Rock step
The humble rock step is something probably most people have come across in their tango education very early on. It might have been taught, for example, as a way to change direction, or simply to mark time etc.
I recently saw someone marketing on Facebook his “wisdom” on the rock step. The photo shows a couple in embrace, their knees bent, and sinking down at the end of the rock step (by “end” I mean either the forward rock or backward rock). This immediately reminded me of the amusing experience I had during my first and only trip to Buenos Aires in 2009. In a single day, I was corrected on the rock step by no less than three different teachers during my private classes! On each occasion, I was reminded that, as a lead, I should be rising (and hence as a couple) instead of going downward. The three different people consisted of a globe-trotting well-known teacher, a well-respected milonguero and a young teacher for whom I have a lot of respect for. Through this, together with my subsequent experiences on the dance floor, I am convinced of the correctness of what I was taught on that day.
I’ll be back
Gosh, looking at the date of the last post, it’s been more than two and a half years since I last updated my tango blog!
These days I am dancing even less than two years ago. Apart from attending three maestro events (one night each), I have not been to any regular milongas this year. Relocating to a different country, and changes in personal life really forces you to re-prioritise your leisure time. Hopefully as life gets back to normal, I can return to dancing which has been an important part of my life for the past 14-15 years – assuming I have not lost the zest for it by then…
Recent news
It’s been a long while since I last updated here – just shy of one month to the year, as a matter of fact. I suppose as we get older priorities shift, and I simply didn’t have much to say about tango for some time. However, I am still dancing, although less as an organiser for the past year. Nowadays I am dancing a little less (more selective on which events to go to), DJing even less now that I am now longer organising the weekly milonga. I must admit, it’s somewhat liberating to not having Fridays blocked off for the foreseeable future, as has been the case for the past 5-plus years. 🙂
Here’s a gem I saw recently. It’s not super flashy and while I don’t usually follow Gaston closely I enjoyed the freedom, playfulness and the inter-play between partners here.
I have also just started on the following two books, focusing on the music portion.
- Tango: let’s dance to the music by Joaquin Amenabar
- Caminar Abrazados by Melina Sedo and Detlef Engel
Both books come with a DVD (music samples/demos) – which I think is an excellent idea for Tango books because Tango is a dance that needs visual as well as intellectual “explanation”. My only gripe with Amenabar’s book, apart from not shipping to Singapore directly and unavailable in Buenos Aires apparently, is that the exercise audio clips were not provided separately; this meant the book may need to be read alongside a DVD player AND TV! As a side note, I am looking forward to further books/DVDs from Melina and Detlef. While I
I haven’t gone far yet, my first impressions (concerning discussions on music, dancing to music) are that they are consistent with the what I had learnt from Hsu-tze Lee, which goes to show how lucky we were to have her visit our community almost 10 years ago!
Surprises
I have never heard of this couple – for all I know, they may not even be regular partners and only came together especially for this event in Buenos Aires. However, the I can only describe their performance here as “full of surprises”!