Dancing Soul

Postural information for dancing Argentine Tango

This is some of the work we've been doing in my Tango Fundamentals class this summer. We are six weeks into this class, with four more to go. I usually wait and post the review as a page, but I'm going to post this much on my blog so that you all read it before coming to class this week ;-)  I'm working on the steps we've done, and will post that ASAP, with updates until the end of classes.

Postural information

Hips

The hips needs to be positioned correctly both from front to back, and side to side. From front to back, the hips have to be aligned in such a way as to take stress off the lower back, while tilting slightly back. This alignment really comes from using the psoas and other core abdominal muscles (I think this will take another blog entry, so hang onto that thought for the moment) to lift and stretch the entire back, so that each vertebra can rotate slightly, with ease.

The way that Georgina got my back into the right position (the first time) was to lift me from my rib cage, until my lower back relaxed, but I had a very lifted, stretched feeling in my abs. Once you find this position, it doesn't vary, but remains uniform throughout the dance.

The side-to-side motion of the hips changes with each step, in the shape of a pendulum. The pendulum motion aids in changing weight and staying on balance. The point of the hip motion is to position the hip joint above the foot arch to maintain balance more easily. It is NOT a hula motion and it is NOT Cuban motion. It helps the dancer to use ALL joints for movement, from the neck to the foot, rather than the knees.

The same motion (both forward/back and side/side) is used by men and women, but it looks different because the pelvic bones are shaped differently. Similarly, a woman with wide hips and a woman with narrow hips will do the same motion, but it will look VERY different. The point is that there is not a correct LOOK, but a correct ALIGNMENT: don't try to make it visually match another dancer whose body is not similar to yours.

Knees

Keep both of them slightly flexed. This aids in balancing the body. Try not to put extra stress on your knees and quadriceps. Keep your knees as together as possible, but focus on keeping the ENERGY in between the knees, whether you can touch them together or not. If you are feeling a lot of work going on in your quads, adjust your hips further back. I've noticed at the milongas that a lot of people dance while crouching a little bit. Tango is not tennis ;-) and we need elegance as well as balance. Remember to stretch up the entire length of your body WHILE keeping the joints released.

Feet

Your feet stay in a V, with the heels together all the time. The "free" foot keeps contact with the floor for energy and balance. In heels, the ankles touch each other, big toe down on the floor. Guys, think about your big toe maintaining connection with the floor in the same way (it will look different because of the heel height). I think of this as a "kick-stand" that provides extra balance. 

Oscar and Georgina say 1% of the weight is on the "free" foot.  I'd agree with that. The weight on the foot is balanced, 1/2 on the ball, 1/2 on the heel. The weight is also balanced down the center line of the foot, although the ankle energy focus is towards the other foot. If you tend to roll in, think about connecting with the outside edge of your foot. If you tend to roll out, like me, focus your attention in, towards the big toe.

Forward steps are ALWAYS heel toe (do you walk down the street toe heel?). Side steps: the heel usually hits right before the ball of the foot, but it depends on the step. Backwards, the foot hits toe heel. If you relax your ankle right before you step, the correct, "normal" anatomically efficient movement will usually happen in all directions.

Solar plexus

Keep your solar plexus lifted all the time. It does NOT tip up and down; it remains the same during the dance. When I lead, I aim my solar plexus a tiny bit above straight ahead. If I tilt my solar plexus down, the follower's feet suddenly get in my way, because I have directed their energy down, rather than out.

The energy of the dancer connects the partners at the solar plexus, even when dancing in styles where the solar plexus is not always touching. I prefer a small V embrace, where the dancers are not facing each other squarely. I still keep my energy towards my leader. When I dance open embrace, I follow all of these postural rules; the dance doesn't change when it opens up unless we get sloppy and sacrifice posture and connection for (poorly-executed) fancy steps.

Contrabody position

Contrabody position, where the solar plexus and hips rotate slightly away from each other, is not a big movement. It is small but occurs in every movement, just as it occurs in your normal walk (if it doesn't occur in your normal walk, we need to work on your non-tango locomotion for improved efficiency off the dance floor ;-) We worked more on this in the intermediate class (for those of you taking both levels), so I'll focus more on this in another entry.

Reminder: next session of classes will begin in early September, both in Portland and Vancouver, WA. If you'd like to sign up for a few private lessons between sessions, now is the time to do that. If you have never studied with me before, I am offering a "first class special" of $10 off my regular rate for one private lesson; as always, if you buy four at a time, you get a fifth one free!

Milonga and vals class, Salem, Summer 2009

I disagree with teachers who think that new tango learners should avoid milonga and vals until their tango is in good form. Frankly, I think these two dances are more accessible than tango. The music is catchy and more cheerful, which attracts dancers from other genres (lindy, West Coast swing, contradancers, folk dancers, ballroom folk). Also, because the emphasis is on really moving to the music, beginners can let go of aiming for perfection in technique and enjoy DANCING. Too often (IMHO), tango learners and teachers forget that this is supposed to be FUN!

OK, off my soapbox, at least for a few seconds. In milonga and in vals, what I look for in a partner is: connection, ability to move me to the music, joy in dancing and (icing on the cake) good technique. Given that, we worked on learning a few moves, oldies but goodies, and spent the bulk of our time honing our musicality.

Milonga musicality

In milonga, you can focus on moving on the stressed beat of the music, without pauses or syncopation for the most part. This produces an elegant, more flowing dance (smooth milonga, or milonga lisa). This is a good starting point for the beginning milonga dance, as well as a form that can be taken to amazingly graceful heights with practice.

The "Everyready Battery Bunny" exercise is based on this style: followers step on each beat, in place, heels touching, unless moved through space by the leader. Of course, in "real life," you wouldn't be this automatic about it; but it helps to be ready to move on each beat so that the dance goes smoothly. Make sure that you are not automatically walking backwards: the leader gets to pick the direction and the step. You just help make it musical and peppy!

The other style of milonga is milonga traspie which focuses on syncopation to play with the music in a more boisterous way. I think that the dance should still be elegant, but with underlying groove so that it rocks (please, no bouncing arms). Oscar and Georgina did a milonga at Wednesday night (Norse Hall) that had most of us rooted to our chairs: it was sexy, elegant and raucous as the same time! (and then they sat down and said, "Interesting! We've never danced milonga to [cumbia] before!" Wow: brand new music AND amazing musicality.

But I digress. The traspie steps that we began belong to this style of milonga.  Traspie literally means "behind the foot", but can also mean "stumble" or "trip." This step has that tripping rhythm: BAHdum BUM, but only if you use a rebound (revolte): instead of three even counts, I think rebound, STEP. It's not about the initial step: this move stresses the step after the rebound.

Everything we did EXCEPT the vai-ven step (see step review at the bottom of this post) can be turned into a syncopated move. Other people may not agree with me, but I think this step only looks good when the timing remains slow (6 slow steps).

Milonga clips

Here are a few YouTube clips to inspire you. Oscar and Omar learned from the old milongueros. Dani IS an old milonguero. The young couple have nice style, and are repeatedly using the turning grapevine we learned: look how you can put the traspie steps in between!Elegant and sassy milonga: Oscar and Georgina

Omar Vega doing candombe milonga: outrageous and crazy!

Dani: milonguero doing a great milonga

Here's the turning grapevine step

Here's the half-grapevine/sawtooth thingie (and adornos): Graciela Gonzalez

Vals musicality

There are several ways to use the music in vals. Vals is in 3/4 timing (three beats per measure, with the first beat stressed). There is nothing wrong with sticking to moving on the first beat of each measure, but if you want to play with the music, practice each of these separately, walking and later dancing moves. Then, put them together. The BLOB exercise we did focused on playing around with all the rhythms, while moving through space. I find singing along (Dah DEE Dah dum DAH DAH DAH dum . . .) helps, but then again, I was trained as a singer before getting into dancing.

Normal possibilities

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 . . . (accent on the first beat of each measure; this is used the most)

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 . . . (accent on the first and last beat of each measure; this is also used a lot)

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 . . . (accent on the first and second beat of each measure; equally cool, but used less)

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 . . . (all three beats of the measure used; avoid using this as a default, oh my ballroom dancing tangueros!)

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 . . . (pauses of . . . whatever length; not used as much in vals as in tango, but useful)

Places to mess around with this:

• walks (corridas, or little runs of QQS)
• turns (remember, some steps of the turn are traditionally quicker): on the back and next side step, try different variations.
• walking to the cross: "maybe yes cross" can be done in many different timings; play around! New folks this session: we didn't do this step, so don't worry about this)
• turning grapevine: perfect place to play
• traspie: usually done in syncopated timing anyway, but play with 1 3 1 and 12 1 timing.

Abnormal possibilities

Musically inclined leaders who have advanced tango skills and advanced music skills, tend to go off the beaten path with vals. I find myself led into moves such as "1 . . . 2 3 . . 3 1" simply because the leader thinks it's fun to make me dance on the off beats. Leaders: this MESSES with follower's brains; only do this when you know the follower will enjoy the geekiness of the variations (most will NOT enjoy it because it detracts from the flow of the dance). As a tango geek, I can appreciate strangeness IF IT IS LED WELL.

Folks who lead this well: Evan (now of NYC); Alex (Pland); Charles (Eugene) and Noah (Eugene). I'm sure there are more, but these guys understand the music on a deep level. Even after fourteen years of leading tango, I personally don't like to lead these strange variations, except with one or two stellar followers who purr, giggle and verbally express appreciation of the silliness.

Vals clips on Youtube

After a week with Oscar and Georgina, so few folks look good out there on YouTube (yes, I know I am biased, but after all, that's why I organize for them! They are amazing). I couldn't find a vals with them dancing, but here's another couple who taught me a lot about vals musicality in their classes in Buenos Aires:

Tete y Silvia: remember the "walk and turn" exercise we did? I learned that in Tete y Silvia's classes in Buenos Aires. As long as you are clear about what direction you are heading, it's easy for the follower to keep up.

Vals at Glorias Argentinas: Although these folks don't have fabulous technique, they DO have fabulous musicality and connection. Watch how he only uses a few patterns to make a nice dance.

Nestor Ray and Silvina Vals: very much like Tete, Nestor Ray has a very turny, smooth dance.  Watch how he does lots of walking and turning--and not much else; look how nice it is!

Milonga and Vals steps from class

Given the fact that two of our leaders had never danced tango/milonga/vals before these six weeks (bravo, guys!), I stuck to basic moves that you can use in all three dances equally well. Those of you who are more advanced can look at your review sheets from the past year, and add back in other moves we've learned. Also, it never hurts to work on musicality: how many ways can you do each of these?

1. walking forward LOD (that is, leader walking facing line-of-dance)
2. walking backward LOD (leader)
3. taking side-together steps: out towards the side of the dance floor, or LOD (leader's left shoulder facing LOD and leader's right shoulder facing LOD)
4. vai-ven step (go-come): Leader's step is forward on the left, in place with the right, in place with the left; back step with the right, in place with the left, in place with the right. I like using this to bracket the turning grapevine, to find my space on the dance floor, or to finish a sequence where the music is calming down after something more vibrant. Follower's step: back on the right, in place with the left, in place with the right; forward on the left, in place with the right, in place with the left.
5. turning grapevine (clockwise, traveling LOD):1. Leader steps forward on left, 2. forward and through with the right (like going to the cross), and then 3. steps laterally line of dance (lead faces out, follower faces in); leader 4. steps back on right, 5. back on left (leading follower forward and through to the inside), and 6. open with the right (lead facing in, follower facing out). Follower does the same steps as the leader, but in this order: 456 123. In other words, follower steps back on right, back on left, laterally (facing in) with right, LOD; then forward on left, forward and through with right, and laterally (facing out) with left, LOD; finish with a walk or whatever.
6. Ocho cortado ("cut ocho"): Leader steps forward on left (either after salida or from walking . . . no "correct" way); then rocks back onto right foot; then steps backwards on left foot, leading the follower through to the leader's right side.  Leader then puts both feet down OR steps SLIGHTLY open with right, to lead the follower in the last three steps; finishing with feet together, ready to walk out with left foot.  Follower steps back on right, rebounds forward onto left foot, steps forward and through with right foot, then pivots slightly into a lateral step (like a side step of a turn). This step rebounds back to the follower's right foot, and then the leader pivots the follower again to close the left foot in front, as in going to the cross.  If you Google ocho cortado on YouTube, you will see what we talked about in class: EVERYONE has different ideas of how this step SHOULD be done. I've taught you what feels most comfortable for the follower, but feel free to mess around with variations ;-) ocho cortado
7. Giros ("turns"): Remember the "rocks-in-the-stream" game? We walked, listening to the music, and then did half or full turns and then walked again. Remember that, just like water in a stream, the movement rarely stays in one spot for a long time. A lot of turns continue to travel down the dance floor while turning. Let this exercise provide some improvisation in your dance. Instead of worrying about where to start and end the turn, just walk and turn, walk and turn, as the music tells you. The follower's job is to stay with you. HOWEVER: if you are not clear about what direction your torso is pointing/moving (downstream, please), the follower will not know, either. Clarity, clarity, clarity! For those of you who prefer structure: you can turn from a side step, so that the follower's first step is a front or back cross around you. We also looked at starting turns as the leader stepped back in the vai ven.
8. Sawtooth/half-grapevine: I'm sure there is a name for this step, but I learned it dancing with old guys in the milonga, not in a class; no one said, "Hey, let's do the x step!" To start, leader does a salida, moving LOD with the left foot, facing "out" of the space. Then, leader steps forward and through with the right (like going to the cross); and steps TOGETHER with the left; steps straight back (towards the center of the floor) with the right; and together OR open with the left. If you step together, you get a very crisp, sawtoothed pattern. If you step open, you get a "castle wall" kind of effect.  Neither is wrong, but stepping together looks more elegant and takes less room. The follower needs to be careful not to automatically do a grapevine pattern without being led. Follower steps side with the right, LOD, to start, then back diagonal with the left, still moving LOD and outwards from the dance space. After that, the follower steps in place with the right foot, and straight forward with the left foot, to begin again or exit.
9. Traspie ("stumble, trip"): We did two versions of this: 1. sd, rebound, step forward (for leader); and 2. fd, rebound, step forward (for leader), which seems to be harder for a lot of folks. Remember that the rebound has to happen BEFORE taking the forward step. You MUST return to an on-axis, body-over-supporting-foot balanced position before continuing through for the next step. If you have Oscar and Georgina's rhythmic tango DVD, there are wonderful instructions for doing this well (as well as ocho cortado variations). I can't find it on YouTube; ah, well.

I've really enjoyed this class. I find it impressive that we have dancers who have six weeks of tango experience (really, none, since we did milonga and vals), up to four years' experience, in one class. With one exception, we covered information requested by the class: new moves; musicality; walking; milonga; and better posture, technique, etc.. Sorry that we didn't get to your boleos, Karen.

For those of you who live close enough to get to Portland, Robert Hauk and I will be collaborating on a milonga class up there this fall. Stay tuned for details!

Boy, is it hot here!

Hi folks!  I've almost got the Salem review page done (up Wed.?) and the up-to-date reviews from Portland summer classes. My brain slows down when it gets this hot. I don't think I'm going dancing tonight: just TOO hot. I'm planning group classes for Wednesday night that don't require a lot of touching: definitely open embrace!!

Salem class: review and more on traspie tomorrow night (is it air conditioned?).

Portland beginners: more on turns and different kinds of ochos, but in open embrace; it's too hot to touch!

Portland intermediates: We'll work more on organic dance building: maybe the boleos we've done, paired with turns and something new?

"A little bit better" each time

Last night, I danced a tanda with Oscar Mandagaran, and every time something didn't work, I thought, "Aha, that's going to be in my lesson tomorrow, isn't it?" The nice part is that I no longer get nervous dancing with him; it's another thing to have thirty people watching your feet because you are dancing with the star: that part makes me freak out in a way that someone who has performed dance for twenty plus years should not. "Relax, Ely!" he kept saying every time we passed the corner that was packed with people staring, "You're rigid like a board!". THIS is why I used to dance with my eyes closed, Oscar!

I just finished a private lesson with Oscar and Georgina. I worked with them in June when they were here, and got "homework": work on stepping laterally, pivoting, and stepping forward/backward. That looks like an easy thing to do, but when you are changing how you've been pivoting for fourteen years of tango, it feels frustrating to have to practice to change; why can't I just DO it?

I think about June: Georgina told me to focus on the future of my tango, not look back at past mistakes. Deep breath; starting over is good, starting over is good, starting over is good . . .

I practiced almost every day this past month (OK, usually I am not such a good student, but I knew they'd be back in five weeks, so I had to work). "A little bit better" was the comment. I appreciate the honesty: I know they would tell me if it weren't better, and when they say, "YES! Perfect!" I know they mean that. The new information is working most of the time. "Now, let's work on the subtlety of the move," says Oscar. Ay! A whole new level of what wasn't working well.

However, I know that things are going well when we move on and work on new things. Traspie, a concept I thought I had 100% in my body, turns out to be something I need to improve in my dance. I couldn't feel the subtle differences between big and small moves. In my defense, everyone I dance with tends to use only one style: big OR small. On the other hand, I should be able to do this better ;-)

Oscar dances with me, saying, "See, Georgie? That's what I was talking about last night." Georgina places herself where I can see her and she can see me in the mirror, and guides me through about twenty minutes of doing all sorts of sizes of traspies, with and without pivots, in every direction possible. Then, Oscar dances with me to see if it feels right for the leader. More traspies with pivots. Aha! I am finally getting how to pivot more easily during the traspie; I was doing it too late in the movement. More exercises with Georgina, more dancing with Oscar.

An hour later, I feel that I understand exactly what I need to be doing in traspie, in pivots, and for little adornos around my feet ("Ack! Ely! Don't go so close to your toes! You'll hurt yourself!"). My body doesn't feel exhausted from stretching my torso as long as possible.  My hips don't feel too fatigued from the traspie work, although I now know which muscles SHOULD feel tired if I do this right, a hundred times. I could have done another hour, but there are three more students right after me, so I have to wait for another day.

I feel fabulous, even if this is going to take another fourteen years to be amazing.

Approaching tango from different angles

In my current tango teaching, I've been trying a new approach: alternating very technical, anatomy-based, high-focus work with my crazy, zen games about the flow of energy, organicity of movement, and the FUN of tango.

I have apparently been forgetting the fun aspect too much recently.  A student commented to me that my technique class made tango seem very hard.  Relax the ankle! Don't bend the knees too much! Angle your hip joint for the best balance! Breathe! Stretch the spine! Push off the floor! etc. Yes, all of this is important for beautiful technique, but no wonder some folks give up on tango!

For this coming week, I am going to play tango games. And I do mean play: tango has so much improvisatory scope that the only way to fully explore it is to turn off the analytical part of the brain for a while, and move from the body; let the brain follow along as best as it can.

For my intermediate class, we are going to look at how the flow and energy of a dance movement suggests the next step. Rather than plan an A + B + C approach to the dance, we are going to use momentum and suspension and going on/off balance, to find what move comes next: a turn? a boleo? a pause? What makes sense from the flow of the motion?

What does the music suggest? Slow, fast, pause, what? If you weren't doing tango, what would you do to this music? If you are doing tango to it, what do you see in your head (turning off the "but I don't know how to do that move" part of the brain)? What other move is like that, and may work instead? When the song is over, you should have learned something about that piece of music, as well as having dancing during it. It's not just about the beat . . .

What does the space demand? Oh no, I'm in a tight corner: what could I do? Wow, extra space in front of me: what works here? Geez, that person ALWAYS backs up in front of me: how do I protect my partner? Forget steps: what direction could I go?

What does my partner provide that adds a layer to this dance? Do I have a follower who is giving me tons of extra energy to tap into, or do I have to provide the gas for this dance? Is my leader responsive to my messing around with the dance, or do I need to just give lots of energy, but not a lot of adornos? How can I be the best partner for this person, for this dance?

For my beginners, we'll play naughty toddler again (for some students, this is new next week): the follower does whatever s/he wants to do, and the leader attempts to keep the dance moving more or less line-of-dance, without crashing into furniture or other dancers. We'll find how much energy can be funneled into the dance to make it fun, if out of control. For the leaders, we'll see how easy it is to lead a partner with a lot of energy, and how to use that energy better. For the followers, we'll find out how much energy can be used to make an active follower, and where the out-of-control line lies with each leader.

I'm still working on what else we'll do, but I think we all need a break from being so serious ;-)

Plus, Oscar and Georgina will be here!!!!! I'm kind of nervous about teaching with my teachers watching, and I'm sure they've never seen such a weird tango class, but perhaps it will spark an interesting discussion! Either way, you'll see me taking class with them all weekend, working on technique again. They always inspire me to work harder to make my dance more energized and full of joy, so BRING IT ON!