Over the past almost three decades of studying and teaching tango, I have heard many competing ideas about how to turn/pivot/spiral in tango. Part of this is how each teacher uses language to try to describe complex movements in the body. Another aspect of the problem is that not everyone who teaches knows how the body works. Yet another issue is the diversity of body shapes and abilities that come to tango: there cannot be one look for all bodies to move, so we need to dig in and FEEL how the body moves.
The most important takeaway I would like you to get from reading this blog post is that YOU understand how YOUR body works, and pay attention so that you use your body as efficiently as possible, in order to avoid injury and to get the most fun out of your tango!
Proprioception
Proprioception is the fancy word for being able to feel what your body is doing and how it is moving through space. Most of us have some ability to tune in and stay aware of how we move. However, many people have past injuries or trauma that we avoid by teaching our bodies to ignore certain parts or amounts of pain. This gets in the way of discovering a deeper awareness of how the body is connected. I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to find “new” body parts and connect them to your body map. It takes time and work and gives a sense of wonder at how complex and fascinating the human body is, which makes the work worth it.
Tensegrity structures
Tom Myers describes the body as a tensegrity structure, with the bones floating inside of the connective tissue. The stretchy ligaments, tendons, and fibers that run through the muscles—the connectors—create the movement. If you look at the body this way, you can see spirals of connective tissue running through the body, and it makes sense that we are built to spiral, twist and bend. The angles of the bones and their placement decide WHICH movements happen at any one place.
The spine is a good example (here is a video of a spinal tensegrity structure). Each part of the spine moves in diverse ways.
The sacral vertebrae are mostly fused, but there is movement at the SI joints (sacroiliac), connecting the fused sacrum to the rest of the pelvis.
The lumbar spine can bend forward and back, as well as bend sideways, but the way the articular facets of the vertebrae are positioned, there is almost no twist in this part of your spine.
The thoracic spinal articular facets are positioned differently. This area of your spine can side bend and does a lot of the twisting in pivots and turns, but it has limited flexion and extension (bending forward and back).
The cervical spine can do it all: bend forward, back, side, and twist, but is not used much to create pivots.
We need to connect all the parts to create the movements we need for tango. This is why I do not teach “disassociation” when I teach pivots and spirals.
A few tips to help maintain readiness to pivot and spiral
Your neck is part of your spine
Put your head on straight! Your neck is part of your spine, and your connective tissue flows up the body from the feet and up over the top of your jaw and skull. If you put your head in the wrong position, it pulls the entire structure off balance. Take time to ensure that the back of your neck is as long as the front. This helps to keep the weight of your skull balanced, which allows your spine to twist better.
Find stability and then let flow happen
When we watch a turn, or an ocho, or a boleo, what we see is the flow of the movement that comes from the body being balanced, aligned, and therefore free to move. However, stability is needed to set up the conditions that allow the flow to happen. People forget to find the structure that allows the movement. Because the entire body is one tensegrity structure, stability is not a gripped into place, frozen shape: it also has adjustments and balances.
To find your best pivots and spirals, pay attention to what needs to SUPPORT that motion first, and then focus on building the flow on top of the supports. We will be working on this in class tonight.
Pay attention to your feet and ankles
The myriad bones of the feet and ankle work hard to maintain stability. The more you establish the correct position of the foot, the easier the rest of the task of balancing will be at the hips, spine and higher up. I do daily exercises to strengthen the arch of my foot and ankle.
To pivot well, build your dance from the floor up, letting the spirals of fascia that already exist in your feet and ankles and legs help you.
Maintain your normal turnout
Turning out extra to make tango look like ballet does not help your dance. Keep your normal turnout so that the fascia at the hip joints is less stressed. You will be able to keep your leg relaxed in the hip joint for a free leg and your spine will twist better without the impediment of a tight pelvis.
Shoulder blades as stability
I have written at length about the embrace and how it creates stability for the couple. If your shoulder blades and arms are stabilized, the connective tissue that attaches to them can twist better. Examine your embrace and see if you are using it effectively.