I might add! Now, if only I can dance to at least 50% of what they are doing… 🙁
ps. In case you were wondering, the “simple” in the title refers to the fact that Javier is using only the steps from the warm-up exercises we did in the 2 milonga classes, and how he can make even the simplistic look fantastic!
The “Hsueh-tze Effect”
We had just completed an exciting week of intensive workshops with Hsueh-tze Lee from Boston, comprising of two weekends (3 x 1.5-hr classes for each day, on both Saturdays and Sundays) and two classes during the week nights. It was certainly somewhat physically demanding, as evidenced by the slightly tired faces when comparing photos taken at the end of the first weekend with that of the second weekend. 🙂
However, by all accounts – some typical comments can be seen here – all the hard work was worth it! During the workshops, there was a level of excitement and buzz which I have not seen in our community for quite a long while. In fact, it was amazing to witness people getting enthusiastic about the exercises and material Hsueh-tze was sharing with us; everyone was simply too eager to get back to the dance floor as soon as possible even though a break had been scheduled.
