Dancing Soul

Finding your center: Irene Dowd's article on pelvic structure and alignment

You are now centering your pelvis in relation to the rest of your body, but it is not in a position. It is an ever dynamic balance that allows you your fullest possible range of movement with the least possible muscle work.” (p. 27, Taking Root to Fly)

 

The pelvis is a bowl, or a funnel or . . . what DOES it look like? Check out these images (and the other thousands on Google):

http://www.drugs.com/cg/images/en1291214.jpg

http://www.sandbox.de/osg/stl/pelvis.png

 

Irene Dowd’s article, Finding Your Center, looks at pelvic structure and finding balance/alignment while moving. Dowd describes the pelvis as “the hub of a wheel . . . the point around which the entire body weight balances equally above and below, and to all sides” (p. 20).

The rest of the body is connected from this center by muscles, and when the pelvis moves, the rest of the body moves through space along with it. There are three bones comprising the pelvic girdle: the sacrum, and two os innominata (hip bones). The sacrum functions as the end of the spine and the back of the pelvis. The center of gravity in the body is located in front of the sacrum, in the pelvic bowl.

We have a less stable pelvis than animals that locomote on four legs because of the way the weight of the pelvis balances on the legs. “The spine must sit on the sacrum behind the point where the pelvis sits on the legs so that weight now transfers through it and forward, as well as down to the legs.  Thus the pelvis can still be centered over the legs and yet provide the base for a vertical spine,” but we need to fine-tune our alignment for maximum balance while we move.

The posterior arch of the pelvis

As we can see in cathedrals, an arch can hold up a lot of weight.  The pelvis forms an arch, with the hip bones as the pillars, leaning towards each other.  These are balanced on the femurs, with the hip bones rotating on and around the heads of the femurs. The sacrum is the keystone at the top of the arch.  The keystone is wider on top than on bottom, preventing it from falling out of place; the sacrum is triangular, with the wide end up. This arch transfers the weight of the upper body, through the legs and to the ground.

 

The anterior arch of the pelvis

The front of the pelvis needs to counterbalance that thrust of the spine through to the floor because, as we move, the spine, pelvis and legs move; this is not a fused system. On the front of the pelvis, the cartilage that joins the pelvic bones together, the pubic symphysis, creates the keystone for the anterior arch.  The pillars are the two pelvic bones again, but the front sections (look at that picture of the pelvis again).

 

The flying buttress

I couldn’t resist ;-)  In this case, the shape of the femoral bone/hip joint creates an upward and inward pressure on the pelvic girdle. Much like the shape of flying buttresses on cathedrals, this functions to brace the pelvic arch. The heads of the femurs pushing up and in counterbalances the downward and outward push of the spine on the sacral joints.

 

See-saw: pelvic balancing act

Since we have to move this delicately balanced structure (try moving Notre Dame!), things get a bit more complicated at this point. Dowd points out that most of the weight on this structure is on the back of the pelvis, with little weight on the pubic symphysis:

This would seem to create an embarrassing situation in which the front of the pelvic seesaw would fly up and hit us in the chin unless we exerted considerable effort with the muscles that pass from the front of the thigh to the front of the pelvis in order to hold it down onto the legs. (p. 22)

 

Luckily, there are strong ligaments that help with this process: the ileo-femoral ligament connects across the front of the femoral joint (leg to hip connection) and does a lot of the work for us. This allows the back of the pelvis to tip up slightly, to “balance the seesaw” of forces.

 

Fixing our old habits

Dowd’s assertion that “few of us, however, have found this state in which our pelvis balances on top of our legs and under our spine with only minimal muscular exertion” (p. 22) will be vocally agreed upon by most of my students! Most of us have spent a lot of time trying to “stand up straight” and “tuck it under” and “pull it in” until we’ve taught our body a whole bunch of inefficient ways to balance and move. Dowd mentions how relieved she felt when she started to learn correct alignment: “. . . it was certainly a relief to know that my inability to flatten my spine against a wall while standing with ‘good posture’ was not due to deformity” (p. 23), but to the fact that the spine has three separate curves that counter-balance each other.

The spine just doesn’t work right in a straight line! If you distort any of the three curves in the back, it forces your body to work overtime just to remain balanced while standing and moving.

If you tuck your pelvis forward to forcibly straighten your back, your hips are too far forward for easy balance. You create extra tension in the muscles of the front of the thighs and back of the calves. You also tense your buttocks more and tighten the muscles in the lower thoracic spine (above your hips). That’s a lot of extra work that gets in the way of ease of movement (or tango).

If you rotate your hips too far back, your lower back and the back of your neck take the extra pressure.  In either case, all that extra work does not make movement enjoyable.

Dowd notes: “Remember how your tower of building blocks in nursery school collapsed in a heap when you did not center the blocks directly over each other? This same principle applies to our body.” (p. 24)

If your bones are not stacked up correctly, you need to use a lot of muscle work to stay upright. This makes some muscles work all the time, becoming strong, but not flexible. Other muscles aren’t used enough, becoming too weak to function correctly.

Exercises for finding the right alignment

If it’s hard for you to find the right alignment, Dowd suggests that you rest with your back on a rug or towel (if the floor feels too hard for you), knees up and feet flat on the floor. Make sure your feet are placed so that your hip joints are still in comfortable alignment. Have about a 90 degree angle between your thighs and shins. Rest your arms either 1. above your head on the floor; 2. palms down at your sides; or 3. on your chest or abdomen: pick the easiest of the three positions for you.

 

• Visualize the long, stretchy length of your spine. Remember that it has three curves in it: cervical (neck), thoracic (chest) and lumbar (lower back).
• Imagine your sacrum moving down towards your feet and spreading out.
• Let the floor support you.
• Visualize your lumbar spine relaxing, letting a line of energy come from the center of your pelvis/center of gravity, up along the inside of your lumbar spine.
• Feel how the heads of the femurs can sink deeply into the hip sockets, closer to your center of gravity inside your pelvis.
• Remember how this feels when you stand up: you are aiming for this ease of alignment when standing!
• Your deep core muscles do the work of this alignment: if you feel your abdominals on the surface working hard, you are using the wrong muscles. This entire work of alignment is about LESS effort for more balance and LESS discomfort for more mobility.

 

Feel the difference: memorize the difference

When you get up, get up slowly and stand with your eyes closed for a moment, feeling the alignment again in balance, as it was on the floor. All my dance perfectionists:  Here is what Dowd says about new body postures:

Stand quietly with eyes closed for a moment and be aware of how your body feels now without making any postural adjustments or self judgements [sic].  Sometimes we feel out of balance when we alter some of our habitual patterns of muscle activity, but our sensations can be deceptive. Ask a friend or look in a mirror and see if you are actually more or less centered than before. (p. 27)

 

 My favorite bodyworker in Eugene, Joe, told me it takes six weeks minimum for a new habit to begin to feel natural. Stick with it, dancers!

 

"Visualizing Movement Potential" for tango

I'd like to summarize and expand upon another of Irene Dowd's fabulous articles in Taking Root to Fly. Rereading them all these years after my Movement Fundamentals class (thanks Sherrie Barr, my teacher!), I realize how much these ideas have become the basis of my teaching. Irene Dowd credits HER teacher, Dr. Lulu Sweigard with much of the content of this article, so read her work, too!

Her main idea in this article: the nervous system runs all the systems of the human body. Therefore, if we want to change how we move, we need to change the way our nerves and brain interact with the rest of the body: our neurological pathways. We can change these pathways through conscious attention, by changing our movement habits. 

"Dis-ease" or lack of ease, comes from the body being out of balance. The more the muscles are balanced around a joint, the less stress is put on the body to use and maintain that joint. The more the systems of the body are in balance, the easier it is to move in an efficient and pain-free way. Balance does not mean that the body is at rest, but rather that all muscles and systems have moments of rest and moments of movement, so that no part of the body is being constantly used (or constantly relaxed) and thus becoming fatigued, injured, or too weak to use correctly.

Dr. Sweigard taught correct use of the body through VISUALIZING lines of movement through the body in order to repattern how the body used energy.  She used the "constructive rest position" (lying on the floor, with the feet flat on the floor, knees up, hips/back relaxed, and arms out and up, relaxed against the floor. After the person visualized the movement in this position, she gradually transitioned them to visualizing the movement while standing and then moving around:

"Visualizing a line of movement thorugh the body while not moving can change the habitual patterns of messages being sent from the brain through nerve pathways to the muscles. As long as this constructive new thinking pattern is activated during movement, a new pattern of muscle activity is automatically being used to decrease physical stress and maintain a more balanced alignment of skeletal parts. Over a period of time during which there is continual daily attention to new habit patterns in thinking and action, the body's shape will be transformed." (p. 2)

This is what we are doing in my classes: realigning hips, knees, ankles, feet and body for more efficient balance front-back and left-right. Then, for each movement, we are repatterning how the body moves through a step to make it efficient. Each combination of muscles and joints works in balance with the body. Efficiency removes pain and imbalance. If you are in pain, the first step is to alleviate pain through teaching the body and neural pathways a new way of moving.

If something isn't working, don't just continue to repeat that step: "Not even a worm will persist after repeated negative reinforcement. The solution is to go one step back to something you can do, crawling perhaps." That may mean that you have to learn to stand and walk before learning tango. Master the fundamentals before going on so that you experience success. When you can do a movement, or series of movements, correctly, then the neural pathways have learned that and are ready to do more complex repatterning.

Exercise, part I (on the floor in constructive rest position)

• Lie on the floor in constructive rest position.
• Relax your body, either through visualization (sand or water or ? flowing out of your eyes, ears, hands, toes, wherever you have tension, until the body feels relaxed, open and receptive) or by tensing and then releasing each set of muscles until your body feels relaxed throughout.
• Take time to really bring your body to neutral: this relaxation may take quite some time if you are under stress or have chronic pain in your body. If you do not feel receptive and relaxed, you will not be able to visualize new patterns easily.
• First, visualize the basic, fundamental parts of the new movement. For example, if you want to make arm or leg movements that require your center and spine to support them, visualize a long, stable spine, and then do small or easy movements with the limb you want to use.
• Relax again, while you continue to visualize the flow of strength and stability in your spine, lengthening without working your muscles.
• Now visualize the entire movement you want to do, without moving your body. Imagine the sweep of the energy through your body, through each joint that is needed, through the muscles that will be used. Imagine doing it without pain or difficulty. While you are doing this, your new neural pathways are being created.
• Any time you feel the old pattern (or pain or tightness), go back to the relax/go to neutral phase and start over. If you keep trying while it hurts or while you are clenching your body, the new pathways are NOT being formed.
• Only spend 5-10 minutes doing this at a time: staying in one position for a long time is not good for the body: it contracts some muscles constantly, and lets others relax constantly: what we are trying to avoid ;-)

Exercise, part II (warming up, standing)

• Get up off the floor slowly.
• Start doing small movements to warm up the body: leg joints, arm joints, spine, neck, etc.
• When you feel warmed up, move around doing movements you already know, letting your body feel the "rightness" of these motions.
• Only at this point should you try the movement.

Exercise, part III (doing the new motion)

• Do the new movement, focusing on the small, basic parts of the movement first.
• When you do it correctly, no matter how small a part of the movement is right, congratulate yourself! Give yourself positive encouragement. This is an improvement, even if it is small and gradual.
• Repeat the successful movement until it feels more "natural" than "strange" (your body needs to start to feel the rightness of it to memorize it as "the right way").
• Repeat each day: this helps you learn the right movement through it feeling right, and also helps your body develop the new neural pathways more quickly.

Exercise, part IV (let it go)

• Your body works on neural pathways, and on integrating new information, on its own. Let it do the work!
• Go off and do other things; let go of the new information consciously, and come back to it tomorrow.
• Come back to it daily: if you wait too long, you undo the work you did before, and must start over.

Although a teacher can help you learn what motion is correct, and can check in with you to help you adjust the process if it is not working, most of this work is YOU. Focus on the positive: the mind and body are plastic. The human body and mind can learn to do all sorts of movements. YOUR human body can do this. If you can imagine your body doing a motion, you will eventually be able to perform that motion with your body. Irene Dowd says:

"It takes about two months of daily practice from the time you have started to think about your movement differently to the time that your muscles visibly change shape. While sixty days into the future seems like a long time to wait before a new internal balance brings tangible results, it isn't very long at all in comparison to your whole life which you have already spent developing the form you now have." (p. 6)

Off you go now! I need to do my visualizations of the perfect adorno.

Oscar Mandagaran & Georgina Vargas are in Seattle next weekend!

Don't miss this chance to study with Oscar and Georgina if you live near Seattle, WA, or can get yourself up there this coming weekend! I hope to make it for at least one day of workshops and a few private lessons.

They will give group lessons August 7-9, as well as private lessons August 7-12.

Location

Club Sur, 2901 1st Ave. S., Seattle, WA

Contact

Carlos Barrionuevo & Mayte Valdes
[email protected]
cell: (206) 370 9397

or contact Oscar and Georgina by email: [email protected]

or Facebook: Georgina Vargas Oscar Mandagaran

Schedule

Friday, August 7th 

7 to 8:15 pm:   Rhythmic Tango: the porteno style - all levels

Here you will work on the the rhythmic style of Tango danced to the music of Donato, Canaro, D'Arienzo etc. This class is  essential  to give you an understanding of how different styles of music require a different style of tango. You'll find that you really can dance with musicality and style!!

Saturday, August 8th:

4:30 to 5:45pm:  Traspies combinations for Rhythmic Tango and Milonga -all levels 

If you ever go to Buenos Aires you will see that the Traspie' is the most popular movement and with this class you will fin how to create lots of differents conbinations good for rhytmic Tango and milonga!! Came and dance as a porteno!!!

6 to 7:15pm:      Molinetes & Enrosquez and Quebradas Buenos Aires's style - intermediate & up

If you want to add some spice to your dance, learn how to do molinetes & enrosques and quebradas!!

Sunday, August 9th

4:30 to 5:45pm:   Romantic Tango - all levels

This is the sexy, sensuous tango that marks Oscar & Georgina's stunning style. You will dance to the music of the evolutionary orquestras like Pugliese, Di Sarli and you'll refine your musicality, dancing to the phrases within the music. This class is an exellent opportunity for learn about the density and elasticity in your movement!!

6 to 7:15pm:         Sacadas and Boleos Buenos Aires's Style - intermediate & up
This is one of the steps that you have always wanted to do at the milonga, ver elegant and lovely. However you must realize that you are sharing the floor with many other people. So be prepared to challenge yourself and learn how to do Sacadas and Boleos buenos Aires's style!!  

Cost

$25 Each Class or $100 Full package (5 Classes)

Instructional DVDs available

Oscar and Georgina's instrucitonal DVDs will be available to purchase at these workshops. They are wonderful, beautifully produced DVDs that cover many of the same topics they will teach in their workshops, and are a great way to practice at home. The DVDs are also available at Oscar and Georgina's website, http://www.tangodebuenosaires.com/

Rhythmic Style Tango: Learn to dance in the style of portenos (Buenos Aires style) to the music of the traditional orchestras like Canaro, D'Arienzo, Tanturi, etc.

Romantic Style Tango: Learn to dance in the style of the evolutionary orchestras like Pugliese and Di Sarli, etc.

An excerpt from a lesson on the DVDs

Oscar and Georgina's Tango Secrets, Instructional Technique DVD 1 & 2

With these two DVDs you will really have the opportunity to create the quality in your Tango movements, give density and elasticity to your dance, add a variety of differents adornments...it's your chance to "magnetize" your tango!

An excerpt from a lesson the the Tango Secret DVDs 

Teaching biographies

Oscar Mandagaran starred on Broadway in Forever Tango and toured with the show for 7 years.  He danced with the Forever Tango cast in the show Malambo, in the Carlos Saura film Tango, and has performed in major cities all over the world.  One of the superstar international teachers, Oscar is beloved for his ability to teach the passion and emotion of the tango and for his ability to impart the "keys" or secrets of tango that help each student discover their own unique quality as a dancer.

Georgina Vargas has performed in major tango shows in Argentina, Italy and Japan, and has taught around the world.  She founded the company "Con Sabor a Tango" which toured Europe, Japan and Asia.  She produced and performed in Noches Argentino in Tokyo,  Japan, for which she was awarded special recognition by the Argentine Embassy in honor of her spectacular performance and role in presenting tango to the world.  Also a professional singer, Georgina's CD, Por Aquells Tango was released in 2006.

Together since 2006, Oscar and Georgina are one of the most exciting, sensual and passionate couples in Argentine tango today.  Highly sought after as performers and teachers, they are regular guest artists at the Esquina Carlos Gardel, home of the most prestigious tango show in Buenos Aires, and spend 8-9 months of every year traveling, teaching and performing around the world.

Check out these great performances!

• Romantic Tango in San Francisco

• Rhythmic Tango in Tokyo  

• Performance at Nora's Tango Week

• Another performance at Nora's Tango Week

• Dancing to Gallo Ciego at the Esquina Carlos Gardel in Buenos Aires

• Tango show at the Esquina Carlos Gardel

• Dancing to Derecho Viejo at Portland Tango Festival
• Milonga 
  

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!

Sunday Specials #1: notes on energy, connection, milonga and tango vals

For Rachel Lidskog's and my first day of teaching together, we chose topics that we felt needed more coverage in the Portland tango community: energy, connection, milonga and vals.

Class #1: Energy and connection

Many of you in Portland have yet to experience my strange and fun games to make your tango livelier, more balanced, and more connected. We mixed these up with things that Rachel teaches. We focused on four levels of connection: self, partner, music, and entire group/room/space.

Self:

Axis drill: breathing deeply, imagine that your breath comes up from below the floor, up into your lungs, and then back down through your bones, through the floor, and pushes a large magnet away below the floor. Repeat several times. Then, imagine that every exhale sends the energy & breath up out the top of your head like a fountain or whale spout. After that, take a few breaths sending energy & breath out the top of the head AND down through the feet. Like a shower curtain rod needs the spring on each end to work, you need to have energy going out both ends to balance your axis for the dance.

Moving through space: Move on each exhale and check axis on each inhale. Find your connection to the floor and the ceiling with each step. Think of the shower curtain rod springs: they don't move much, but energy is constantly going out towards both ends; the same thing happens in your body.

Partner

Force field drill: Facing a partner, not touching, and close your eyes. Do the axis drill for several breaths. Now, let each exhale send energy through your partner and towards the wall of the room. Imagine that energy: I like thinking of electricity, but you could picture a color, water, bubbles, fire, whatever--streaming out of you and towards your partner. Take several breaths focusing on a body part, and then enlarge the "force field" of energy you are sending through your partner. I usually follow this pattern: toes; knees; hips; belly button; rib cage; shoulder blades; collar bones (or back of neck); whole body. Then, extend that rectangular force field to a cylinder around yourself, step towards your partner, and dance slow motion, BREATHING and focusing on how the force field keeps your energy towards your partner, even while moving backwards.

I am here drill: Eyes open, standing several feet apart. Say "I am HERE!" as you step vigorously in towards your partner. Stand your ground, eye to eye (or even touching). Then repeat "I am HERE!" as you move back to your original spot. Notice if you step forwards and then shrink back--the point of the exercise is to REALLY be "HERE" and present, ready to dance (Rachel, correct me if I've forgotten something here!).

Follower as the motor of the dance: In open or close embrace, the leader rotates slowly in place, powered by the follower's turn steps. The follower watches his/her right hand while turning towards that hand; focusing on pivoting the feet and hips to allow for a smooth, balanced, RRRRRRRRMMMMM of a turn. When this is really working, the leader can stand on one foot and be turned around! Before you get dizzy, reverse to the other side. The hard part: create a "reverse" embrace so that the leader's right hand is out, with the leader's left arm around the follower so that the follower can watch his/her left hand while turning that way. Leaders: try not to pull or push the follower in this drill. BTW, it's good practice for leading with the chest instead of the arms.

Naughty toddler: Anyone who has led someone who is clearing NOT following can identify with the need to feel confident about leading, no matter what is happening. Naughty toddler is a game in which the follower does ANYTHING his/her little heart desires. Just as when dealing with a real toddler, the leader's job will be easiest if s/he uses the "toddler's" energy and directs it around the dance floor, rather than trying to get the "toddler" to stop!

The second goal of Naughty Toddler to is teach followers to dance with more energy. Too much energy, and you are not following, but leading. Too little energy, and it is very difficult to move the follower anywhere. In between, there is a grey zone, where the leader can be in control, but the follower contributes energy. I find that most followers dance too close to the passive edge of that zone. Whenever I find a lively follower with tons of energy, I enjoy leading more. Even if that person is almost out of control, it is more fun than motivating a comatose dancer! Followers: find "Naughty Toddler" and then tone it down just a hair for optimum following. Leaders: look out! Here come some great dancers!

The music

We are saving the tuning into music for the next set of classes.

The group

Circle community: Rachel says this comes via Alex Krebs. We stood in a circle, touching shoulders. Then, we leaned slightly in and slightly out, feeling how the group could hold up the group. We then moved right and left, feeling how the group compensated for the movement and contributed to it (Rachel, feel free to jump in here!)

Solo-couple: Finding the flow of the entire room adds to the richness of your dance--and helps you to avoid collisions. For Solo-Couple, each person walks in any direction in the room: clockwise, counter-clockwise, straight through the middle of the group, whatever. To avoid collisions, turn in place until you can find a way to move, rather than stopping or backing up. When the teacher hollers COUPLE! grab the closest person and without stopping, move into dancing counter-clockwise in the room, with at least vaguely tango/milonga/vals steps. The point is to keep the flow of the room, tune into that, and use it to make your dance. Because you don't have time to think, as a leader, you must just allow the dance to happen. As the follower, you are in synch with the rest of the room and have a good idea of the space available, which allows you to follow more comfortably.

Energy bunnies/Energy vampires: This is a game that helps you add to--or benefit from--the energy of the room when dancing. What we all dream of is a room of dancers that, when we walk in, we can FEEL the crackle of energy and dancing! Those are the times you can dance for hours and hardly notice fatigue. Conversely, on those nights when you are tired and you get a partner who is also low-energy, it's hard to get through a single tanda. You can give energy to a partner or to the room of dancers (or take energy) as needed. This sounds very woo-woo, but I noticed that all of you felt how much more energy was present after energy bunnies. For the game, each time we passed someone, we gave/took a little energy from that person, accompanied by very fun noises :-) After only about thirty seconds, everyone's energy level was higher, and we stopped to dance a dance, as well as to feel the result of the game. Try it when you are dancing: give energy if your partner needs it, or take some if you need it, and see how it works in "real life."

We'll continue working on drills and games during our next round on December, focusing on making the embrace work better and feel sweeter.

Class #2: Milonga lisa (smooth milonga)

We started with Jorge Nel's great follow-the-leader exercise. This consists of walking in a circle to milonga music, while imitating what the leader is doing. I focus on getting comfortable with quarter turns: walking forward and then turning towards/away from the center to do step together patterns; then either turning to face forwards, or turning the other way to face backwards; but always progressing around the room. For me, this drill helps the leaders become more comfortable with the swift pace of milonga, without being tempted to take big steps. Also, it works into a drill I learned from Tete that we did for val class (more on that below).

Side-together steps: We practiced leading those same patterns (moving into and out of side together steps) with a partner. In order to get your partner to step with you, you need to "squeeze the toothpaste" up to get their feet light enough to follow what you do, or "squeeze the toothpaste" down to put their feet on the ground if they tend to pop up (we revisited this for calecitas, see vals class below).

Corridas: Using the "squeeze toothpaste up" approach, we practiced doing quick-quick-slow traveling patterns in milonga: this brings the follower's steps in a bit so that little steps (thus quicker) are executed to aid in timing the corrida. Also, instead of trying to push two quick steps down the room, try applying as much energy as you need at the beginning of the three steps, so that the pattern naturally ends with a slow at the end of the phrase.

Vai-ven (go-come): I learned this step from Daniel Trenner ages ago, and I like to combine it with other walking patterns to make a nice, elegant milonga style. The step has 6 counts and 6 steps: for the leader, forward on the left; in place on the right and the left; back on the right; in place on the left and the right. The follower starts back, in place for two steps, forward and in place for two steps. Ballroom folks: this is NOT a hesitation step, and it doesn't rise and fall like ballroom waltzes :-)

Rotating grapevine (clockwise): This step works nicely in conjunction with the vai-ven step. It is done here in parallel system. The leader steps forward on the left, through on the right (as if going to the cross), open line-of-dance with the left; those are the first three steps. Then, that is repeated by the follower (forward, step through, side step) while the leader steps backwards (but moving line-of-dance) with the right, backwards with the left (while leading the follower through to the leader's right side), and open line-of-dance with the right (facing IN). On the next step, the leader can step forwards line-of-dance. If you do a vai-ven before and after this move, it feels nice and energized without getting swoopy.

Of course, the rotating grapevine can also be done counterclockwise, but we didn't go there--yet. And, of course, you can do this in crossed system, but that is way harder!

Energizer bunny: Although the follower's role in tango or milonga is NOT to be on autopilot, I find that it helps leaders initially if the follower steps on every beat of the music. The follower does not move around: that's the leader's job. So the follower provides the motor/battery and the leader provides the direction for the dance. We practiced doing this, using both simple walks and step together patterns, and later on after we did several more complex patterns of movements.

Know your milongas: We focused on a few Canaro milongas: No Hay Tierra Como La Mia, Mi Buenos Aires, and Milonga Brava. I find that, the more I know a song, the more I can use syncopated rhythms to play (like corridas). Also, if there are any "breaks" in the song, I know when to put in an earth-shaking pause, right on the money!

In December, we'll learn some more moves and start playing with traspie. We'll continue with getting to know Canaro's milongas, as there are tons of them and they are FUN.

Class #3: Vals Musicality & swoopy moves

For vals, we added a few new moves (or improved them) and worked on musicality.

Music games:

Bim-Bam: This game comes from Luciana Valle.

• All the dancers are responsible for keeping an even paced, steady beat. Everyone makes a noise on the "1" count (like "Bim" or "Bam" if you are Luciana) that differs from any other noises to keep the "2" and "3" counts going; everyone steps ONLY on the "1" beat.
• Next, the "3" beat is added in, making the rhythm feel a bit like a limp: 1 3 1 3 1 3. The dancers make a different noise on "3" to differentiate it from the "1" (i.e., Bim BAM Bim BAM etc.), stepping only on those two beats.
• Obviously, the next version is stepping on the "1" and "2" beats, which accentuates the "1" (BIM Bam BIM Bam etc.).
• There are two other versions, to be used sparingly: stepping on all three counts (perhaps BIM beam bom or something like that?), and pausing for various multiples of three.
• Then, all dancers put the patterns together, moving through the space (still without a partner). The group needs to keep the "1" (BIM) beat going collectively, but can play around within that. I think of this part like learning to scat sing: bee bopp a beeddeeeddee whatever; I dance what I sing.

The Blob: I take complete responsibility for this silly game:

• The group splits up into little blobs of four to six people. The blob is responsible for keeping a steady "1" beat, as in the Bim-Bam game. However, the small group interacts while moving through space. You can be across the room or touching; moving in dialogue or trying to move together on the same counts; running circles around your group, or sticking to the middle for safety, BUT you must be continuing the last step of Bim-Bam: getting comfortable with mixing up the rhythms.
• Then, we move into smaller blobs of two couples and do the same. Explore keeping an eye on the rest of your group but moving further away: how does that feel/work? Now try staying really close together, but working with different parts of the rhythm than the others (12 12 12 when someone is doing 1 3 1 3). Now, try to channel them and do exactly what they are doing.
• Last, break into couples, but still don't touch. Make it a playful conversation of rhythm, where the "follower" doesn't have to stay still or do what the leader wants.

What does the Blob teach? As a follower, I found that I had ideas about rhythm that my partner did not necessarily share. I try to use those moments as adornment, rather than by taking over the lead. If my leader pauses and I hear movement, I can do an adornment with that rhythm. If I hear "1 3" and they lead "12" I can play with the rhythm to make it work for both of us (more on this next time).

As the leader, I realize how much the music helps me make up my pattern of rhythm. Thus, the better I know a song, the better my dance fits with that song and the more my partner likes the dance.

Songs that we worked on:

• Vibraciones del Alma (Canaro)
• La Perfumada Flor (d'Arienzo)
• Mascarita (Laurenz)

We'll work on more songs next time, familiarizing ourselves with tunes that are played a lot in this community. If you have a favorite vals, let us know beforehand, and we'll bring that one to work on. If you want a head start, check out the following:

• Mariquita Mo Mires (Rodriguez)
• Mi Romance (Tanturi)
• Dos Corazones (DeMare)
• Estrellita Mia (Donato)
• Desde el alma (Pugliese and others)

Moves that are fun in vals, Part One

Calecita: The main point of a calecita is that the leader moves around the follower in a giro (turn), with the follower as the center of that circle. Calecitas can end in off-axis, leaning positions, but that is not the main idea. Little calecitas (say, 1/2 revolutions, not off-axis) are great for changing directions with little space available. They also feel WONDERFUL as a follower when used in vals as a way to get a swoopy, suspended feel at the end of a phrase. Remember to:

• Get your follower on axis first.
• "Squeeze the toothpaste" up to help the follower stay on balance on the support leg.
• Keep your steps equidistant from the follower's axis in order to stay on balance. For a counterclockwise calecita, I pivot my hips so that my toes are facing the other direction, and back up around the follower. This is much easier than trying to grapevine in a perfect circle.
• "Squeeze the toothpast" down before asking the follower to travel somewhere else.
• The easiest version of a calecita: take a side step while leading the follower in a side step; lift, turn, release & exit.

As the follower, remember:

• Try to arrive on axis to all steps.
• If "lifted" do not let your heels pop up! Instead, apply active, downward pressure to maintain your balance (using the embrace as a parallel to the ground balance)
• Do not sag against partner!
• Upon feeling the release of the lift, be prepared to travel to a new spot.
• During the calecita, try little adornos that don't knock you off balance: little darts, circles, etc.; or the more dangerous ones like tucking your free heel behind your balance foot.

Traveling turn: I sometimes call this the Dan Turn, as Dan from Alaska used to do these ALL the time (and very well). This traveling turn is done in parallel system, and constantly moves line of dance. Each unit of turn starts with the leader using L foot to travel forward and around the follower, with Follower’s front cross through with the right initiating second half of the turn.The key is make sure that the follower can step through to the leader's left as s/he steps forward line of dance with the right leg each time the turn rotates completely.

Leader: For the first turn, the leader walks into the "maybe" position (starting to walk to the cross) with the right; from there on, the leader doesn't really get to that position, but focuses on keeping the dancers turning. The leader's steps: Through to the inside (R), open (L), backwards (R), backwards (L), open & turning (R), forwards and turning (L); when I get started on this turn, it feels like it has four steps: around follower, slightly backwards, follower around, slightly forwards. Hopefully, one of these versions will help you remember the step!

Follower: back (L), open (R), forward (L), through (R), open (L), back (R). The main element is the through step with the right foot. Once the turn gets going, it feels like: leader steps around, follower forward, follower through, follower turning. Like polka, I find this step super-easy, but not easy to describe! Hope this helps.

Next round (December 14th): More vals steps (turning mostly) and more musicality work.