Over and over, when you are first introduced to Tango, you are told: It's all about the walk. You have to have a good walk in order to dance Tango.
But "walking" in Tango does not mean what it does in everyday life.
Normally, when we go for a walk, it involves getting from one place to another, in a straight line, and in a fairly regular rhythm. But when we talk about the Tango Walk, we are not talking about destination, or direction, or tempo. We are talking about technique.
In Tango, we can "walk" in any direction, forward, backward, side to side, in place, or in a circle. We can even "walk" while standing still.
Learning the Tango walk involves learning HOW, not WHAT. How do we use our feet to gather energy from our connection to the floor? How do we find and maintain our axis? How do we keep our connection forward, toward our partner?
If you watch any good dancer, in demos or at the best milongas, you will note that they seldom take more than 3 or 4 steps in a straight line before stopping, or turning, or changing direction. Tango is not a linear dance. It moves, then stops. It turns, one way then another.
Teachers need to recognize this, and realize that learning the Tango Walk involves learning to stop, every bit as much as learning to step.
TANGO TALK
Friday, December 2, 2016
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Welcoming Beginners to Argentine Tango
A healthy Tango community is one that is constantly growing. As people leave, new people join. And integrating new dancers into your community is a big part of that process.
Beginners need two things to entice them to join a Tango community. They need to be intrigued or inspired by the dance itself, AND they need to be made to feel comfortable in the social environment of a milonga. The first is already accomplished by the time a beginner shows up for their first class. It is the job of a good teacher to keep encouraging the student's interest in the dance.
The second - comfort within the Tango community - is the job of everyone at the milonga. So what can you do? Here are 5 things you can do that will encourage your beginners to keep coming, and to keep learning.
1: Dance with them. This is the number one, MOST important thing you can do. A beginner neither needs or expects to dance every dance. But if they dance no dances, again and again, they will not come back. So ask them to dance. It is OK to ask for the third song of the Tanda if you do not want to commit to the whole set.
2. Talk to them. Introduce yourself, if it is the first time you have met. Offer them refreshments if any are available. Talk about Tango, or anything else. Be a good host.
3. Don't overwhelm them. Feed them information about Tango in digestible bites. Leaders, if you ask them to dance, use this opportunity to lead a simple Tango. Followers, shelve the adornments, which can distract or confuse a beginner leader.
4: Don't criticize or correct. For example, if a beginner asks you to dance verbally, do not get on your high horse about the cabeceo. If he stays with Tango he will absorb all that soon enough. Likewise, do not make a point of trying to fix your partner's dancing. No teaching on the dance floor, remember?
5: Make them part of your community. If a group of you go out for coffee after the milonga or practica, invite them. Let them know of other Tango opportunities, and convey the idea that they would be welcome to attend them.
Remember, you were once a beginner yourself. All the best dancers were once beginners. If beginners feel comfortable in your community, they will keep coming back. And if they keep coming back, eventually they will not be beginners any more.
Beginners need two things to entice them to join a Tango community. They need to be intrigued or inspired by the dance itself, AND they need to be made to feel comfortable in the social environment of a milonga. The first is already accomplished by the time a beginner shows up for their first class. It is the job of a good teacher to keep encouraging the student's interest in the dance.
The second - comfort within the Tango community - is the job of everyone at the milonga. So what can you do? Here are 5 things you can do that will encourage your beginners to keep coming, and to keep learning.
1: Dance with them. This is the number one, MOST important thing you can do. A beginner neither needs or expects to dance every dance. But if they dance no dances, again and again, they will not come back. So ask them to dance. It is OK to ask for the third song of the Tanda if you do not want to commit to the whole set.
2. Talk to them. Introduce yourself, if it is the first time you have met. Offer them refreshments if any are available. Talk about Tango, or anything else. Be a good host.
3. Don't overwhelm them. Feed them information about Tango in digestible bites. Leaders, if you ask them to dance, use this opportunity to lead a simple Tango. Followers, shelve the adornments, which can distract or confuse a beginner leader.
4: Don't criticize or correct. For example, if a beginner asks you to dance verbally, do not get on your high horse about the cabeceo. If he stays with Tango he will absorb all that soon enough. Likewise, do not make a point of trying to fix your partner's dancing. No teaching on the dance floor, remember?
5: Make them part of your community. If a group of you go out for coffee after the milonga or practica, invite them. Let them know of other Tango opportunities, and convey the idea that they would be welcome to attend them.
Remember, you were once a beginner yourself. All the best dancers were once beginners. If beginners feel comfortable in your community, they will keep coming back. And if they keep coming back, eventually they will not be beginners any more.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Tango Trust
Argentine Tango is an intimate dance. We dance in the arms of a person we may not know well, or even at all. When we step out onto the dance floor, we are implicitly agreeing to this intimate physical contact - cheek to cheek, breast to breast. And trust is a necessary component of this agreement.
Tango is essentially an impersonal intimacy. While there are no physical boundaries, there are firm boundaries of expectation. Tango promises nothing, beyond the bliss of translating the music into a shared experience.
Tango is not a seduction. If you use your Tanda for that purpose it is a betrayal of trust. The embrace is for dancing, not for flirtation. If you use the embrace to stroke your partner's back or tickle his neck, or deliberately rub her breasts, you are breaking trust. And once that trust is broken, Tango is no longer a shared intimacy. It has become a trespass.
Does this mean you can never flirt with a Tango partner? Of course not. Flirtation can add a wonderful intensity to Tango. But do not initiate a flirtation on the dance floor. It is not fair. Wait until the tanda is over, and your partner can accept or refuse without pressure. Once you have established a MUTUAL flirtation, you can, if both parties wish, continue it on the dance floor.
Tango is essentially an impersonal intimacy. While there are no physical boundaries, there are firm boundaries of expectation. Tango promises nothing, beyond the bliss of translating the music into a shared experience.
Tango is not a seduction. If you use your Tanda for that purpose it is a betrayal of trust. The embrace is for dancing, not for flirtation. If you use the embrace to stroke your partner's back or tickle his neck, or deliberately rub her breasts, you are breaking trust. And once that trust is broken, Tango is no longer a shared intimacy. It has become a trespass.
Does this mean you can never flirt with a Tango partner? Of course not. Flirtation can add a wonderful intensity to Tango. But do not initiate a flirtation on the dance floor. It is not fair. Wait until the tanda is over, and your partner can accept or refuse without pressure. Once you have established a MUTUAL flirtation, you can, if both parties wish, continue it on the dance floor.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
You Might Be A Tango Snob If....
Face it. We all have a bit of the Tango snob in us. How can we help it? No other dance combines intimacy, creativity, artistry and culture quite like Tango. So it is easy to become a bit chauvinistic about it.
So in a spirit of lighthearted fun, see if you recognize yourself.
You might be a Tango snob if....
You never have fewer than 3 pairs of Tango shoes in your car - and they are all Comme Il Fauts...because you would never wear anything else.
You refuse all verbal requests to dance. Real Tango dancers cabeceo!
You serve mate at your house milonga.
You have been heard to express the opinion that Nuevo is not REAL Tango.
You never arrive at a milonga during the first hour.
Your computer wallpaper is a slide show of La Boca.
You refer to Tango stars by their first names only.
You discuss Tango in Spanish....even though you don't speak Spanish
You complain if the DJ plays anything recorded after 1948.
You don't understand why anyone would ever dance anything but Tango.
So in a spirit of lighthearted fun, see if you recognize yourself.
You might be a Tango snob if....
You never have fewer than 3 pairs of Tango shoes in your car - and they are all Comme Il Fauts...because you would never wear anything else.
You refuse all verbal requests to dance. Real Tango dancers cabeceo!
You serve mate at your house milonga.
You have been heard to express the opinion that Nuevo is not REAL Tango.
You never arrive at a milonga during the first hour.
Your computer wallpaper is a slide show of La Boca.
You refer to Tango stars by their first names only.
You discuss Tango in Spanish....even though you don't speak Spanish
You complain if the DJ plays anything recorded after 1948.
You don't understand why anyone would ever dance anything but Tango.
Friday, October 14, 2016
As I Get Older....
Those of us who have been dancing Tango for many years, who are now in our sixties, or seventies, or eighties, are confronting a sad reality. There comes a point where no matter how many classes I take - how many private lessons - I am never going to get better.
I have reached the pinnacle. And there is no place to go but down. As my body ages, things that were easy ten years ago become less so. And as I struggle with the aches and pains that naturally come with getting older, Tango is no longer the effortless joy it once was.
I get asked to dance less. I sit and watch while lovely young women dance every dance. And I grieve for what I have lost.
Many Tango dancers, when they reach this point, stop dancing Tango altogether. But not me. That is partly because the joy of teaching Tango - of nurturing a new generation of dancers - never grows old.
But more importantly, aging has a way, in Tango as in life, of burning away the nonessentials, of annealing the experience. What is left is the true meaning of Tango - creativity in intimacy.
I may have fewer tools with which to be creative, as my body refuses to execute some of the dramatic nuevo steps. But Haiku is just as beautiful as dramatic verse, and just as satisfying.
I may dance less, but the dances mean more because they are with partners I cherish; partners I do not need to impress because that is not why we dance Tango.
When I was a young Tango dancer I used to watch the old milonguero couples dance together. Their dancing was beautiful in a way that brought tears to my eyes, and touched me in a way I could not really understand.
Now I do.
I have reached the pinnacle. And there is no place to go but down. As my body ages, things that were easy ten years ago become less so. And as I struggle with the aches and pains that naturally come with getting older, Tango is no longer the effortless joy it once was.
I get asked to dance less. I sit and watch while lovely young women dance every dance. And I grieve for what I have lost.
Many Tango dancers, when they reach this point, stop dancing Tango altogether. But not me. That is partly because the joy of teaching Tango - of nurturing a new generation of dancers - never grows old.
But more importantly, aging has a way, in Tango as in life, of burning away the nonessentials, of annealing the experience. What is left is the true meaning of Tango - creativity in intimacy.
I may have fewer tools with which to be creative, as my body refuses to execute some of the dramatic nuevo steps. But Haiku is just as beautiful as dramatic verse, and just as satisfying.
I may dance less, but the dances mean more because they are with partners I cherish; partners I do not need to impress because that is not why we dance Tango.
When I was a young Tango dancer I used to watch the old milonguero couples dance together. Their dancing was beautiful in a way that brought tears to my eyes, and touched me in a way I could not really understand.
Now I do.
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Tango Drama: Just Say No - Please!
Tango drama -
It is hard to resist.
It is impossible to avoid.
Which teachers are feuding? Who is sleeping with their student? Who is dating whom? Who has broken up, and who is to blame? Who is cheating on their spouse? Who are the sexual opportunists? Who are the dance creeps and stalkers? Whose feelings are hurt and by whom?
Some people enjoy the drama. I am not one of them. If you are another who does not appreciate Tango drama, I have a few suggestions:
1: Don't date within the Tango community. If you choose to disregard this advice, don't talk about your relationship with others in community. And be aware that if you break up, especially if it is a hostile breakup, one or both of you will probably find yourselves uncomfortable returning to familiar Tango haunts.*
*I made one exception to this rule, 16 years ago when I began a relationship with a former student. But we kept it so private that when we got married 5 years later many in the community didn't even know we had been a couple.
2. Don't gossip about other people in the community. Thoughtful news is one thing - salacious gossip is something else. Who just got back from Argentina is appropriate to talk about; who they slept with while there is not. If someone starts a conversation about another Tango dancer that drifts into unpleasant gossip, smile and change the subject. Be aware that if you talk about someone in your Tango community it WILL get back to them.
3. If you have a personality conflict with another dancer, handle it yourself. Do not drag the rest of the Tango community into your personal relationship problems. The exception to this is the groper or the stalker. Such antisocial behavior, if it persists, needs to be brought to the attention of the local organizer. And if you have any reason to believe the behavior is part of a larger pattern, your fellow dancers should be warned. And teachers and organizers need to be willing to warn and, if necessary, ban serious offenders.
4: Support your local teachers, but don't involve yourself in their drama. It is fine to praise your favorite teacher, but avoid criticizing other teachers.
And teachers: Avoid criticizing other teachers and promoters, even if they trash-talk you. Don't try to embroil your students in a competition between teachers.
These are rules that I have developed over 20 years as a Tango dancer, teacher and promoter. Every time I have broken them I have regretted it - except the one time that led to marriage. (in Tango there is always an exception).
It is hard to resist.
It is impossible to avoid.
Which teachers are feuding? Who is sleeping with their student? Who is dating whom? Who has broken up, and who is to blame? Who is cheating on their spouse? Who are the sexual opportunists? Who are the dance creeps and stalkers? Whose feelings are hurt and by whom?
Some people enjoy the drama. I am not one of them. If you are another who does not appreciate Tango drama, I have a few suggestions:
1: Don't date within the Tango community. If you choose to disregard this advice, don't talk about your relationship with others in community. And be aware that if you break up, especially if it is a hostile breakup, one or both of you will probably find yourselves uncomfortable returning to familiar Tango haunts.*
*I made one exception to this rule, 16 years ago when I began a relationship with a former student. But we kept it so private that when we got married 5 years later many in the community didn't even know we had been a couple.
2. Don't gossip about other people in the community. Thoughtful news is one thing - salacious gossip is something else. Who just got back from Argentina is appropriate to talk about; who they slept with while there is not. If someone starts a conversation about another Tango dancer that drifts into unpleasant gossip, smile and change the subject. Be aware that if you talk about someone in your Tango community it WILL get back to them.
3. If you have a personality conflict with another dancer, handle it yourself. Do not drag the rest of the Tango community into your personal relationship problems. The exception to this is the groper or the stalker. Such antisocial behavior, if it persists, needs to be brought to the attention of the local organizer. And if you have any reason to believe the behavior is part of a larger pattern, your fellow dancers should be warned. And teachers and organizers need to be willing to warn and, if necessary, ban serious offenders.
4: Support your local teachers, but don't involve yourself in their drama. It is fine to praise your favorite teacher, but avoid criticizing other teachers.
And teachers: Avoid criticizing other teachers and promoters, even if they trash-talk you. Don't try to embroil your students in a competition between teachers.
These are rules that I have developed over 20 years as a Tango dancer, teacher and promoter. Every time I have broken them I have regretted it - except the one time that led to marriage. (in Tango there is always an exception).
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Some thoughts on "Back Leading"
"Backleading" is a term leaders frequently use when the follower did something he did not expect, and as a result the connection broke.
But that term implies that the broken connection is the follower's fault. I really want to try to stop thinking in terms of fault.
A broken connection can happen for many reasons, including a communications glitch, a balance problem on the part of either person, or differences in style. Blaming all these things on the follower is counterproductive. Let us look at them individually.
Communication between partners is a two-way street. All too often when there is a problem, the follower is told she didn't "listen" to the leader, or didn't "wait for his command". News flash - tango is not a master-slave relationship, or a teacher-student relationship. It is the job of the leader to listen to the follower, every bit as much as it is the follower's job to listen to the leader. True, the leader starts the conversation. But after that, it is a dialog, with the leader making suggestions and the follower adding her ideas.
Lack of balance is one of the most common reasons for a broken connection. This can cause either person to take an unexpected step. In a good partnership, each person is not only responsible for their own balance, but also for avoiding causing their partner to go off balance. Only practice can solve this connection problem.
Style differences are a frequent cause of broken connections. This is why we dance tandas - it gives us an opportunity to resolve those differences, and work toward a mutual accommodation. Compromise is the key. A leader who merely accuses the follower of back leading, and who puts no effort in reaching a compromise, is not a partner. He is a boss. True, sometimes the styles are so different that dancing together will never be enjoyable. In that case both people should "agree to disagree" and find other people to dance with.
When you step onto the floor at a milonga, you have agreed to dance together. Maintaining the connection is the responsibility of both people. Sometimes that means the follower becomes the leader and the leader becomes the follower - either intentionally or unintentionally. Stay connected. Dance with your partner. Forget blame. This dance is about "us", not about "you" or "me".
A broken connection can happen for many reasons, including a communications glitch, a balance problem on the part of either person, or differences in style. Blaming all these things on the follower is counterproductive. Let us look at them individually.
Communication between partners is a two-way street. All too often when there is a problem, the follower is told she didn't "listen" to the leader, or didn't "wait for his command". News flash - tango is not a master-slave relationship, or a teacher-student relationship. It is the job of the leader to listen to the follower, every bit as much as it is the follower's job to listen to the leader. True, the leader starts the conversation. But after that, it is a dialog, with the leader making suggestions and the follower adding her ideas.
Lack of balance is one of the most common reasons for a broken connection. This can cause either person to take an unexpected step. In a good partnership, each person is not only responsible for their own balance, but also for avoiding causing their partner to go off balance. Only practice can solve this connection problem.
Style differences are a frequent cause of broken connections. This is why we dance tandas - it gives us an opportunity to resolve those differences, and work toward a mutual accommodation. Compromise is the key. A leader who merely accuses the follower of back leading, and who puts no effort in reaching a compromise, is not a partner. He is a boss. True, sometimes the styles are so different that dancing together will never be enjoyable. In that case both people should "agree to disagree" and find other people to dance with.
When you step onto the floor at a milonga, you have agreed to dance together. Maintaining the connection is the responsibility of both people. Sometimes that means the follower becomes the leader and the leader becomes the follower - either intentionally or unintentionally. Stay connected. Dance with your partner. Forget blame. This dance is about "us", not about "you" or "me".
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