Elegance from simplicity
I have enjoyed reading Deby’s blog – an American expat living in Buenos Aires – since discovering it a few months ago. She seems to be able to provide both an insider and an outsider’s point of view of how Tango is perceived and danced in Buenos Aires, very much the “Mecca” for many students of Tango.
While the following may sound over-simplified, I like Deby’s summary of the key elements in followers’ movements:
For me there are only 3 steps – the caminata (walk), the giro (turns) and the ocho… these 3 steps combined with posture, axis, become 40 different movements.
In Salon Tango… we feel the passion in our bodies from the music. The beauty is to be able to transmit it to our partners… This is pure passion. Not 50 million steps, and kicks, and twists, done as fast as possible.
Bravo!
Please read her original piece here, where she also has some interesting remarks regarding the Villa Urquiza style of dancing.
Choice quotes
Just returned from the Taipei Tango festival a few days ago. Body is still aching, courtesy of taking too many classes… 😉
This year, I was very happy with the workshops conducted by all 3 Argentine couples. I was especially and quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of teaching from Javier Rodriguez and his new partner Andrea Misse. In fact the classes, while at times physically challenging, were quite entertaining. Some examples:
On that category of movements in Tango where the woman’s leg wraps around the man sharply in a whip-like action:
“The secret of the gancho is not in how you put it in, but in how you take it out…”
On dancing with rhythm:
“Need to have an uplifting feel, make the woman feel so happy that she will move her
ass(Javier’s words) butt (Andrea’s translation)…”
Having good posture
Was discussing with a friend the merits of having a good Tango posture for followers – essential for balance and dissociation, looks elegant, prevents injury and all that – when it suddenly occurred to me that there may be an additional benefit. In my opinion, by maintaining a good posture in addition to a strong frame, a follower can easily prevent herself from being ‘thrown around” by a rough leader. That is, good posture is also the key to slow down the pace when rushed by an inexperienced leader. Give it a try next time?
*By the way, I am kind of interchanging the meanings of posture/frame here because I think they are very much intertwined.
An almost-great leader
Prompted by Royce’s blog entry on a great follower, I decided to jot down what I consider to be the essential qualities of a great leader. However, this is more of an extrapolation of my personal experiences, so my objective is to depict an attainable (and practical) target for leaders to aspire to. By the way, this is both my personal goal as well as what I try to convey to those whom I have had the pleasure to teach.
