Saturday, May 28, 2016

Myths of the Tango Walk

I remember going to a workshop some years ago and being told, "In Argentina they used to make you walk for 6 months before they let you do anything else."

Right.

And when I was a child I had to walk 6 miles to school in the snow.

Uphill.

Both ways.

I have danced Tango for 30 years, all over the world, with dancers who started dancing Tango as long ago as the 1940's. Not one of them ever spent 6 months "just walking" - if by "just walking" you mean pacing around the floor by yourself, in eternal search of "the perfect walk".
But Tango is a walking dance. So let's explore some of the myths of "The Tango Walk".

Myth One: "There is one Ideal Tango Walk. And we all aspire to it"

There are many different ways to walk in Tango, and none of them are the "One True Way". Here is a suggestion: google "great Argentine Tango". Watch how the couples dance. You will notice that the walking styles look very different. They use their feet and knees differently. Some walk heel-toe, while others appear to walk toe-heel. Some lean forward, or stick their chests out. Some stand straight over their feet.  Chances are you will like some more than others. That's OK. Tango leaves lots of room for personal style.

The best dancers have many different tango walks. A good dancer will modify his or her walk to fit each new partner, to fit the music, to suit the quality of the dance floor or the quality of the other dancers on the dance floor. You do not dance the same on a concrete surface as on a smooth wooden floor. You dance differently on a crowded floor than on an open floor. Even the shoes you wear can slightly change your walk.

Myth Two: "You can learn the Tango walk by yourself"

You can practice such things as finding your axis and balance, transferring your weight, forward and backward swivels, and so on by yourself. But it truly takes two to Tango, and you cannot really learn the so-called Tango Walk without doing it with a partner. Balance changes when you have to take into account the balance of your partner. Swivels feel different when done with a partner. The axis of a partnership is not exactly the same as your individual axis. Your walk does not really become a Tango  Walk until you can do it with a partner.

Myth Three: "You need to learn how to walk before you learn anything else"

OK, there is some truth here. But not the way we often think of it. Walking in Tango involves far more than just mechanically schlepping around the floor putting one foot in front of  (or behind) the other. Tango is all  about walking. Everything we do in Tango involves walking. We learn to walk to the heartbeat of the music. We learn to speed it up or slow it down. We learn to change directions. We learn to incorporate rock steps,swivels, and turns. But this is ALL walking. Everything we do in tango involves learning to walk, improving our walk, finding different ways to walk. In Tango we never stop learning to walk.

 Myth Four: "All a leader (or follower) needs to be an enjoyable partner is a good walk"

Again, yes and no. Certainly without a balanced, comfortable walk you will never be a truly enjoyable partner. But if all you know how to do is put one foot in front of the other you will NOT be an enjoyable partner, no matter how elegantly you do it.

You need a whole lot more to be a good tango dancer - things you should be learning from the very beginning. You need to be able to dance to the music, which involves listening to and understanding the music, and interpreting it with rhythm changes and pauses. You need to be able to maneuver in traffic, which involves learning how to dance in place. A"good walk" must include all these things. As a leader, you must not only be able to do these things; you must be able to lead them. And as a folllower, you need to be able to do all these things as your leader leads them.

 What you don't need is a whole lot of fancy, impressive figures. Those can be learned later, if you like. But most, while fun, are unnecessary, and indeed, are impossible to execute safely on a crowded dance floor.

A good Tango Walk is balanced, relaxed, comfortable to the partner, and done to the music. Everything else is personal style. Yes, a good walk is important. But it is less important for how it looks, than for how it nurtures the partnership connection. Because that connection is the one truly indispensable aspect of Argentine Tango.




No comments:

Post a Comment