Tango Class I Notes

Argentine tango is basically a walking dance. Argentineans say if you can learn to walk, the rest is easy. They also say you have to "walk your miles" to learn to dance tango.

Walking technique:

Brush through on every step; your ankles and knees brush as on leg passes the other.
Extend the leading leg, bend the supporting leg; weight is approximately centered between where your feet are located, so your body moves with the extending leg, but at half the speed such that the leg is moving out faster than the body but not without the body also moving out (does that make sense?).
Shift weight from one leg to the other; as you take weight on the extended leg bend it, and as you remove weight from the bent leg straighten it.

As you apply the above technique in practicing walking (forward and back), keep in mind that you want to minimize any up and down movement. Roxanna described it Monday as "walking like a cat stalking its prey", or something like that.

EXERCISE

Walk forward four-six steps, brush thru and reverse walking backward four-six steps.

Ochos:

Ochos ("eights") are a walking step as well. Instead of merely continuing straight forward or backward, however, you pivot as you brush thru (see above). How much you pivot in the actual dance will vary; for now a 90 degree pivot works. Walking technique is same for ochos, except when you brush thru you momentarily hold your foot (level-not with the heel raised) against your other ankle as you pivot. As you pivot and brush thru be careful that you don't momentarily put weight on the non-supporting foot, in effect pivoting briefly on both feet. The non-supporting foot can skim the floor, but all the weight remains on the pivoting (supporting) foot.

EXERCISE

Ocho forward and back as in walking exercise. Also placing hands against and leaning toward and being supported by a wall, cabinet, etc., practice doing a series of forward ochos followed by a series of back ochos.

Grapevine:

A grapevine is a sequence of walking steps. Specifically a grapevine is a sequence of alternating forward and back ochos ("crossing" steps) interspersed with side steps. For example: 1) step on left crossing forward over right; 2) step on right sideways to the right; 3) step on left crossing behind right; 4) step on right sideways to the right, 5) etc. Again, technique for doing the grapevine is similar to doing ochos or walking steps, above. Having completed the previous step, you start the next one by brushing thru and pivoting; you then continue and complete that step by extending and shifting. The end of a step occurs, i.e. a step is completed, as you complete shifting weight from one foot to the other. A grapevine sequence can begin and finish arbitrarily. It can be 3 steps long, 18 steps long, 33 steps in length. It can move either left or right. It can begin with a side step, a forward crossing step (forward ocho), or a back crossing step (back ocho). When the woman is led sideways, either in a straight line, or in a curve as when the man leads her sideways around himself, she by default does a grapevine sequence of steps. This default is an important part of the syntax of Argentine tango. As in any language, syntax is crucial, and is essential both in communicating with your partner and in being able to improvise the dance.

EXERCISE

Do grapevine sequences individually or holding hands with another person and moving in a tight circle. Doing it with another person you can place a chair between yourselves and grapevine around the chair. To further your enjoyment of this exercise you can try making a complete revolution around the chair in exactly four grapevine steps. Practice in both directions.

All of the above walking exercises can be practiced in two ways: 1) Robotically, doing the brushthru, pivot (if there is one), extension of the leg, and the shifting of the weight, in a very artificial, segmented fashion, focusing on each part of the step, maybe repeating that part several times back and forth before going to the next part; and 2) Flowing, liquid, as you would in the dance, making each part flow and blend into the subsequent part of that step.

Figures:

The only figures we looked at Monday was a salida leading to the cruzada, and then followed by a "tango close". Doing these in sequence repeatedly lead to doing a "box". I taught this poorly (or not at all) on Monday night, so I'm going to give a detailed description, along with my apologies and a promise to do better.

"THE BOX"

Large step left sideways with left foot Medium step right sideways with right foot
Step forward on right-outside of partner Step back on left foot onto right foot
Step forward on left, still on right- Step back on right foot outside of partner.
Close right foot next to left, taking Forward-cross left foot over right weight on right foot ending with feet tightly together and weight on left foot. Knees are slightly flexed; not stretched up like a ballet pose; toes are about even with each other (the "Cruzada")
Step forward, directly toward partner, Step back onto right foot onto left foot (yours, not hers!)
Step sideways right onto right foot Step sideways left onto left foot
Close left foot next to right foot taking Close right foot next to right foot weight on left (closing) foot taking weight on right foot
Step back onto right foot Step forward onto left foot

We mostly taught this as a choreography where the follower did her steps as the leader did his. In reality any figure, improvised or not, will be led by the leader and followed by the follower. This is just something to do to get started; like scaffolding in building a house. Don't take it too seriously. Use it as a sequence to practice walking with.

EXERCISE

Practice "the box" both individually and with your partner. As you do your steps, try to simultaneously be aware of what your partner is doing. When practicing by yourself, adopt a phantom partner and be aware of what she/he is doing as you do what you're doing. Practice both roles (leader and follower) with your phantom partner (your phantom partner doing the opposite role.). When practicing with a real partner, try to "dance in their shoes/skin" as you dance in yours. This is a very productive exercise (when actually practiced).

We talked a bit about balance and interdependence. It is fashionable to be independent. In tango however it takes two, as you might have heard. If you truly want independence, you should take up a different dance. You can and should practice balancing on your own, but you need to be aware of and practice balancing with your partner. Interdependence in tango is not just between the leader and follower: balance, the connection, the frame, leading and following, being aware of your partner and what she/he is doing, are all integral. There is a (minimal) giving and taking of weight with your partner. You move as one entity, as two bodies but with a single mind. Monday night we practiced walking as a couple, experimenting with various frames. We'll do more of that, along with getting into more detail on how to lead and follow. There are many systems both for leading and following, as well as for teaching how to lead and follow. My system, while being to some degree specific to Argentine Tango, also embodies principles and skills that carry over to any form of couple dancing, and can even help with line dancing. Becoming proficient in those skills takes time and practice. Although relatively simple in principle, it is not the easiest system to learn; but having mastered it, dancing becomes natural, intuitive, and not dependent on a lot of rules. Dancing in its essence is the joy of "not thinking", of feeling the movement, the music, and the presence of you your partner. My experience with many systems is, while initially easy, they are deceptively simple, seem to make sense, but evolve towards increasing complexity rather than simplicity and elegance, keeping you tethered to rules, and to a certain teacher or system. As my teacher Daniel Trenner used to say, "My goal is not to sell you a fish a day, but to teach you how to fish."

EXERCISE

Do all the above exercises with a partner focusing alternately (one thing at a time) on the frame (using different frames that we used in class), on the connection (establish connection and giving-of-weight before you take the first step), on brushing thru on each step (brushing thru is when the lead for the next step is initiated--we'll talk about this next week), and on what your partner is doing (which foot is she/he on, where is his/her weight, which direction is she/he moving in). The focus of the dance is primarily on the follower. In the beginning we say he focuses first not on his step but on hers; she focuses on him focusing on her.

What we learn doing Argentine tango will be a foundation for learning other couple dances, and what we learn doing other dances will help with tango. My goal, our goal, is to build a dance group that is incredibly fun, and a venue for truly good and exciting dancing. I will make more CDS for those who didn't get one last Monday, plus, for this coming Monday, if I have time, I'll make a new CD. For this and any subsequent CDS I make I ask for a small donation (not required) of about $2 (less if you're poor, more if you're wealthy). Thank you to the experienced tango dancers who came to partner and help with the class and to some who are actually taking the class (The saying goes: "Beginners want to learn intermediate steps, intermediate dancers strive to learn advanced figures, while truly advanced dancers work on basics"). And again, Roxanna, Jane, Alexia and I thank you for being interested in couples dancing in general, and in Argentine Tango and our class in particular.

Gary Diggs