7 PM Eugene tango class review, 12Jul08

For my 7 PM class, most of the dancers have danced for 1-3 years, and are ready to take their dancing to a new level.  Here are the goals of the class members:
improved balance

• "Oscar's solar plexus thing"
• waiting and breathing
• energy
• more solid, fundamentals
• connecting, breath
• energy, musicality
• flowing
• turns and smoothness
• "Oscar's density and elasticity thing"
• refining the basics

My goals are the same as for the 6 PM class, but using more advanced steps and a deeper understanding of the dance:

• energy
• posture/grounding
• musicality
• polishing/learning steps

Week I
Drills: axis, "force field" and dancing with eyes closed (both people) for connection/energy
Adding energy: using the solar plexus more efficiently to build the energy between the partners
Adding musicality: listen to a song: where does it suggest you pause? Where does it suggest you do a corrida (quick, quick, slow (QQS)).

After that, we separated for the followers to practice posture and technique for forward ochos and adornos for a parada and pasada (stepover). The leaders listened to several Lomuto songs and worked on using the music effectively (dance with feeeeeeling!). Putting the couples back together really showed the effects of that practice time, with more elegant feet for followers and more energized/musical dancing in general.

For our final focus, we expanded the musicality and energy of the dance to encompass the entire group dancing, rather than just the couple. By using the awareness we worked on all class, everyone is energized and tuned in, creating a group musicality. This helps avoid collisions on a practical basis, but the energy boost is amazing when everyone on the floor feeds your dance like that!

Week II
Drills: Oscar's warmup exercises for traspie: to the side, rebound and change weight in center; repeat. En croix, rebounding forward, side, back and side; repeat to other side.

Traspie step patterns
Walking with traspie: the traspie is a rebound, so it is fundamental to USE THE FLOOR. The body must remain flexible, so knees stay unlocked and muscles stay energized but not tight. The toes push the floor away on the rebound, keeping the steps cat-like, not tight. If it becomes tight, traspie won't work.

Oscar and Georgina use the idea of the bandoneon for density and elasticity. That is, each moment of the dance has suspension or projection, creating a very intense, energized dance. We worked on visualizing this idea and using it.

For this step, the leader does a traspie to the left (as if beginning a salida), with the side step and the rebound each taking a Q (quick) count. Then, the leader leads a step LOD (line of dance) and another LOD step to the "inside" as if going to the cross. This can be repeated if desired, finishing with a resolution (Leader steps forward with L, side with R and together with L).

Add side traspie to the other side: This adds a traspie to the leader's R, to the above pattern. The leader does a left traspie and steps forward on the left; then a right traspie and steps forward on the right foot, but stepping to the "inside" track. After that, the leader repeats the first traspie, etc. until reaching a pausing point. The important part of this variation is the step through to the "inside" because the contra body movement required to complete it, gives more energy to the move. Also, it creates a zig-zag (although shallow) that makes the move flow.

Add forward and back traspie (preparation for ocho cortado): Here, after doing the first two traspies and steps of the above variation, the leader does a forward traspie and a back traspie while in the "inside" position (or several of this combo) and then exits into a walk or a resolution. This movement allows the leader to keep moving and keep the energy going, even if someone is blocking space ahead on the dance floor. It does not need to be a large movement, but the relaxed nature of the traspie step gives it a flowy, wavy energy, instead of a feeling of stopping or pausing.

This coming week, we'll add ocho cortado into the mix, as well as some more variations (created by YOU!), and we'll apply the idea of traspie to milonga (speeding it up) and to vals (playing with the rhythm). See you in class!

6 PM Eugene tango class review, 12Jul08

I am going to try to post reviews of what we did in class each week. Please feel free to ask for more clarification, check for mistakes, remind me if I forgot to write something down, etc. This is a dialogue (I hope).

Most of you have basic steps, such as walking, turns, going to the cross, ochos, etc., but would like to make them work better and look elegant. Some of you are learning these steps in class for the first time. Here is the list of personal goals for the class:

• continue with tango fundamentals
• learn to lead
• work on axis, embrace and balance
• slow down
• balance and basics
• frame, balance, basics
• awareness of partner
• lead, lead, lead
• relaxing, fundamentals and embrace
• energy and balance
• basics

These are all great goals! As I mentioned in class, my goals in addition to yours are:

• energy
• posture/grounding
• musicality
• refining/adding new steps as needed

For your class, I am combining my "tango games" that I have created, adapted or directly adopted from teachers, with Oscar and Georgina's concepts foremost in my mind.

So far, here is what we have done:

1. reviewed/learned walking to the cross (which I abbreviate --> X)
2. practiced backward and forward walks
3. Oscar & Georgina's "Porteno walk" (please, someone remind me how to put accents in to spell in Spanish)
4. Corridas
5. Musicality: Tanturi's Oigo Tu Voz and Mi Corazon me decia
6. Dancing in close quarters, using porteno walk, corridas and --> X
7. Played "Naughty toddler" to spice up the follower's energy.
8. Played "El tigre" as leaders
9. Drills: axis and "force field" breathing exercises to connect with partners.

Since several of you have purchased Oscar and Georgina's fabulous DVDs, I am working with figures from their DVDs to accentuate musicality and energy.

Tango: starting all over (again) with technique

How frustrating and exhilarating to pull apart my tango technique and rebuild it--again. What does this make: third time? fifth time? tenth time? Sometimes it is hard to "walk the talk" because it would be SO easy to just stop taking classes and keep teaching one way. However, I am a proponent of life-long learning, and here I am, learning to walk again.

It's all Oscar & Georgina's fault! Well, I guess it's my fault, since I'm the one who said, "I want to look elegant!" when they asked what I wanted from my lessons. Georgina videoed two dances with Oscar, and then they gently sat me down to watch, pointing out what each step lacked. I hate the stark reality check of video, but they were right. Several private lessons and a week of group classes, and here I am, practicing walking, ochos and turns AGAIN. At least I can feel solidarity with my students.

There were many aspects of their style that I had chosen not to adopt when I studied with Oscar before. As most of you know, I have been a strong supporter of a body-to-body, non-V embrace. I have worked very hard to build a parallel-footed balance. I have eschewed the current fad of butt-swaying tango that looks silly and not elegant to me. For each element of style that differed from mine, I asked O & G to explain why they do what they do. In each case, they were able to explain--and more importantly demonstrate--how their method worked so clearly that I had to put aside my viewpoint and try it their way.

By the way, this is obviously my own interpretation of a week of discussions, lessons, hanging out eating, etc., and Oscar and Georgina may not agree with what I'm saying 100%. Also, my Spanish is now back up to about 90-95% comprehension without repeats, but I may be mis-translating some of what we discussed; I hope the main gist serves in this discussion.

The slightly V-shape embrace
I have never seen someone use a V-embrace and successfully navigate to the leader's right (or to the "outside") of the couple. As far as I could see, a V-embrace cut 50% of my dance out. Oscar took me in his V-shape embrace, and easily transitioned to the "outside" repeatedly, even when I played beginner and tried to make it difficult.  OK, point to O & G: you don't have to dance face-to-face to use the entire spatial vocabulary of tango.

But what about energy? So often, I dance in a V with someone, and their energy is way out to the open side of the V, or way ahead of me, already trying to lead the next step, hoping that I am catching up. Obviously, this is energy work needed for any embrace. However, Oscar & Georgina focus on the solar plexus, just as I do. The shape of the embrace need not affect the connection of the couple.

The turned-out foot position
I have had a lot of teachers who insisted on parallel foot position and a lot who insisted on turned-out foot position for tango. Generally, the ones teaching turned-out foot position also suggested locking knees, sticking the bottom out, and all sorts of anatomically dangerous practices. As I focus on learning to dance in a way that protects and strengthens the body, I chose to dance parallel. However, Oscar and Georgina's style also focuses on using the body properly and safely--and they look nicer doing it. The jury is still out on how turned out I will eventually choose to dance, but for now, I am working on learning their styling better to see if my goal of elegance will be reached.

The important parts of foot placement that are shared in both camps, are stretching the legs but not locking  the knees, in order to have a long line; placing the foot so that the body's axis is supported by the foot; and grounding one's energy, rather than popping up in the air. The new part for me is how my foot hits the floor, and how that affects my weight shift. Actually it seems to help, imagine that ;-)

And the biggie: letting the hips move
I have been VERY VERY VERY against this new fad, as it looks like hula or salsa dancers trying to tango. However, it does not look like that with Oscar and Georgina. I believe they approach this technique very differently than anyone else I've seen doing this, and they are the ONLY ones who have been able to prove to me that it not only helps technique, but can also look elegant.

For Oscar and Georgina, the energy of the axis is very grounded and very lifted. So much energy is dedicated to the axis and the balance foot/leg, that some amplitude of movement can be accommodated in the center of the axis to help adjust balance and add elegance. I think visually, and the picture that helps me is a musical instrument with strings. When you pluck the string, both ends are tethered, but the string in between the fixed ends vibrates to make the sound. In tango, the foot is on the floor and the energy pressing up from there to the head creates the line of the "string" while the movement of the pelvis and hip are the vibration of the string, allowing a specific note to sound. The hard part of the technique is the breath, energy and balance needed to stretch and ground at the same time. If that is working, the motion of the hip adds elegance and balance. When I work this way, it feels amazing.

On the other hand, this is a lot harder than just walking on the dance floor. You can go out and dance, and never worry about technique. The "shut up and dance" school of thought works just fine--or does it?

I've been watching dancers in the Pacific NW for thirteen years of tango, and I have to agree with Oscar and Georgina that more passion/energy/feeling could come out in the dance. Much of our dancing does look the same, whether to Pugliese or Canaro, whether milonga, vals or tango. Yes, I've had many discussions with local dancers about this, and yes, we are NOT Argentines. We DO have a different culture, different male-female interactive rituals, different dance roots. On the other hand, we are choosing to learn a dance that is from another culture: do we search for what is important in the dance, or do we choose to make a new dance that is our cultural adaptation of their dance? I think we have both camps of folks in any given tango community. I can't say if one is better than the other, but I know that I want my dance to feel and look the way dancing with Oscar feels (I didn't get a chance to lead Georgina). I'm spending time in all my summer classes working on boosting energy and musicality to see if a new awareness with take us to the next level of tango.

In the meantime, I am (gulp) teaching new techniques that are not 100% dialed into my body for the first time in years. I do my daily exercises to make my dance more beautiful, and I'm sharing my insights with my students. We are truly all learning together right now, a humbling experience for me. And--it's working! I have had some of the most rewarding lessons I've taught happen in the past three weeks. I have more information to give, even if I can't dance it perfectly myself. I see dance musicality and energy flowering all over the place! THIS is why I teach.

Oscar Mandagaran is coming to Portland and Eugene June 19th-24th!!!

I saw Oscar's name on the list for June workshops in Portland, and felt very excited. Then, he was off the list: cancelled??!!! I had not even contacted Polly McBride (his organizer) to see why he was not coming, and he emailed me: "Ely: can you host me?" YES! YES! YES!

I haven't had a chance to study with Oscar since 2000 and 2001 in Buenos Aires, and yet much of what I teach (and dance) has been impacted by those months of studying with him. He is one of the best tango teachers I have ever had, and those of you who know me, know how picky I am about good teachers, having studied dance pedagogy as part of my M.A. in Dance AND taught dance for 20+ years now.

I met Oscar through a lucky chance. My boyfriend at the time took lessons with Oscar and raved about him. I thought, "Big deal, everyone raves about THEIR teacher," but allowed him to drag me to a class.  After the first class, there was no need to drag me.

The class was held in a student's living room, with about ten Argentine teachers/performers-in-training participating. Oscar did not make much from the class, as he offered it at a rate the Argentine students could afford, but that didn't stop him from giving 150% at all times. He is the only teacher I've had who can be warm and praising WHILE pushing you to fix your mistakes and excel at the same time. He never let up, but he never scolded.

"If you can't dance tango on the dance floor, you have no right to be on stage," he told his class--and made sure that his students practiced their floorcraft. The class met socially (including Oscar) to dance together atthe milonga. He was the maestro, but he was a peer at the milonga, chatting, dancing and interacting with the group. He led by example.

My private lessons changed my entire approach to tango. He gave me drills and exercises to make my embrace strong and energized. He gave me drills to make my feet work into the floor and use the energy of my axis and breath in a new way. He told me, "50% of your energy is in each leg, each foot, even if 100% of the weight is on one foot." I had always thought I needed a free foot held a bit off the floor to be ready to move, but he showed me how much more I could do if both feet were right under me, energized and balanced. He talked about energy in a way that made sense and that I have adapted for my own teaching needs.

Most of all, in my lessons with him, he danced as if each dance were supremely important, costumed, on stage--he became a different person than sunny, approachable Oscar. He became Oscar the milonguero, passionate, tigerlike, intent. How could I NOT dance like a diva when given that voltage of energy sent into my body through the embrace? This wasn't just some dance class for a student's American girlfriend, at a "girlfriend" discount: this was a dance that mattered.

I can't wait to study with him again in a few weeks. If you are going to be in Portland or Eugene in June, make sure you get to his classes. Your tango will grow, expand, change . . . a new tango adventure is starting! Check out my page with lesson details (I hope to get it up today).

Back on track

Wow, have I been dilatory about writing: six months of no blogging!  Hopefully, now that I am moved into my Portland house, have sold my Eugene house, and will soon only be living in one town (yay!), I will be able to return to my tango blogging ways.

Of course, that means I would need time to write.  I guess I need to start back on my late-night yerba mate habit!

Got heels? Follower technique class for tango

I'm going to offer a one-night class on follower technique for tango. This class is open to all levels of dancers. We'll work on walk, turn and ocho technique, but also cover adornos to make your dance more elegant, flashy, sexy--what do you want your dance to do? Come amp up your tango! Please bring flat shoes/socks and heels. Men are welcome, but please bring your heels, guys ;-)

Got heels? Follower technique class
November 15 (Thursday)
6:30-8 PM
$10
940 Clark

Hope to see you there! Let me know if you have any questions about the class, or if you'd like to cover something specific.

Sacada sampler (Tango 2 notes)

Note: Don't try to write about tango while rocking out to salsa--I keep typing salsa instead of sacada. OK, the music is off now ;-)

This week and next week, we are tackling the basics of sacadas. The word "sacada" comes from the verb sacar=to take. Here, it means taking the place of the other person in space. There are many kinds of sacadas:

• front sacadas: The person performing the sacada is stepping forward into the move, with either a front cross or an open step.
• back sacadas: The person performing the sacada is taking a back cross (or sometimes, an open step) through the other person's step.
• circular sacadas vs. linear sacadas: Circular sacadas tend to turn around the "post" of the sacadee (is that a word?), and after the sacada, the person doing the sacada becomes the post. For linear sacadas, the move tends to travel line of dance (LOD) to some degree, and moves the couple somewhere else in the room.
• leader sacadas: The leader performs the sacada.
• follower sacadas: The follower performs the sacada.

I think that's it on kinds of sacadas. The sacadas that we have covered:

1. Lead front sacada (circular and linear) through the follower's front cross step.
2. Lead front sacada (circular and linear) through the follower's open step.
3. Lead back sacada (circular and linear) through the follower's open step.
4. Follower front sacada (circular and linear) through the leader's open step OR front cross step.

What's still to come next week?

1. Follower back sacada (circular, probably) through the leader's open step, front cross OR back cross step.
2. Maybe more, stay tuned.

Finding the *&^*@! beat in Cha Cha

For some reason, finding where to "cha-cha-cha" in music is hard for North American ears. The main issue is that the stressed beats are 2 and 4, not 1 and 3 like most music that folks here listen to. For some students, simply explaining that "ccc" goes on the 4 & 1 of the music, clears up any problems--but most stare at me uncomprehendingly. Over the years, I have gone from teaching one way to start the dance (and pounding it into people) to teaching four different ways. This way, I figure that more people will find an easy way to stay on the beat.

1. My favorite way is (wow, surprise) the way I was taught: Count "1" and start the rock step on "2"--but I was a musician for 14 years before I started dancing, so this does not work for everyone.
2. If you can hear the "cha cha cha": start on that part of the step (Leader CCC to the left and then do the back rock on the right foot--or whatever works for you).
3. If you can find the "1" but can't hear the "cha cha cha": On "1" take ONLY the last step of the "cha cha CHA" (to leader's left), and rock back on the right for leader/forward on left for follower).
4. For the rhythmically challenged: watch to see who looks like they are on the beat, and copy shamelessly--there is NOTHING wrong with this approach.

Good luck!

Tangofest 2007 gleanings

For reasons that have to do with too much emotional baggage to go into here (I am not a blogger tells all kind of woman), Tangofest has rarely been a high point in my dance year. However, this year, it was fabulous! I'd have to say that it was my most enjoyable tango weekend in a long time.

What made it great? First, I got to dance three different days. Since my son has arrived in my life, I have only been able to go dancing one night of the festival each year. Attending three different days meant that I didn't have to try to fit all my favorite dancers into one night--no more "Oh, see you next year I guess" moments. Second, I am past the "try to dance with famous people" part of my tango experience. I no longer care if Mr. Perfect Tanguero didn't ask me to dance. I danced with everyone who asked me, and also asked complete strangers--and every dance was good to amazing, NO duds and no Boy Scout dances (doing a good deed dances). Third, I did non-tango things in balance with my dancing. What, you did non-tango things??! I spent a lot of time with my son, made dinner with my sweetie, and attended an impromptu Cuban party where we were the only gringos (the "wow, the white girl can bust the Afro-Cuban moves AND speak Spanish!" show). The breaks made me appreciate the tango moments even more than when I just go dancing.

Tangofest classes
I attended three classes with Charles (thanks, Charles!), each of which gave me new ways to think about tango and tango vocabulary for my teaching. I always attend classes because I think it's important to continue studying tango. I don't think I'll ever get to a place where I know everything about tango.

Musicality class with Murat and Michelle was phenomenal: study with them! Murat does stand-up comedy while making important points about tango. M&M had us doing supposedly simple tasks to the music that made folks cross their eyes and swear under their breath. It doesn't appear to be hard to finish each phrase with a tango close and NOT use it at any point in the dance--until you start dancing and realize you use it all over the place automatically. The same is true for going to the cross ONLY at the end of phrases. The same is true for ocho cortado, although I apparently use this at the end of phrases more than the other moves, because this one was easy for me. M&M concentrated on helping the class find white space in the dance, rather than just mooshing as many moves as possible into the music. In the end, the entire room was moving as one, with no navigational weirdness at all--a new approach to navigation, through music!

The "Unusual ganchos" class with Somer and Agape was also great--I took this because I enjoyed a class of theirs at Valentango last year. Tango 3 has already tried these babies out (I'll post notes ASAP). I enjoyed taking the information I learned from Chicho and  Fabian Salas about ganchos, and applying it to leg wraps. I've done leg wraps for years, but the different approach made my leg wraps more subtle in energy, but more obvious to the follower at the same time.  Cool! We did double ganchos, leg wraps, and combinations of these. Tango 3's eyes are still crossed, I bet. Somer and Agape are a good team: check out their classes!

Diego Alvaro's class Sunday morning was also useful. He took an easy combination, and then did variations on the theme, always keeping in mind line-of-dance. The three or four variations we worked on weren't all that hard. I wish I could remember the other 10-15 he showed (all at once) while I was the designated follower. Most people in the class were so tired that I don't think even the 3-4 clear variations were all working, let alone the "you can also . . . " demos. I was concentrating so hard on dancing well that I have no idea what we did at that point. Tango 2: we'll work on this stuff, probably next week.

Other people's classes: So far, I've only been hit up by three dancers this week in classes to help them figure out what they learned in classes. I always like the "it went something like this, I think" parts of these explanations, because I wasn't in class, and I get to watch and try to figure out what the combination was. I must truly be a tango geek, because I enjoy doing this forensic tango-ing.

Why I love, love, love to dance with Steven Payne
As usual, Steven was the high point of my weekend. We dance really well together, and I've never had a bad dance with him. Steven pays attention to his follower on such a deep level, that any step that is not going well, gets fixed even before it becomes a problem. I can play with music more audaciously with him than I can with other leads because his intent is so clear, but not pushy, that I KNOW where he's going with the music, and can intersperse my own musical commentary into the dialogue, without messing him up. I know I've nailed it when he makes little appreciative noises, and that makes me tune in even more so, in order to take advantage of those musical moments. On top of that, Steven has a really fun repertoire of moves that do not get stuck in ruts. I don't know what's coming next, but it's also not a rude surprise. I feel elegant when I dance with him, but can also just give myself to the dance completely because I know he is doing the same thing.

STEVEN WILL BE IN EUGENE TEACHING IN NOVEMBER: GO!

Tango chemistry
One thing I love about festivals is getting to dance with complete strangers, and finding new favorite folks to dance with. Tango chemistry seems to have nothing to do with levels of sleep, dance level, age, or any other factors I can specify; it just IS. I danced with someone from SF who has only danced for a year, but a very tango-obsessed, over-the-top year. Do you know how jealous I get when new folks have opportunities to get that good in one year, when I had to drive hours just to go to a practica? Grr. Anyway, I had fabulous dances with him (he laughed at me for calling them "lovely" so I'm trying to come up with a different word--lovely is GOOD, Miles) all three days I danced, and was informed that I'd been "blogged about" on his blog. I'm fine with being in the top few of his weekend: I don't need to be #1! Anyway, check it out at Tangobliss  (I'm apparently Ms. EugeneTango in Portland Day Three and Day Two).

Tango I review notes

My beginning tangueros: I have posted the review sheet for Tango I from last term (see the right side of this page, under "Pages"). As this term ends, I will update the review to reflect EXACTLY what we have covered so that you can study for the final. Please let me know if there are any topics that you would like me to expand upon in the blog (or in class).  Cheers!

Ballroom I notes

Hi folks! I've posted a review sheet for the class (see to the right under "Pages" on the blog site). Hopefully, this will help those of you who prefer to have written documentation in addition to classroom time. The key explaining my abbreviations appears at the top of the page (let me know if there are further abbreviations I've forgotten to list!). If we end up doing other steps, I will add/subtract as necessary. Please feel free to ask me to discuss anything that is not clear from class and I will address it in class and/or on the blog.

You are my giro, Part 2 (Tango 2 notes)

Thanks for putting up with your low-blood-sugar teacher last night! I'll try to be clearer on paper ;-)
We worked on walkaround turns, "the Dan" and "the Stephen" last night. My notes on "the Dan" are in the last post.

Turns that travel, Part 2:
The Stephen (or loop-dee-loops):

• Stephen Payne is one of my favorite dancers, and this is a move that only he has led me to do. Again, like "the Dan" what I like best about it is how well he uses the music and syncopation to play within the music. However, the move is also really fun.
• This step can come back to the starting place or progress LOD a bit, depending on the placement.
• As I showed you last night, the basic move is to get your partner walking forward on the closed side of the embrace as you walk in a little circle counter-clockwise (CCW) before continuing line of dance (LOD). To make my partner get into position, I find it easiest to walk LOD forward on the outside (closed side), then LOD side step, and then LOD back step, pivoting my partner into walking forward. I then keep my torso twisted to the right AND basically body-block with my thigh so that the follower can't just step in front of me.
• I walk the circle until the follower is facing LOD, and lead the follower through with a forward cross. That puts the follower in front of me in terms of the LOD. I pivot the follower to face me and keep walking LOD.
• The many variations of Stephen: in my low-blood-sugar silliness, we discovered that you can do "the Stephen" CCW and clockwise (CW), to the inside of the embrace or on the leader's left, looping turns in towards the center of the room (safer) and outwards towards the walls, and with the follower walking forward or backwards. You tell me how many possibilities that makes in total!

Walkaround turns:

• This turn progresses one medium- to big-sized step LOD.
• In crossed system, leading the follower LOD (either in back ochos or in crossed-system walks), step forward on the left foot, leading the follower to also step on the left.
• Then, twist your torso CW, sending the follower into a back, overturned cross step. As the follower starts to take that back cross around the leader, the leader steps forward LOD with the right to stand where the follower had been.
• Keep turning until the leader can face LOD again, and exit. In general, the follower does three steps (back, side, forward) around the leader, but sometimes a fourth step (side) is needed to finish facing LOD. For the leader: if you are really on-axis, you can just spin on the right foot until exiting LOD. Other options: step each time the follower steps BUT STAY IN ONE PLACE, or any pattern of steps turning in place that works for you.
• It feels nice as the follower to pause for a moment at the end of the turn before walking LOD. This gives the follower time for an adorno.

Scoop turns (we did these last week):

• This turn progresses one big step LOD, but no more.
• In crossed system, walk to the closed side of the embrace (leader's right).
• After the follower takes a back step LOD with the right foot, the leader "accompanies" the next step just as if it were a back ocho in place. To clarify: the leader steps to the side IN LOD while leading the follower's back step (which becomes a back cross with the change in the leader's position). On this step, the leader MUST catch up with the follower so that they are parallel to the LOD, or this turn just becomes a rock step for the follower.
• The leader plants both feet and rotates CCW (left) to lead an overturned back cross for the follower.
• Follower's turn is usually three steps: back, side, front--just like the walkaround, but in the other direction. Almost never is the fourth step needed here.
• The leader needs to stay on-axis and on balance for this to work well. When it works, it has a WHEE! carnival-ride feeling for the follower.
• Again, there is a nice moment for a pause at the end of the turn before proceeding LOD.

Chain steps:

• I am not sure if we will get to these right away, so I'll deal with them in another blog.

OK, Tango 2, I THINK we are caught up. For Wednesday, come ready to play my strange tango games: the Fat Lady, Obstruction, Darth Vader and Solo-Couple are on the game plan.

You are my giro! (Turns from Tango 2)

The cafe's internet just kicked me out and ate 45 minutes of blogging. So, I will start over (sigh).

Turns are a key part of tango. When I start a new tango class, I tell them that tango is walking, turning and footplay. Turns are fun, but they are also very useful on a crowded dance floor, as they can either stay in place and use very little room to play a lot, or they can help you get down the line of dance (LOD) very quickly.

Things to keep in mind for all turns:

• Leaders: lead with the energy of the connection, from your center. Yes, the embrace helps, but only because it is connected to the center. Do not steer with the arms, or create a visual lead by pointing your nose where you want the follower to go.
• Followers: ACTIVELY participate in the turn and give the leader a lot of energy to use in the turn. I even think of myself as the motor of the turn. I don't take over, but I work hard on contributing to the movement.
• Leaders: Make sure your axis is planted over your feet, straight up and down. Use your breath to maintain this. The energy of the embrace smooths the turn and gives it force, but it won't work if you are off-balance.
• Followers: Keep a tight circle of even-sized steps unless requested to do otherwise. Especially before your back cross step, PIVOT your foot on the floor as far as you can before sending your leg/foot around the back. This conserves energy in the turn and lets the leader do many more potential moves from the turn.
• I am a firm believer in the follower also being on axis for turns. For those of you who are into extreme-lean tango, be aware that you will have to work even harder with your abs to protect your back as you lean and turn.

Turns that stay in one place:

• Right and left giros at the cross: At the cross, the leader unwinds the follower's feet by rotating left about 3 degrees (I mean it, this is almost undetectable). At that point, the leader can continue rotating left for a left giro, or rotate to the right to start a right giro. This turn can end on any step of the giro, but I usually stop the follower's turn when I am facing LOD and ready to progress down the floor.
• "Rock step and turn" (Turns from the side step): A lot of people think of this as a rock step turn, but in reality, it is a rock step which segues into a side-step turn. If you start a turn with a step to the side, I suggest turning that step so that the follower is already traveling around the leader's axis, rather than stepping into the next circle of dancers. OK, OK, I'll try to get around to making videos that go with these descriptions!!
• "Rock step and cross through" (Turns from a front cross step): I use these turns a lot, but do not often see other dancers using this. I think I learned them while dancing in Buenos Aires (rather than in a dance class), so I can't tell you where they originated. ANYWAY, these have a very small turning radius and a very small amount of space needed to initiate, so they work well in crowded conditions. Lead the follower LOD into a back step, then reverse them into a forward step (=rock step). On their next step (a forward step), lead the follower across your body into a turn. Thus, if the follower's right foot is free, this becomes a right turn, and vice versa.
• Turns from ochos, back and front: Turns from front ochos have a very soft, gentle feel to them. Simply redirect the front ocho into a curve, and keep going. Turns from back ochos have an amusement park ride feeling to them (WHEE!) that I really like, because the back ocho becomes and overturned back ocho to go into the curve of the turn. I suggest leading both of these after orienting the ochos LOD, instead of into the next line of traffic.
• Ocho cortado turns: While doing the ocho cortado, instead of resolving the follower's second rock step into the cross, rotate to the right, creating a right giro; after going all the way around, finish the ocho cortado as usual. Someone remind me to talk about ocho cortados some day on this blog!

Turns that travel:
Be aware that I often name turns after the person who led them on me a lot (or who does them exquisitely). Often, I have learned turns called, "Hey, try this one!" so I don't have a "correct" name for many moves.

• The Dan: Dan Boccia LOVES these turns. I especially like how he does two or three on QQS rhythms, and then wildly careens into one that is all QQQQQQ! I have a hard time explaining these turns, as I never learned them from anyone and just do them, so here goes. These are done in parallel system, and each iteration has four steps, with the leader going around the follower two steps and the follower going around the leader two steps (always progressing LOD). One the first iteration, the leader steps as if going to the cross: open or forward on the left, through to the inside on the right, and then turns in place for two steps (LR) while the follower turns past. On further iterations, the first step does travel LOD, but it often also has a feeling of catching one's breath/balance ;-) Sometimes, followers say it feels as if the lead is only really traveling on one big step with the right inside step. The follower should feel as if the steps are mostly traveling down the room, rotating on a line, rather than a lot of AROUND feeling.  Try that and let me know if this makes any sense, and I'll try to describe it again.
• The Stephen: More later, I have office hours.  Bye!
• Scoop turns
• Walkaround turns
• Chain steps

Gancho basics and deep sacadas

When ganchos go wrong (just kidding, you all did a great job!)
Tonight in Tango 3, we worked on basic follower ganchos. A gancho is a hook, where the leader creates a window and leads the follower to hook a leg through that space. Although there are several ways to classify ganchos, I usually think of how they touch the leader's leg as a defining point (inside of thigh, outside of thigh). Other systems are whether the step is parallel or crossed system, and I've heard a few other ones that I have blanked from my memory. The other two questions are: who is doing the gancho--leader or follower? And, is the movement circular or linear? We worked on follower ganchos that were all circular.

Versions we did:

• To the inside of the leader's leg in a R or L turn (on follower's back cross step)
• To the outside of the leader's leg in a R or L turn (on follower's back cross step)
• After a stepover (follower steps over, then is rocked back to a back cross, then ganchos)--both inside and outside ganchos are possible, depending on where the parada and stepover began

Leader tips:

• Stand up! Offer the follower a long, tall window of space for the gancho. Crouching down or bending your knees only cuts down on the gancho size.
• Prepare your step so that your feet are in a V for stability, and then lead the gancho with your torso rotation, keeping hips steady (same issues as we discussed for boleos).
• Use the embrace to provide stability for the follower--do NOT pull with your arm to create the gancho.
• On inside ganchos, turn leg out in hip socket and release your knee and ankle so that you can snake your ankle around the follower's axis. This provides more gancho space.
• On outside ganchos, turn leg IN in hip socket rather than in OUT.
• Remember, the follower's released leg depends on axis stability. Work hard to keep follower on balance. Don't lean towards the follower during the gancho!
• Place foot a microsecond after the follower's foot hits the ground. That way, you know where his/her axis will be and you won't crash to the ground.

Follower tips:

• Same as for the boleo, keep axis/balance with breath, being on your support leg, and giving energy to the embrace.
• Wait for the lead to create the gancho: don't make them up! If the gancho is not made by the leader rotating in the torso, it won't have a snappy feeling no matter what you do.
• Release your free leg and let the leader create the shape of the gancho.
• Keep your upper body in the circle of the embrace. If you pull your shoulders away to make the back cross step easier, you won't feel the gancho lead very well.

Deep sacadas
A sacada replaces one person with another, so in a literal sense, a deep sacada is not really a sacada. However, there are so many leg wraps running around that I don't really want to call it a leg wrap. My teacher who first taught me these (Jose Garafolo, a fabulous teacher!) called them deep sacadas, so I'll stick to that.

ANYWAY, a deep sacada occurs when the leader steps through the center of a follower's side step of a turn and then twists in the torso to create a boleo-like/gancho-like leg release from the follower. Because the leader has entered the follower's space (sharing axis for just a moment), the follower's leg wraps around the outside of the leader's leg and then releases.

We did the deep sacada CCW, or turning to the left. The leader stepped through with the right foot, paused for dramatic effect, and then exited in a walk to the cross. Most of you also automatically exited into a CCW circle, as that requires a bit less control than coming to a stop in space. Other exits suggested/shown by the class involved doing a calesita or a volcada after the step (both suggestions from folks who attended Tango 2 yesterday!--see previous post).

The most critical thing for the leader is to find the correct timing of entering the follower's side step and then twisting the torso to wrap the leg. The most critical aspect of the move for the follower is to release that leg, but after the wrap, to let the leg pass UNDER the axis (try not to fly it so that moving bodies are cleared from your path ;-)

That's it for now, folks. Sorry I didn't come dancing. I read my sister's email with the eulogy from my father's memorial service, and just didn't feel very joyful/social. I'll come dance next week. I promise!

Volcadas and calesitas (Tango 2 notes)

Volcadas
Every teacher I've ever had has, at some point, said, "OK, you are not ready for x, but since you insist on doing it anyway, I'm going to teach you how to do it." I feel that way about volcadas, especially with the current vogue for this move. The word volcada comes from the verb volcar --to tip or dump. In a volcada, the leader tips the follower off-axis and then resolves the movement by bringing the axis back to vertical.

In order to get the follower to tip over, rather than to travel, the leader needs to signal a difference in the step. As I prepare for the volcada, I lift the follower slightly. I describe this as "squeezing the toothpaste" because the leader is not actually picking the follower up, but creating a tension around the embrace that helps steady the follower as s/he tips. The follower responds by resisting that lift by anchoring the shoulder blades/torso muscles down and energizing the open side of the embrace. Most of the follower's energy should be on the support leg and the strength of the body (do that ab work!), with the loose leg relaxed.

At that point, I can move away from the follower's axis point, creating a tipping motion for the follower and freeing the loose leg to trace a path on the floor. Then, I move back towards the follower's axis to put him/her back on balance. Sometimes, it takes another step for the follower to completely return to vertical. Before asking the follower to take a traveling step, I relax the "lift" on the embrace. Depending on the move, this might happen BEFORE the follower's axis is completely on balance.

The volcada we did resolves by the leader leading the follower's left leg to fall forward and then back into the same position as going to the cross. The shape of a volcada is not set: you can design different shapes by the way that you move the follower. The first one we did last night in class is a very V-shaped volcada, with the follower's leg dropping straight towards the leader and then (led!) sharply back to the cross. The other one we did began with a small back boleo for the follower, curving into a round volcada, which also ended in the cross. Both volcadas freed the follower's left leg, but both can be led to the other side, freeing the other leg--we didn't try that ;-)

There are tons of other ways to play with the idea of the volcada, but let's leave that and move on.

Calesitas
The leader preps for the calesita and exits it in the same way as for a volcada: put the follower on axis, lift slightly, and remember to release the lift before exiting into a traveling step. In the middle, the step is different.

The word calesita means little carousel or merry-go-round (although my extensive Spanish dictionary does not show this as a word . . .), and the point of the move is to rotate the follower while the leader goes around the follower. This can include a tipping or leaning effect, but that is not the main element of this step.

The calesita that we learned was led after a side step to place the follower's axis over the foot. We led a step towards the open side of the embrace, and then rotated CCW (counter-clock-wise) with the follower on the right foot. Obviously, this can be reverse to the other side or rotated the other way (or both). To make the calesita tip over, the leader can either rotate around and then step back (for a sharp movement) or gradually spiral out until there is significant lean, before returning the follower to a vertical axis.

Note: Don't forget to release the follower and the slight lift BEFORE exiting into a traveling step!

Next class, turn-o-rama! We'll prepare for Tangofest by learning a bunch of things to do in place and/or traveling small distances.

Overturned ganchos 101

In Tango 3 tonight (see, I'm doing it before I forget!!), we worked on overturned ganchos. This builds on the con back boleos we did last week.  Of course, you can do con and contra overturned ganchos, but I think the con ones are easier. We worked on leading them from an open stance, or accompanying it with a step together step approach. I think the latter approach is easier, but there are more separate parts to screw up ;-)

Follower tips:

• Stay on axis until the way, way end of the step--at which point you can cheat a little to get a bigger gancho.
• Overturn on your support leg (not at the hip) until your support foot actually faces AWAY from the lead. You may end up with your butt against the belly or hip of the leader.
• Keep your embrace energized: even if you are in the right position, the gancho (like a boleo) won't have that SNAP! feeling if you have separated from the leader's embrace.
• Send your leg THROUGH, not up ('nough said!) in order to avoid groin injuries for the leader. On a good day, I have actually felt the small of the leader's back, or their belt, against my leg/heel.
• Collect as you overturn. DO NOT swing your leg through as a windup. The release of the step is a linear boleo-like movement. Not collecting results in leaders with ankle bruises.

Tips for leaders:

• On preparation step, usually a back cross for the follower, step a bit long and a bit towards the follower so that the follower's axis is between your feet and close enough to touch bodies at the end of the move.
• As the follower is sent into a back rotation, overturn with your chest as far as you can (not your shoulders, not your hips!) so that the follower gets the message to overturn immediately.
• After leading the overturn, you can rotate the follower a little bit on the Fl's axis, so that you can pick the right position for the step. This also gives the move a bit more momentum/snappiness.
• Only at the end of the step can you "cheat" around the follower by leaning a bit or applying some Body English to the move.  Don't count on stretching your arm out or tilting your body, etc. to actually lead the step!

Line of dance (LOD)
Remember that if you can't use this step on the dance floor, it is of little use. Figure out what direction you need to face in order to set up the move to either progress down the floor, or only go reverse line of dance (RLOD) one step. The unwind should progress down the floor as well.  Otherwise, you'll hold up traffic.

I suggest only using one back cross or an entire ocho to prepare for this move: you will keep doing them, holding up traffic, worrying that it's not QUITE the right one to try to overturn :-) Another useful entry into an overturned gancho is a front circular boleo: pick up the momentum of the unwind from that move, and add to it for overturning into the overturned gancho.

To exit, consider using a front con boleo, a Ld sacada through the follower's front step, or some such thing to diffuse the momentum and continue down the LOD.

Good luck!

We all need somebody to lean on (or do we?)

A lot of folks have commented on the fact that I dance close embrace in a very upright position.  Yes, I am not an extreme leaner type.  At the same time, I am not against leaning in tango. When done correctly, it can be fun AND good for the body. However, part of my job as a teacher is to facilitate tango that allows the dancer to keep dancing until they keel over at an advanced age, not until they end up in a wheelchair. I teach very upright tango because I feel it is important to learn about one's own balance, axis and movement before asking someone else to be responsible for one's back/feet/weight.

After you can hold your own body up and know where your axis is--and where your feet are--THEN you can contemplate finding a way to lean and achieve the same balance and control when off-axis. When you can do that, you have the tools to lean as far as you like without injuring your back or feeling like a Mack truck to the leader.

And then there is the element of surrendering to the dance: practice more upright, working on your technique, but in the moment, who cares? When you are dancing, all that melts into the background as you connect with another person and the music and just DANCE. When I dance, I hope to get "in the groove" and forget about standing up or breathing or releasing my legs because it just happens.

In Tango II, we are working on close embrace to get ready for the crowded dancing situation at Tangofest (http://www.claysdancestudio.com/portland_tangofest/index.shtml).This class is both fun and challenging to teach, as I have students who have danced for three months and others who have danced for 4-5 years in the same class. I run it like a one-room schoolhouse, sometimes dividing people into learning level groups, sometimes having the advanced students dance with the intermediate students to get everyone on the same page. But I digress as usual:-)

Drills & games for the week:

• Axis drill: standing with knees straight but unlocked, big toes touching, eyes closed, breath evenly. Imagine that you can pull air up through the bottoms of your feet, up inside your bones, all the way to your lungs. Then, when you exhale, imagine pushing the air back down through your legs & feet, going six inches through the floor (not just to your soles). Gradually include breathing out the top of your head AND through the floor at the same time. Think of a shower curtain rod: it has springs on both sides, bracing between two walls. Your body is doing the same thing, but sending energy out your feet to ground and out your head to align your axis.
• Force field (2 people): Stand facing each other in the same stance as for the axis drill. Breathe as for the axis drill, but on the exhale, direct all the energy of the breath towards and through your partner, starting at the toes and gradually building a rectangular force field all the way up your/their body. I picture little electrical waves going through my partner, but other folks have said they imagine light/a laser beam/a color/fire/water/bubbles--whatever image works for you.

More after this week's classes--I'm trying desperately to keep on top of reviewing for all of my classes, but it's hard to type when a toddler is "helping"!

Whips and chains (Boleos and crossed system grapevine combos)

We worked on circular boleos (whips) for Week II of Tango III, and then combined them with sacadas.

Con boleos are led by the leader rotating in the same direction as the follower's hips are turning. This is true for both front and back boleos. For me, these boleos have a kind of SSSwoosh feeling, very smooth.

Contra boleos are led by the leader moving around the follower in the opposite direction that the follower's hips are rotating, to create a more ssWOOSH! feeling, with a harder snap to the boleo at the end, but with a tiny bit longer buildup before the snap.

Boleo tips for followers:

• Be on your axis: with few exceptions, boleos work best on axis.
• 80% of the work is for your support leg and body: find a way to stabilize without tensing.
• The free leg MUST be relaxed in order to get a real boleo. You can fake them following a boleo lead, but the feeling for the leader--and for you--is not the same.  The leg is release in the hip socket, not in the lower back.
• Don't clench knees, hips, toes, in order to maintain your balance: use the floor/grounding.
• Stand tall and think of your rib cage lifting ALL AROUND so that your legs can fit under you easily.
• There is no one shape of boleo that is correct. The leader can shape your move, after you have learned to release your leg and stay connected/solid in your center.  The path of the leader's rotation determines the path of your leg.
• Your embrace needs to be strong at the moment of the boleo to help stabilize your body (except the loose leg), but don't clutch your partner! Think of two waves hitting and subsiding, rather than a death grip.

Boleo tips for leaders:

• This is a subtle lead. I know, it doesn't look like a subtle move, but the lead energy gets magnified as it travels down the follower's body to the free leg.  If you haul your partner into boleos, they can't release their leg without falling over.
• Find the rotation in your center, and keep it parallel to the ground unless you want to make strange, weird boleo shapes.
• Don't use your arms to twist the follower: use them to stabilize, not to pull!
• Plant your feet strongly. Many times, I find that both of my feet need to be solidly on the ground BEFORE I initiate the boleo lead. Yes, there are some boleos where you can't do that, but work on them after more simple ones work.
• For contra boleos, remember that you can travel with a side step (usually the easiest), a front cross, or a back cross.  Experiment!
• Lead the boleo as one move, not a twist and then an untwist: allow the follower's momentum to contribute to the unwinding.

Using boleo combinations on the dance floor

What's the point of knowing all these cool moves if you can't use them? We focused on leading con and contra boleos with a preparation set up along the LOD direction, and exiting LOD. The leader can face out of the circle or into the circle to do these.

Building on what we did last week, we played with adding steps to the boleos as they unwound, resolved into steps LOD.  You can use circular or linear sacadas after the boleos, but some moves remain in one place and cannot be done in a crowded space.

One last note: Don't lead high boleos (or backlead high boleos) in a crowded space! Although many boleo shapes curve around the follower's axis, thus making them compact enough for most dance spaces, if you are dancing with someone whose style you cannot predict, don't boleo.

I think that's it, unless you remember something I forgot to write down!  Good work, everyone!

Lead from your center, follow with energy! (Week I Ballroom I notes)

What is the most important element of ballroom dance for a beginner? To me, it is building communication between the leader and the follower. If you focus on leading from your center and communicating your movement to the follower--even if it is "wrong"--both people get to move together, to dance!

The leader's role is to make the follower feel secure, communicate moves to the follower, navigate without collisions, dance with the music, and decide what steps to do. That's a lot to do at the same time. However, if you concentrate on moving from your center, the follower can stay with you. Because you are making your movement requests clear, the follower feels more sure/secure, and allows you more control over the steps. Moving from your center allows you to stay more balanced, helping to avoid collisions and allowing you to move with the music more easily.

The follower's role is to give the leader energy, while following the lead (pretty obvious). The follower's role has fewer elements to juggle, but it is still not easy to follow. First, many people find it difficult to give up control, let the other person determine the course, and trust that all will be well.  Second, in a beginning class, all the people leading are new at leading and so require more attention on the part of the follower to understand what steps need to happen.

I make my students try both roles in order to better understand the structure of the dance.  Also, understanding the role of the other dancer makes most dancers more sympathetic when difficulties arise: each person knows that both roles present challenges, and can help each other with technique, steps, and keeping the dance together.

I try to balance my games/exercises to improve couple dancing in general, with steps :-)  We are starting with a traveling dance (foxtrot) to get used to moving around the space; and rumba, a mostly stationery dance, to practice holding a space on the floor.

Foxtrot has two rhythms in the dance: slow, slow, quick, quick (SSQQ)--6 counts--and slow-quick-quick (SQQ)--8 counts.  We started with the 6-count steps, practicing traveling around the room.

• Basic (SSQQ rhythm): Leader (Ld) starts forward (fd) on the left (L), fd on R, and steps side together (sd tog) on LR; Follower (Fl) starts back (bk) on R, bk on L, and sd tog (RL).
• Hesitation (SSQQ rhythm): Ld steps fd on L, bk on R, sd tog (LR); Fl: bk on R, fd on L, sd tog (RL). Turn counter-clockwise (CW) to rotate the step.

Rumba has an 8-count rhythm (QQS, QQS--or SQQ SQQ; as I explained in class, I am of the QQS school), and the steps are built off box steps. 

• Basic turning box (QQSQQS): Ld steps sd with L, tog with R, and fd with L; again side step to R, step tog with L, and step bk with R; Fl steps sd with R, tog with L, bk with R; and side with L, tog with R, and fd with L to complete the box.
• Long underarm turn (QQSQQS): The turn is completed using the time of an entire box, 8 counts. On the Ld's bk step, the Ld raises the left arm, starting to signal a turn. As a new box starts, the Fl moves under the raised arm to start a 6-step, 8-count circle.  The Fl's circle and the Ld's box resolve at the same time. (Note: we didn't get to finish the finer points of this yet. This week, we'll make the turn look great).

Tango 3: Weird, original moves

At the beginning of all of my classes (except my beginner class), I ask my students what they would like to get out of the class.  I then use that information to plan the class. C. asked for "weird, original moves" and "new ideas from normal places" to keep his followers from anticipating upcoming moves.  R. asked to work on gaining precision "on everything." M. wanted "body placement and loose legs."  G. wanted to do follower and leader sacadas--ah!  something easy!!!  As the rest of the class had not yet chosen goals, we started with the idea of sacadas, and quickly ended up at weird and original.

Basic Patterns
1. Leading the follower to do a front sacada through the leader's front cross.
2. Leading the follower to do a side step sacada through the leader's front cross.
3. Leading the follower to do a front sacada through the leader's back cross.

Focus: using these steps on the dance floor
Using Chicho's great cross-system grapevine exercises for moving around the room, we adapted it to the sacadas. This way, each sacada that happens moves the leader from the inside or outside track, to the other track around the room (think concentric circles). All three sacadas can be led with the leader starting with his/her back facing the center of the room, or facing out of the room, but ALWAYS continuing line of dance (LOD).

Weird and original: the variations
Once the basic patterns were working to some degree, we started messing around with my favorite question: what movements flow from this movement? what makes organic sense from this point?

1. (G's idea): adding a linear boleo immediately after the sacada is strange but fun. We worked on the quick timing needed for the leader to ground before the follower's leg goes past vertical, in order for a really nice, snappy linear boleo to happen. 
Note: If you do this variation, the rebound wants to go reverse line of dance (RLOD), which can be dangerous. In order to stay with the feeling of progressing around the room, the rebound needs to be shaped into an overturned back cross and sent LOD.
1a. C. and G. liked the possibility of recurring front sacadas for the lead after this.

2. (C's idea): adding a volcada.  This is much harder than 1., a bit weirder, but fun.  The important factors are: you must use the sacada to get closer together, lift the follower slightly to make them stay on the same foot & not travel, and then guide them in the volcada & reground them.  The only tricky part is convincing the follower to remain on the same foot!

Following tips:
It seems to me that many tango classes ignore the followers and focus on what the leader needs to do, and we didn't talk a lot about following in this session, BUT these crazy moves are a great place to work on your axis and using breath to balance/ground.  Because you don't know what is going to happen next, you must be ready for anything, and that requires pinpoint accuracy in technique.  M. found that, if she breathed and focused on staying on balance, all the moves became easier than when she tried to figure out what was happening ;-) More on following next week.

For those of you who didn't make it to class this week, don't worry: we're on to other, weird stuff!