Nito Garcia and Elba Sottile were some of my first Argentine tango teachers. I was six months into tango and went to my first Stanford Tango Week. What I loved about Nito and Elba’s classes was how clean their dancing looked and how connected they were as a couple. They insisted on good technique and solid, useful moves instead of the flashy stuff some other couples taught. Everything they taught us fit on the social dance floor. When I went to Buenos Aires, I continued to take classes with them at Gricel, along with my Argentine friends.
For the next few weeks, I will be teaching their classic turns and combinations I learned from them, at my Thursday class at Shabu Studios. We might not be able to spin as well as Nito, but we can use their work to make our social dancing more balanced, musical, and beautiful!
If you can’t do it in a 1960s Chanel skirt . . .
“If you can’t do the adorno in a 1960s Chanel skirt, DON’T do it!” advised Elba at one class at Gricel. She was showing us adornos to do in calesitas and leaning calesitas. “Keep your feet on the floor!” She wanted no window between the thighs for any move. Big fancy adornos are fun, but for the social dance floor, who needs bruises from someone else’s partner kicking you?
I can do that blindfolded!
I watched Nito and Elba perform with Nito blindfolded. Because of his precision, he could do the sacadas, lapices, paradas—all his regular moves just as cleanly without looking. That was a lesson in not looking at what we are doing. On the video, notice how nice his posture is: is he looking at his feet? No! Do you need to look at your feet? No!
Learn to follow to learn to lead!
One night at a tango festival, the organizers announced a mystery couple for a performance. Intrigued, we wondered why one of the teachers was dancing with a new, white-haired partner that none of us could identify. Had we missed classes with one of the Argentine women? She looked a little dumpy in the dress she wore, but boy could she dance! And spin! and power turns! At the end of the dance, a grinning Nito Garcia took a bow in his dress. I was so impressed by his turn technique. Imagine most tango guys you know PERFORMING as a follower, managing to dance in a dress and heels with great technique, and blowing away the audience!
I can tell you that the next day, I paid even more attention in class!
Classy dancing does not mean flashy dancing!
Nito and Elba have never gone for the flash of performance. Their dance has soul instead: musicality, connection, teamwork that I hope to have someday in my dance. After all these years, they are still an inspiration to me.
Let them inspire you too! You can watch them dance at Club Gricel! It’s an old video, and it’s a little grainy, but you can see his cat-like tread and her calm elegance! I need to dig out my old VCR tapes from class reviews!