Drunken sailor: oldie but goodie steps

I hadn't meant to teach this step last week, but one couple came in with a mild disagreement over how to make it work, and the other dancers were intrigued, and it got added to the intermediate lesson plan. After all, what's not to like about a bit of milonga snuck into tango class?

I learned this step the first year I took tango. In fact, I think we ALL learned this step that year, 1995-1996, because I remember being led in it ad nauseam, and swearing I'd never teach the move again. Ah, well, life is more fun when you reverse your decisions randomly!

Main concept

The leader blocks the follower's leg so that, instead of walking backwards, the follower has to change weight by crossing the right leg in front of the left leg (the reverse of the "normal" cruzada position). This is repeated several times (three feels nice), and then the leg block is released to walk the follower to the cross. Many people like to use a slight rocking motion to travel/change weight during this move, which is probably why it's called drunken sailor.

Because this step relies on full body contact to lead nicely, I wouldn't do this in open embrace: it leads to karate-like chops towards the follower's legs, which do NOT feel nice. Ease into this step; it's only a slightly drunken sailor! Think rocking boat, not staggering drunk.

Getting into the step

I like leading into the drunken sailor from the salida. Of course, there are other ways, but I'll leave you to figure those out.

1. Leader steps to the left with the left.
2. Step forward and slightly to the right diagonal with the right, making sure to contact the outside of the follower's right thigh with the outside of the leader's right thigh.
3. While doing #2, the leader rotates a bit, so that the leader's hips face slightly left forward diagonal. This makes it easier for both people to arrive in the correct, balanced position to switch feet.
4. The leader steps in and behind with, the left so that the knees "kiss"--but the feet don't. By overshooting a bit, and then shifting the hips, this step shifts a teeny bit to the leader's right. This ensures that the follower MUST shift weight, crossing to the "wrong" side.
5. Repeat 3. and 4. two more times (optional), continuing down the line-of-dance. The hip shifts tilt the dancers from one foot to the other, making this step look drunken. Don't overdo it, and make sure that the lead is from the center, not from the arms or shoulders. It's supposed to look drunken, not dangerous.

Exiting from the step

Once the follower understands that you are doing the drunken sailor, continuing the step is easy. However, convincing the follower that you want to STOP the move takes a clear lead.

1. Stop touching legs: as the leader travels forward with the right, make sure your legs do not touch.
2. Reverse the diagonal: as the leader travels forward with the left, make the step move out SLIGHTLY to the left front diagonal (facing LOD), and make sure you have rotated the follower so that it is obvious that something else is happening.
3. Lead the follower into the regular cruzada, crossing the follower's LEFT over the right (of course, there are other ways to exit, but this is the easiest).

This is a traveling step

This does not travel in a straight line (notice the name!), but it does end up making a normal progression down the LOD. I can't explain what it looks like, so I will have to draw a picture of it:

In my mind, this is what I say to translate this picture (you need to start at the bottom and work up--sorry, this is how I notate dances for myself!):

• side
• forward
• shift in place
• forward
• shift in place
• forward
• shift in place
• forward
• to the
• cross!

As long as the move continues line-of-dance (LOD), it works on the dance floor. There are two main variants I've seen, one in which the leader does a crab walk down the LOD, with the hips facing slightly left front diagonal. In the other version, the leader faces the center of the room, and moves sideways down the line of dance. I like moving down the room in diagonals, rather than facing in.  Yes, facing into the room is probably an easier way to get that first reverse cross from the follower, but it's harder to exit elegantly. 

Adjusting for height

Not everyone is the same height, so sometimes "thigh" needs to be a relative term. I aim to contact the follower's leg near the height of the hip joint, so I can move the follower's leg through space without upsetting the follower's balance. That means that a short leader may need to aim higher than their own thigh, and a tall leader may need to use just above the knee in order to contact the follower at the upper thigh. If you have a really tall follower, make sure you don't take them out at the knee by mistake!!

Taadaa!

The duende of tango

I think of "duende" as the "passion" or "soul" of something.  Merriam-Webster defines it as "the power to attract through personal magnetism and charm."

What is it that attracts people to tango, and then holds them in tango's embrace?

I don't think it's the steps of tango, or the music, although I am hooked on both myself. I think it is tango's demand that both the leader and the follower must interact with another person's energy and spirit, in order to dance well. To dance tango, you need to take an emotional risk and open yourself to another soul.

Beginner's mind

What made me think of this was a joyous, laughing beginner who tore up the floor last night at my lesson.   When I fired up my Naughty Toddler exercise, he flew around the dance floor with a more experienced follower, and led her in moves that I KNOW he does not know. He put his entire heart and soul into that dance, and it was breathtaking. 

Now, tango is not a solo dance, so you need a partner willing to risk all as well. Last night, a quiet, sweet follower turned up the volume, met this beginner's energy, and did the best dance I've ever seen her do in a year of dancing. She looked phenomenal; she took risks I've never seen her take, and it paid off.

It looked FUN! It had passion, it had groove, it had soul; for a moment, the duende of tango peeped out.

Maintaining beginner's mind

All of the tango beginners who showed up quickly got the idea that the shared energy counted more than perfection of steps. As we explored, the more shy dancers started to play, smile, risk more, and began to dance with energy, with spirit, with soul.

More experienced tango dancers were less sure. I saw the skeptical looks exchanged by the "experienced" dancers (something along the lines of "I think she must be nuts" as far as I can read facial expressions). A teacher is telling us that it doesn't matter how well we do the steps?!?!

Some of those dancers did not walk on the dance floor with an open mind. When I left, they were practicing dance moves--without any spark of connection. Well, you can't change anyone's mind except your own :-)

One more experienced dancer took the challenge. Over the course of a few dances, I watched tentatively try out "misbehaving" as a follower. She started to smile. Her dance improved, but it was not easy for her. I honor her for daring to step out of her comfort zone.

My job as a teacher

I used to think that teaching perfection in each step was my primary job as a teacher. After twenty-four years of teaching dance, I no longer believe that. In the past two or three years, I have come to realize that I needed to relearn how to teach, in order to serve my students better.

My job is to release joy, confidence and pleasure into the world; to facilitate personal fulfillment.  For some people, that does mean reaching perfection in a dance style, and I am happy to share my expertise (and my anal retentive nature!).

However, for most of my students, I find that their goal is NOT perfection. They have different goals: find a boy/girlfriend; spend time in our unconnected lives to touch other humans; to express themselves to music; to build balance and flexibility in order to dance into old age; etc. For all of them, they seek those magical moments during a song where two energies meet and two souls touch. Perfect dancing should be perfect connection. Tango entices because it offers an opportunity to reach that perfect connection every dance.

That is what I try to teach. Ask me about the Tiger Growling exercise sometime! Or, come to the Eclectic Dance at Norse Hall on Saturday night (lesson 7:30) and experience it for yourself!

Creating your tango on the fly: paradas, drags and stepovers

One of the complaints I hear from intermediate dancers is that they don't know how to combine the moves they learn with their established habits on the dance floor. My preferred approach to new material is to integrate new moves immediately into the structure that dancers already use; and to understand material as a matrix of opportunities that suggest themselves while dancing.

One example of this: While turning, the follower takes a back cross step every four steps. What can you do with this step? Let's look at a few possibilities that are almost identical in setup, but differ in terms of which side of the follower's foot connects with the leader's foot; which foot the leader uses; and what the music says to do.

Back parada (stop) and pasada (stepover)

A parada (see most recent post) led on the follower's back cross step, or back parada, places the leader's foot in the way, blocking the next side step in the same direction of the turn. For example, if right turn is happening, the follower's left foot is blocked on the outside edge with the inside edge of the leader's right foot (to keep us all sane, I will only suggest one possibility here for the moment).

Two possibilities:

1. Reverse the follower so that s/he steps FORWARD over your foot (so, a back parada and then a front pasada, or stepover).
2. Do a sandwichito (little sandwich), bringing the leader's other foot up so that the leader's heels touch around the front of the follower's foot; then step back with the foot that originally stopped the follower; let the follower collect the heels around the front of your foot, and then step over (the version I described in the last post).

A drag (barrida or "sweep" or arrastre or "drag") and pasada

If you set up EXACTLY the same way as mentioned above, BUT place your foot on the other side (instep) of the follower, you can then perform a drag and stepover.

Let's say that we are turning to the right, and stopping the follower when the follower's left foot is near the leader and the right foot has done a back cross and is touching the floor.

Just like a parada, the drag is an illusion: it is led with the torso, and the leg drag simply adds another flavor to what is simply a side/open step of a turn for the follower. So, as soon as the leader's foot is in place, the leader's torso turns (here, clockwise, or to the right), and the leg accompanies that movement, so that the follower, the leader, and both legs arrive at the next point, at the same time.

This is a nice moment to incorporate the pasada, or stepover, perhaps with a pause for adornment before it.

Again, two possibilities:

1. Drag with the foot towards which you are turning. In this example, use the right foot to drag. Your hips face the follower to make the leg drag easier. Then, the leader's torso twists to the right/clockwise, as do the hips and legs.  The leader ends up with hips and torso facing the follower (don't forget, keep your feet in a V, or you will fall over!)  The leader's right leg guides the follower to step immediately in front of the leader's new facing, and step over. 
2. Drag with the opposite foot (i.e., to the right with the left foot). For this move, the leader must align the hips and feet facing the follower's NEXT step, while leaving the torso facing the follower's present position. Then, twist the torso to align with the hips and feet; and lead a stepover. This move is easier to keep one's balance, but harder to execute a pretty drag, as there is a tendency to push the follower's foot, instead of accompanying it with the leader's foot.

# 1 is easier to lead in close embrace (IMHO), while #2 is easier in open embrace; but don't limit yourself! Try both, to both sides, to see which one(s) you like, and use those.

This week in class, we'll cover some more ideas that are built off of back cross steps in the turn, and we'll also look at moves from the follower's side step. More drags, more pasadas, maybe even some ganchos! We'll see how far we get.

Paradas: general technique and three examples

I love paradas (stops, from the verb parar, or "stop") because they are a prime place in tango where I, as a follower, get to adorn and play with the music, the feeling of the dance, and the leader! As a leader, I enjoy doing paradas because it creates a natural pause that goes with the pauses in the music; and it lets the follower have time to ornament the dance and express the music in a way that complements mine.

Main concept: A PARADA IS LED WITH THE TORSO, NOT THE FOOT. The foothelps the follower know it is a parada, and creates a situation that often requires the follower to do a pasada (step over the foot of the leader). This makes it look more exciting, but the lead is in the torso, with a little help from the foot and the embrace.

Each parada is named after the step the follower has completed. A front parada is done at the follower's front step. A side parada is performed in relation to a follower's side step. A back parada blocks the front foot of the follower as the follower transfers weight to the back foot in a back cross step.

Follower technique

• Be on your axis. Make sure you adjust your weight so that the free leg is truly free. If you are off-balance, try adjusting your hips back first (at the hip joint, not the lower back), which helps the femur nest into the hip joint for more balance.
• Relax your joints: keep your ankle, knee and hip joints, both in the support leg for balance, and in the free leg for ease of movement and adorning.
• Pivot at the floor/feet, not just at your hips and knees. The leader's foot/ankle should adjust to give you space; if they don't, there are ways to adjust so that you don't get hurt.
• Collect with your ankles under you with a relaxed, balanced look. The next time you dance in a mirrored space, check that your knees are together, ankles are together, etc. What I often see is the free foot trailing out behind like a kickstand: tidy it up!
• Adorn! Although not all leaders give you time to adorn at paradas, if the music says PAUSE! perhaps you can influence the leader's musicality by taking your time and adorning. Remember: you can influence the leader's timing, but you are not the leader.
• Protect your body: If the leader is pushing you off balance, adjust by rebounding onto your "free" foot, and then moving your "support" over a tad (usually a bit away). At this point, wait for the stepover lead.  You will be on balance, and the leader will probably think that you just did an elaborate adorno. You will look good, be on balance, and be able to complete the move.
• For pasadas (stepovers): Don't rush! The leader leads this move. Give the leader energy to play with, but don't take over. There should be a clear torso lead here to tell you when to move. After all, here is your time to do adornos.
• When there is no pasada: This is simply half of a front ocho, which you know how to do :-)
• When you step over, take a normal sized step, carefully staying the same distance away from the leader (unless led to do something else). Think of it as half of an ocho, with a roadblock.

Leader technique:

• The TORSO is the main way to stop your partner; just stop moving your torso, and the follower stops.
• The foot placed against the follower's foot or ankle (depends on the move, see below) helps the follower know you are leading a parada--and it looks cool, too!
• The embrace helps the follower feel the torso's lead. Often, I mark the parada by LIGHTLY lowering my body and the embrace, perhaps 1/16 of an inch (no one should see this, but the follower can feel it). This grounds the follower, making it less likely that s/he will continue to travel.
• Hint: Keep the follower near you. That way, you don't have to reach out to find their feet.
• Adjust your foot/ankle around the follower's pivot to facilitate elegant movement for the follower and to protect joints.
• Give the follower time to adorn (more on this below)! This is a soulful move, not a 1-2-3-4 count kind of move.
• Lead the pasada (stepover): This is NOT up to the follower to decide when it's time to go!
• On the other hand, being sensitive to the follower's dance makes you look good (i.e., if the follower did an adorno and is not pausing for you to lead the pasada, maybe you should do it!).

Most paradas can be done in open or closed embrace, as long as you are willing to dance in a V (and that V changes from side to side sometimes for paradas). I prefer to dance in a V-shaped close embrace, opening up for any moves that don't work in closed position; and then returning to close embrace.

In class, we have done only one kind of each parada, and this blog entry would be WAY too long if I put all the possibilities in, so I'll cover one direction, one variation only for now.

Front paradas

For those who like to classify movement, the move we did was a front parada from the first half of an ocho cortado (or a right turn), using the leader's right foot; with a pasada to exit. Front paradas are led as the follower makes a forward step, either in an ocho, a giro (turn) or just walking.

1. Lead the follower to take a front step of an ocho, turn or walk (easiest in ocho or turn).
2. As the follower's right foot hits the ground, place your right instep alongside the follower's instep, on the side near you.
3. As the follower pivots to face to your left, adjust your foot/leg so that you end up in the famous S-curve shape: the edge of your little toe on the ground; your instep wrapped around the follower's ankle; your heel up off the ground; your knee lightly flexed; your leg rotated to the right in the hip socket, as far as it will go. This lets you FEEL where the follower's axis is, right at the floor.
4. MEANWHILE, slow down your torso and stop, so that the follower feels a pause in the movement. There is no correct length of time to pause: it depends on the  music, your follower, your interpretation of the music, etc.
5. You can use "la marca" or "mark" the parada by applying a TINY bit of pressure to the embrace, with a teensy downwards movement. I usually do this when I am leading the follower's leg to slide out into a darting motion (suggesting a specific adorno).
6. Suspend the body (TINY lift up of your body/embrace/the follower) to prepare for the pasada (stepover).
7. Lead the stepover by rotating around own torso, so that follower steps over your foot and completes a second front step (basically, an ocho with a roadblock).
8. Exit.

Side paradas

For those of you who are structured, we did a side parada to the leader's left (in parallel system), blocking with the leader's right foot; leading into a pasada (stepover) and exit.

1. Lead the follower to take a side step with the right foot, to the leader's left, while taking a step to the left with the left.
2. As the follower's right foot hits the ground, place your right foot alongside your follower's foot BEFORE the follower collects, so that your foot is in between your partner's feet.
3. Make sure you leave enough room so that the follower can make a V around the front of your foot (the follower's heels need to be able to collect together, or this move looks really awkward in a skirt).
4. As the follower pivots to face to your left, adjust your foot/leg so that you allow the follower's foot to pivot as much as needed.  You will probably end up with your foot next to theirs.
5. MEANWHILE, slow down your torso and stop, so that the follower feels a pause in the movement. There is no correct length of time to pause: it depends on the  music, your follower, your interpretation of the music, etc.
6. Suspend the body (TINY lift up of your body/embrace/the follower) to prepare for the pasada (stepover).
7. Lead the stepover by rotating around own torso, so that follower steps over your foot and completes a front step around you.
8. For the side parada, I like to suggest adornos after the follower's foot has lifted to step over, but before there is a weight shift.
9. Exit.

Back paradas

A back parada stops the follower's "front" foot as the follower transfers weight for the back step. For our class, we learned a back parada in the right turn, blocked with the leader's right foot.

1. Lead the follower to take a back step of an back ocho, turn or walk (easiest in ocho or turn).
2. As the follower's right foot hits the ground, place your right instep alongside the outside edge of the follower's foot.
3. MEANWHILE, slow down your torso and stop, so that the follower feels a pause in the movement. There is no correct length of time to pause: it depends on the  music, your follower, your interpretation of the music, etc.
4. Transfer the follower's weight onto the right foot while moving to make a "sandwich" around the follower's left (front) foot. Make a nice V with your feet, heels touching.
5. [optional] Adorn! This is your moment, leaders! Play!
6. Step back onto your right foot, moving your ENTIRE body (leave your left foot in place) so that the follower can transfer weight and collect around the front of your left foot.
7. [optional] You can use "la marca" or "mark" the parada by applying a TINY bit of pressure to the embrace, with a teensy downwards movement. I usually do this when I am leading the follower's leg to slide out into a darting motion (suggesting a specific adorno).
8. Suspend the body (TINY lift up of your body/embrace/the follower) to prepare for the pasada (stepover).
9. Lead the stepover by rotating around own torso to the right, so that follower steps over your foot and completes a front step.
10. Exit.

OK, I think we're moving into TMI land, so I'll leave other variations, etc., for another post.

More milonga moves (review from Milonga class, March-April 2010)

We covered a HUGE amount of material in the past six weeks--good work, folks! Here is a review of the steps and technique we learned.

This first part on ocho cortado is recopied from my blog earlier. I just want to make it easier to find for those of you who are only taking my milonga class.

Ocho cortado

There are many ways to do ocho cortado, but there are some fundamental elements that must exist for the ocho cortado (or ocho milonguero) to happen:

1. Follower is led in a back-front rebound step (R foot back, L forward). This is ONE movement, like a basketball hitting the ground and returning. Does the ball stop for a moment at the ground? No! It flexes and returns (just like the follower's body).
2. Follower is led to step through to the leader's outside track (leader's right) with the right foot.
3. Follower is led in a side-side rebound step (left-right), ending in a front cross/close. This should have some circular motion around the leader to make the move easier for the follower and conserve space.

Notice that the ocho cortado is based on the follower's footwork! As the leader, I could hop up and down, as long as the follower gets these messages: rebound, step through, rebound, close. However, most of us prefer a bit more structure, so here are the leader's steps for the linear ocho cortado:

1. Leader does a forward back rebound (left, right).
2. Leader steps backwards with the left, while leading the follower through to leader's right side.
3. Leader does a tiny rebound side-side, but most of the movement is circular, so that the follower's rebound goes around the leader, not away, out into space.
4. Leader completes move by stepping in place (or near there, depending on the variation) with the right foot, ready to begin another pattern in parallel system (or doesn't switch and is in crossed system).

Most of the arguing about how to do the ocho cortado here in Portland centers around whether the ocho cortado should be circular or linear. THERE IS NO CORRECT VERSION; linear vs circular is a decision made on the dance floor, depending on the space available.

Ocho cortado variations

The Charleston

This is a linear variation that does not pivot the follower. The leader remains facing line-of-dance (LOD) or original direction; follower remains facing leader UNLESS you are using this move to change facings in the room.

• The leader leads the first half of normal ocho cortado, making sure to make it linear so that the line of movement is established.
• On the second half of the ocho cortado, the leader moves parallel to the follower, so that both dancers rebound along the line of movement: leader back, forward and follower forward, back.
• Do not close into the cross, but exit walking (of course, you can end any way you want, but this is easiest).
• Followers: make sure your rebounds travel up your body so that the leader knows when to rebound you. Keep your ankles, knees, hips and spine stretchy but relaxed. If you "help" by stopping the movement, you make it harder to lead and rougher on your body.

Rudolf Valentino

This version is also a linear version (guess what type of ocho cortado I like!). Here, the follower is pivoted and then BOTH dancers move through the middle of the step, achieving that "Rudolf Valentino" cheek-to-cheek alignment just for a moment.

• The leader leads the first half of normal ocho cortado, making sure it is linear to that the line of movement is established.
• As the follower does the second rebound, the leader also does a rebound in the same direction, and overturns the follower so that the follower must step forward through the space between the dancers after the rebound.
• This timing on when to pivot the follower (and self) is subtle: turn too soon, and the follower will try to turn around you. Turn too late, and the follower cannot comply with your request to travel facing forwards in a front cross. Use your chest and the rebound, working together, to "catch" the follower's rebound and send it in a new direction.
• Don't wrestle your partner, but you can use your embrace to prevent the follower from "helping" by doing a regular ocho cortado on auto-follow.
• When the follower finished the forward step, you can pivot her/him again, returning to the original partner orientation in order to exit walking or whatever you want to do.

Playing with repetition as a variation

For each of these variations above, you can take one rebound and repeat it several times before completing the pattern, to vary the step. Usually, it's easiest to repeat the second rebound (repeating the first is not fun, IMHO as a follower).

This changes the timing from the traditional quick quick slow, quick quick slow, to: quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, quick, quick . . . slow. This is useful if you either forgot to start your milonga on the strong beat, or got off-track somewhere. Just keep rebounding until you can start again on a strong beat!

For example, you can take the second rebound of the Charleston version, and just keep rebounding (make the follower rebound forward on left, back on right; then back on left, forward on right, making a rocking motion).

I tend to use this concept more with the Rudolf Valentino version. Having turned my follower to face LOD with me, I'll rebound both of us forward and back and forward and back, and then exit. The exit can be finishing in tango close, or UNwinding to finish with a Charleston and then walking out.

The El Tano

This is what I call the first variation I learned of ocho cortado, back in 2000.  I learned it by dancing with El Tano, yet another great dancer who has passed away recently.

When watching the move, it looked like he led the first half of an ocho cortado, and then waved his belly back and forth for a while, and then closed the step. However, following him, he made sure that I closed my ocho cortado, REBOUNDED at the cross (in place basically), and then opened up again to do more rebounds.

A favorite combination for him was to make me cross behind, then open again, then in front, then open again, then in back, then in open, and finally, close in tango cross (whew! that's six rebounds in a row!). If you do not have the beer belly to make this easy, you need to use some body English to make sure your follower feels the difference between in front and in back of her right leg.

Inside out ocho cortado

I saw a very fun version of ocho cortado in Buenos Aires in February. Dancers (guys) were hanging out of their chairs, watching intently. Luckily, the couple doing this move were my main teachers, so I could beg for instruction and learn it quickly.

• The rebound for this version is NOT a traditional rebound. Instead, it is triangular (I know, this is breaking a rule, but it's fun!). When the follower is sent backwards on the right to begin the first rebound, the leader twists the torso to the right, lightly suspends and uses "la marca" to make the follower pivot; and then leads the second half of the rebound so that the follower moves left diagonal with the left foot. This makes a V-shaped move, to the back right diagonal of the leader, rather than just in place.
• For the step after the rebound, this opening into a stronger V in the embrace, should make the follower able to step sideways BEHIND herself along the line of movement, rather than forward through.
• Leaders: don't make the follower guess! Be clear here! Have intention! If not, your follower may "help" you by doing a standard ocho cortado, thinking, "Oh, s/he led that really badly!"
• The leader, BTW, is also doing a triangular rebound and a step behind, parallel to the follower's path.
• Lead the second rebound so that the follower gets a side, back rebound (as in the Rudolf Valentino when you unwind back into the Charleston).
• The last step is not a tango close, but a walking exit. You can end with going to the cross, but it doesn't feel as smooth for the follower.
• Triple- (or double-) back variation on the exit: Do two or three of the side, cross behind steps before exiting, to make the move fit the music as you wish. The timing is then: quick, quick, slow, slow, slow, slow . . . quick, quick, slow.
• Exit variation: Do only the first rebound and the step behind. Then, suspend the follower with "la marca" turn to face LOD, and allow the follower's hips to unwind. Pause for an adorno, or simple exit to the cross.

Other stuff

 My goodness!  I don't think I've ever covered this much material in such a short time! Here's the non-ocho cortado material we did this session.

Omar's step

This is my favorite Omar Vega move that I learned in his milonga classes in July, August and September of 2000 in Buenos Aires. As many of you know, Omar was both a brilliant dancer, and a bit of a bad boy. This move has all his attitude and finesse in it. I love the grooviness of it, especially if you throw it in between a few smooth, milonga lisa steps so that it attracts attention and then disappears ("Hey, what was that?").

• Start: Feet together, having just put the follower on the right foot and the leader on the left foot.
• Leader moves a half-step backwards with the right, WHILE rotating the chest to the left AND lifting the follower slightly up, so that the follower takes a half step forward, moving into the center.
• Leader moves a full (but not too big!) step backwards WITH THE RIGHT, while relaxing the chest to neutral and having released the follower's suspension. That's right! This is a step where you take TWO steps in a row with the same foot, sorta.
• Invisible rebound: The reason you can take two steps with the same foot, is that there is an invisible rebound in the middle. Basically, this is a rebound that you feel in your foot, straight into the ground, and in your body, up and away from the foot; you transfer weight WITHOUT MOVING onto your other foot. Then, the original foot is available to move again.
• Exit to the left with the left, and continue as you like.
• The follower has a half step forward with the left, suspended so that there is a small step. Rebound (see above) and step forward again with the left, exiting to the right with the right into whatever is led.
• Note: We learned Omar's step out of the cuadrado, but obviously you don't have to do that first.

Cuadrado

Robert doesn't like the cuadrado, so I taught it a day that he wasn't co-teaching :-)  I agree that it should be used sparingly, but it's a good way to bail out of walking to the cross, or to get nice side-together steps going.

• Leader: Open to the side with the left; walking (inside track) with the right; back into center track with the left; side open with the right; and close in place, putting your weight on your left. I think of this as: "side, maybe no, step together" but you can call it whatever you like.
• Follower: Open to side with the right; walk back on the left; back on the right; side open with the left; together with the right, switching weight IF you are led to do that!

The pendulum (QQQQ)

Again, I learned this move from Omar Vega, who didn't call it anything ("Today's new step looks like this:" is not a good name).

Note: It is easiest to lead this after a side step. I suggest doing the entire move with the leader facing out of the space, moving sideways line-of-dance.

• Side-step line-of-dance; leader's left, follower's right. Timing: slow.
• Leader steps forward through, diagonal right LOD, with right foot.
• Leader steps together with left.
• Leader steps back with right.
• Leader steps together with left.
• Timing after side step: quick, quick, quick, quick.
• Follower: side step LOD with right; back on left; together on right; forward on left; together on right; exit with left.
• How do you get the follower to do four quick steps in a row, with two of them in place? Good question! Think of this as a pendulum-shaped move. When I lead it, I send my feet further than my chest on step one, and on step three, I scoop the follower almost under and towards me, so that the follower's feet do the same thing, swinging towards me like a pendulum. The first step has the energy emphasis. If I were singing this move, this is how I would sing it: YUMP bum bum bum.

Basic framework: grapevine

All of the moves we did this session work nicely connected together with a basic framework of a form of grapevine:

• Leader: side with left, forward through with right, side with left, back with right.
• Follower: side with right, back with left, side with right, forward with left.
• All slow steps.
• Note: This is facing (for the leader) towards the outside edge of the dance floor; the follower is facing the center of the floor. This protects the follower from other dancers, allows the leader more space to place/more ability to see available space, etc.
• The framework has a slight diagonal to it, with the leader moving forward diagonal LOD when stepping through with the right; and either straight back towards the center of the room OR turning a bit more and stepping back diagonal LOD with the back right step.
• Variation #1 (Step close): After the leader's front diagonal step with the right, step TOGETHER instead of to the side. This makes the follower's step also step in place. To help make sure the lead is clear, you can tilt SLIGHTLY to ensure that the follower's step cannot travel sideways.
• Variation #2 (Triple-steps to the side): For one or both of the side steps, make that step a "step-together-step" (quick, quick, slow). This is easier on the side step after the follower's back step, but it works for both. As a follower, I prefer ONE set of quick, quick, slow side steps per pattern, not two. As a leader, I kinda like two!

Buenos Aires basics (Popular tango moves 3)

This is the third (of three) reviews for the moves we worked on in my intermediate tango class these last six weeks. As I have said before, we learned moves that were led on me hundreds or thousands of times on my most recent Buenos Aires trip. All of them are moves that are simple in concept, work in small spaces, can be done in closed or open embrace, and and are fun to do; but that have subtle tricks to make them work better.

Left turn with rebound step

Although I commonly think of this as two separate patterns, they were often combined in Buenos Aires to make a nice, compact turn with a quick, quick, slow; quick, quick, slow pattern in the music. 

Leaders:

• Lead a rebound, forward on left, back on right for yourself; back on right, forward on left.
• The traditional timing is quick, quick BUT make sure you are using the rebound! Don't truncate it to be on time. Remember, to adjust the follower's step size works much better. The magic "la marca" allows you to reduce the size of the follower's step by keeping her/his foot more under the body.
• Lead a left turn. Make sure you rotate in place and keep the the spiral in your torso so that the follower keeps doing a grapevine.
• The traditional timing on the turn is slow, quick, quick, slow.

A lot of leaders in Buenos Aires did two rounds of this before exiting, even though we usually  made it all the way around in one set. Of course, traffic didn't move very much on the dance floor. Here in Portland, with leaders zooming down the room, you might want to only do one set so as not to get run over!

Followers:

• Do a back on right, front on left rebound. Make sure you complete this movement before beginning the turn around the leader (don't make a triangular movement; return to original spot!).
• In your turn, make sure that each step is completed by finishing the push off with your toes the way we've practiced. This allows you to arrive on balance so that you can slow down or speed up as the leader asks.
• For your back cross step, use those hips! This is a swivel and then push off move--don't swing your feet for momentum.
• Traditional move: four step turn, side step with right, back cross with left, side step with right, front cross with left.
• Traditional timing: slow, quick, quick, slow. When you add it to the rebound, the entire pattern is: quick, quick, slow; quick, quick, slow.
• In Buenos Aires, I was expected to deliver this timing. If I waited to be told the timing, dancers felt I was going too slowly. Here, where many leaders lead all-slow versions of turns, it may take some adjusting of this traditional timing.

Adorno for right and left turns for followers

• Between the back cross and the next open step in a turn (right or left), allow your knees to rebound against each other as your legs pass under you. If you are doing a right turn (clockwise), the free leg doing the adorno is the left; to the left, it is the right leg.
• This LOOKS like you are doing an ankle adornment, with the free foot sliding in front of the support leg, and then going into the side step, but if you concentrate on the ankles, you may trip yourself (ask me how I know this!).
• This adorno has the added bonus that it helps you arrive on axis better during your back cross steps in the turn.
• Remember to keep your hips back while you do the adorno. If you lock your knees while your dance, or bring your hips forwards, you will not be able to make this move look as good, and may trip the leader (luckily, I do not know this from my own experience!).

Walking circles clockwise

Of course, you can do these the other direction as well. And in crossed system. However, the clockwise, parallel version was the one that guys in Buenos Aires tended to lead.

For those of you also in my milonga class that I co-teach with Robert Hauk, this should look familiar: we did it in the winter session of the milonga class! Here in Portland, Robert, as well as Steven Payne,  lead very sweet circles like this, but no one else really seems to. In Buenos Aires, I had this led on me more frequently.

There's only walk technique involved here. Doing the porteno walk (see the Tango Fundamentals review sheet in the right column, top page under PAGES), simply walk in a big enough circle that the follower walks backwards instead of pivoting in place on the dance floor.

Simple way to get going: Take a side step as if doing a salida, and then walk forward. This gets you into the nice, connected twist that will keep the follower from stepping in front of you. Keep herding the follower towards the center of the circle; go all the way around; continue line of dance.

Tango fundamentals review is up!

The review sheet is up for Tango Fundamentals for the March-April session. Just look on the right column of this blog, and the top page listed is your review! Hope to see all of you for more fun, more work, and new moves on Wednesday at 6 PM!

New classes start April 14th at Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center

My new classes start next week.  Here's a preview, and hope to see many of you! If you haven't tried my classes, come the first night and check it out! $60/6 weeks, or $12 drop-in. Address: 5340 N. Interstate Ave.

Tango Fundamentals (6 PM to 7 PM): Beginners and intermediates

This next six weeks, we focus on using steps that rebound ("rock" steps, ochos, etc.) and combining them with traveling steps, to make your dance more confident, safer on the dance floor, and more musical.

New to tango? Great! We'll have you up and running in no time! Come to class and then to to Norse Hall to put it all into your dance right away!

Intermediate dancers: Take some time to review what you know, polish it, and dance better with more people! My small group classes give you a lot of one-on-one time so that you REALLY learn the moves. Warm up in this class and work on your fundamentals, then stay for the next class and learn more material!

Creating the Magic (7 PM to 8 PM): Intermediate and advanced dancers

• Energize your tango for incredible dance experiences.
• Learn new, fun moves that WORK on the dance floor.
• Improve your musicality so more of your vocabulary fits into the dance.
• Hone your connection skills.
• Play with the energy of your partner to create new versions of moves.
• Have more fun with tango.

For me, the difference between an intermediate and advanced dancer is not the number of years dancing tango, but the ability to create an energized, musical, magical experience for the senses. We'll play games and do exercises that make that happen, mixed with new material to incorporate into your new dance!

Tango vals (8 PM to 9 PM): Intermediate and advanced dancers

This six-week session, Robert Hauk and I will teach tango vals instead of milonga. Come work on your vals (a glorious dance!). We'll focus on musicality and making the music help you get in the groove, as well as steps that work well in vals.

Buenos Aires basics (Popular tango moves 2)

Ocho cortado turn

Because ocho cortado has two distinguishable parts (rebound bk/fd and step; rebound sd/sd and step), it  lends itself to endless variations of the type that I call fillings: imagine the ocho cortado as really yummy bread with various things in the middle. A favorite is inserting a right turn into the ocho cortado:

1. Execute the first rebound (bk/fd for follower, fd/bk for leader) and the step (fd for follower, bk for leader), so that the follower steps to the leader's right/inside track.
2. Turn is follower's open, back, open, front steps. The traditional timing, which I advocate, is slow, quick, quick, slow.
3. End with terminal rebound and close of ocho cortado (sd/sd rebound, with circular component): follower rebounds left/right and closes in front with left, like going to the cross; leader rebounds right/left with a VERY SMALL step, focusing more on making the rebound circular for the follower in order to aid in closing into the cross. If you want to exit in parallel, the leader shifts weight onto the right while leading the cross.

Ocho cortado with sacada

The step above can have a leader's sacada (displacement/replacement) through the first open, or side step, of the turn in step #2 above. This makes the turn have a more dynamic feeling. It may be sacrilege to suggest this, but I think that a lot of milongueros with whom I danced this move in Buenos Aires, did this move by accident! Some of the older dancers did not have very much flexibility, and instead of twisting to the right to initiate my turn, they stepped through my first step to build momentum :-)

• The leader can do this with either foot, but it is easier to use right foot because it's already free.
• Remember that you are leading a turn, and your torso needs to continue to tell the follower to travel around the perimeter of the circle; do NOT abandon the follower to move yourself.
• The leader's step needs to go towards where the follower had been: towards the follower's right foot placement of the open step. 
• Once you land in the new location, remember to remain upright! If your axis tilts, this makes the turn very hard for the follower to complete elegantly.
• Followers: this version of the turn is a bit harder than a completely stationary turn because the center of the turn moves while you turn around it. Keep your own axis upright, and everything will go better.
• End with the standard second half of the ocho cortado.
• If sacadas are new to you, look at my posts about sacadas.

My favorite variation to end ocho cortado turns

If you are bored with the turn above, try removing the second half of the ocho cortado (rebound sd/sd and step) from the pattern, and exit the turn a different way. This is the step we've been working on perfecting in the Portland intermediate class recently. This truncates the follower's turn to the first two steps, open and back, and exits linearly

Exit on follower's back cross step

1. As the follower lands on the back cross step of the turn, LIGHTLY (remember la marca?) lift so that the follower stays on that foot (her/his right).
2. Allow the follower's hips to unwind. Followers: this is a fun place to play with an adorno!
3. Release the lift.
4. Exit.  I prefer walking to the cross in crossed system because as a follower, twisting back the other way is not very comfortable.

Trouble-shooting this move

As I watched the class learn this move, I realized that many people try to follow the steps exactly, even if the weight distribution and balance are not working. It is much more important to be on balance here than to remain perfectly in place. May I suggest:

• Followers: Make sure your turn has strong, balanced hip movement. If you swing your leg to make turns, don't! Your hips are the motor of the turn, allowing you to keep a tight, elegant, on-balance giro around the leader. This will  keep you the same distance away from the leader, helping both of you balance.
• Leaders: If you don't twist easily or you tend to fall over when you twist your torso, consider taking an extra step--or two, or three! When the follower lands on the back step and you lift lightly, move over in front of them (a baby calesita), rotating around the fixed point of the follower's axis, until both people are on balance and facing down the line of dance to exit.

Good luck and have fun!

Buenos Aires basics (Popular tango moves 1)

The advantage to both leading AND following tango, is that I can steal moves from folks I danced with in Buenos Aires, and bring them home to YOU! My intermediate tango class on Wednesdays at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (5340 N. Interstate, Portland, OR) will be learning these moves during this six-week session. We'll do a new one each week, so feel free to come drop in and dance!

Ocho cortado

There are many ways to do ocho cortado, but there are some fundamental elements that must exist for the ocho cortado (or ocho milonguero) to happen:

1. Follower is led in a back-front rebound step (R foot back, L forward). This is ONE movement, like a basketball hitting the ground and returning. Does the ball stop for a moment at the ground? No! It flexes and returns (just like the follower's body).
2. Follower is led to step through to the leader's outside track (leader's right) with the right foot.
3. Follower is led in a side-side rebound step (left-right), ending in a front cross/close. This should have some circular motion around the leader to make the move easier for the follower and conserve space.

Notice that the ocho cortado is based on the follower's footwork! As the leader, I could hop up and down, as long as the follower gets these messages: rebound, step through, rebound, close. However, most of us prefer a bit more structure, so here are the leader's steps for the linear ocho cortado:

1. Leader does a forward back rebound (left, right).
2. Leader steps backwards with the left, while leading the follower through to leader's right side.
3. Leader does a tiny rebound side-side, but most of the movement is circular, so that the follower's rebound goes around the leader, not away, out into space.
4. Leader completes move by stepping in place (or near there, depending on the variation) with the right foot, ready to begin another pattern in parallel system (or doesn't switch and is in crossed system).

Most of the arguing about how to do the ocho cortado here in Portland centers around whether the ocho cortado should be circular or linear. THERE IS NO CORRECT VERSION; linear vs circular is a decision made on the dance floor, depending on the space available.

Common mistakes in performing an ocho cortado:

1. Abandoning the follower's first rebound step to "make room for the follower" by tucking your free foot behind yourself. Your follower doesn't need you to get out of the way, s/he needs you to lead clearly.  Easy Fix: If you are going to make a circular ocho cortado, make sure the follower is completing the rebound (i.e., headed back towards you) before you pivot. No fix is needed for the linear version: if you were walking correctly, your foot is already behind your other foot, ready to receive the rebound.
2. Pulling the follower to your side to make sure they know this is a forward step after the rebound. Your follower needs to stay connected to your center, not your shoulder, so this pulls the couple off balance.  Easy Fix: Check your first rebound. You get the momentum to carry the follower forward by completing the rebound. Don't think rock step; don't think check step: think REBOUND. Stay connected with your energy, but allow the follower's body to rotate against yours if she needs more room for her hips.
3. Stepping open to catch the follower and send her back to the other direction to close. This usually makes the follower's "rebound" step into a yee-haw cowgirl, knees locked attempt to finish the step.  Easy fix: Make your own rebound step TINY (if you tend to fall over here, stand on both feet and just rotate!), and focus on making the follower's side-side rebound have a slight circular quality to it, around your center. Use the follower's momentum from the rebound to catch him/her and reverse direction.
4. The enormous, yee-haw! version of the ocho cortado seems to start from a big, enthusiastic first rebound. A lot of guys have complained to me that they feel the followers charge through the middle (creating the "on the shoulder" orientation of the couple), and that they are forced to take a big step to catch the follower, in order to save the move. Yes, sometimes it is definitely the follower's auto-ocho-cortado that creates problems. But if you are leading, you get to choose to fix that!  Easy fix: take a small first rebound step. This should make the follower's forward step through smaller, AND result in a smaller side-side rebound. Whatever the energy of the beginning of the ocho cortado, the rest will mirror that. YOU are in charge, leaders!

Linear ocho cortado

Having said there is no correct version, full disclosure time. I prefer the linear version of this move as a follower. Too many folks have abandoned me in the middle of my first rebound in order to tuck their right foot behind and start turning, without having told me what to do! Yes, I can SEE where they want me to go. Am I being difficult in requesting that the leader LEADS me to dance? I don't think so. When I follow, I want to feel clarity, not see it :-)

As a leader, I don't even think what shape I need. I focus on making the first rebound the right size for my space on the dance floor, and then only move circularly when I have no space behind me. I rarely plan ahead for more moves, but let the end of the ocho cortado dictate what comes next (and yes, fourteen years ago, there was often a pause there because I couldn't figure out what to do next!). The energy of the dance makes the choreography, adjusted for space.

Where to find more information

An excellent source of review of some basic variations on ocho cortado is Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas' Rhythmic tango DVD. I like their explanation of the basic ocho cortado as well.  I think it's Chapter 11 on changes of direction, traspie timing and the ocho milonguero; and several chapters after that for the variations.

If you are coming to my class April 4th in Eugene, we'll learn three to five new variations to add to your dance. I just realized today that I'm teaching on Easter. Hope some of you show up anyway!

The gay milongas and the shifting of tango practice in Buenos Aires

Looking at my list of milongas, I thought I had remembered all the places I had visited. Then, last night, someone at the milonga asked me if I had led in Buenos Aires, and I realized that I had forgotten a venue: Tango Queer. 

For those of you who have read my thesis on gender roles and leading in Buenos Aires, you will understand both my excitement and my frustration at finding the Bs As tango scene changed. I studied the phenomenon of women leading in milongas, and wrote my thesis about dancers' views on gender roles, masculinity, femininity, and why women braved a lot of resentment to lead in traditional milongas.

What I found after studying the milongas in 1999, 2000 and 2001, was that a small percentage of women led in the milongas in order to attract foreign business possibilities; as the Argentine economy tanked, they needed a way out that was offered by tango. Couples had the upper hand, as foreigners assumed that both lead and follow roles could be taught; men had second place, as most people assumed that, if you could lead tango, you could teach how to follow it. Single women had to fight very hard to get invited to teach abroad on the merits of their tango technique because many dancers assumed that a woman would not be able to teach how to lead tango.

Now, in 2010, I saw NO women leading at traditional milongas. True, I did not visit ALL the milongas that exist. However, I attended several of the same milongas that used to have women leaders (1-2% in most milongas). Where did all those (fabulous) women leaders go? As far as I can tell they moved to a less stressful environment: the gay milonga.

A gay milonga in Buenos Aires means a gay-friendly milonga, but it might be more accurate to say a milonga with relaxed gender roles. Women lead women; women lead men; men lead men; and men lead women. Although I used to lead everywhere (and got in trouble with Tete for dancing with his girlfriend, Sylvia, at El Beso), I found that this time, I only led at Tango Queer.

If you are just learning to lead, you might consider attending the gay milongas: everyone is friendly, many dancers who are leading are not leading well, and there is an air of learning/experimentation that feels non-judgmental. One of my female friends from the USA who enjoys leading, attends many gay milongas because she feels that she gets to dance with a higher level of dancer than she does in the regular milongas. She also says the dancers at the gay milongas are more willing to dance with an older woman (and one who can lead well) than at other milongas.

Peru 571 was marked incorrectly in the milonga guide as Peru 71, so make sure you show up at the correct address! It's upstairs in San Telmo, with a pretty rugged floor (not as bad as La Catedral used to be--no actual holes), variable music quality/danceability, and a clientele that varies from raw beginners to BEAUTIFUL couples (one couple really stood out, with the best male follower I've seen out dancing in Bs As ever). This is a seat-yourself venue, so make sure the chairs you possess are not already claimed (I had to get mine back from an enterprising couple after a tanda).

Unless you are actually uncomfortable around same-sex tango dancing, go check out some of the gay milongas. Along with afternoon dances, the late night meat market scene, and neighborhood clubs, these are definitely a distinctive flavor of Buenos Aires tango.

Using the toes: making little steps as luscious as big, dramatic steps

After a few nights of dancing in Buenos Aires, I had a new goal: learning to make each step beautiful when it was small. I knew that my regular and large steps had really progressed in technique in the past few years, but I felt that my teeny tiny steps in the milonga weren't feeling fabulous. I had plenty of partners, but I felt something was not working within my own body.

Oscar and Georgina told me (I prefer my lessons in Spanish, so this is an estimation): "Don't worry! Everyone learns technique in regular size steps first, then in bigger steps. The hardest steps to do well, are small steps." Then Oscar grinned, and said (as usual), "No vacation! Come on, let's work!"

The new information was about how to use my toes. I had worked hard to get my weight back, evenly shared by my heel and the ball of the foot. I had relaxed my toes, ankles, knees and hips to get a smoother, sexier, balanced walk. But I wasn't finishing my steps completely. As I pushed through the floor to take each step, I was not following through with my toes. Looking at the videos from my lesson, I had to agree: my toes looked dead!

Structure of the foot

The way that the foot and leg are built, the body needs to use a bunch of muscles, not only to propel the body through space, but to maintain balance when on tiptoe (stiletto heels, anyone?)! The muscles that flex the smaller and big toes pass along the inside of the ankle, and support the medial arch of the foot and are important in the propulsion phase of walking. There are also smaller muscles that do not cross the ankle joint, that aid in propelling the body forward; these also flex the toes. If you grab a book on anatomy and look at how the foot is constructed, it makes sense that, if the toes aren't engaged, the body can't move as efficiently or strongly.

There is a lot of foot anatomy information on the internet, so I'll leave detailed pictures and explanations to the doctors (and leave it out of here, in case you don't want to read in detail!). Suffice to say, when you look at the lever system that makes up the foot, it becomes obvious that the toes are essential to movement.

This last little movement of the toes is what completes thepropulsion of the body from the location of the last step, to the new location in space. If the movement is not finished, the body needs to spend energy and time to finish arriving at the new location. If the toes are used correctly, as the last step in the push off-extend leg-send body-land on balance sequence, the body arrives ON AXIS and ON BALANCE, every single step.

And voila!

This would explain why my dance has progressed so much since I stopped having my weight on my toes! By moving my hips back slightly, and balancing over the arch of my foot, my dance has become much more elegant. Also, I have come to expect that a night of dancing creates tired feet, rather than painful feet!

Looking at my new work, of using my toes to finish each step, I could see what had not been working before: I had been arriving on my balance a micro-second late for each step. What I noticed about using my foot and toes correctly, was that I always ended up the same distance away from my leader, no matter how big or small the step was. Part of improving my timing, was to improve my reaction to the leader's requests.

As my time in Buenos Aires went on, I found that I could work my feet correctly without spending all my attention and energy on my toes (there were a few nights where my partners told me I was a great partner, but where I knew only part of my brain and body had actually been paying attention to the leader!). My small steps began to feel like a real dance, and I started to use my steps in a different way: I practiced arriving a tiny bit early, and touching the free foot to the floor softly, so that the movement felt more rhythmic. I could now choose to move more slowly, more romantically; or more rhythmically; or with a strong adorno, like a tap. I now have a much broader ranger of "flavors" for my dance.

I gradually started attracting more discerning partners, and began to field requests to dance a second tanda. One night, I was asked to save the next milonga tanda for four different men. Ack! For the first time in my fourteen years of dancing tango, I had Argentine men APOLOGIZE for their level of dance. Strange, but it felt good to be the one reassuring them that I had enjoyed the set.

Practice, practice, practice!

As I have started to do my foot and leg exercises that Georgina gave me for strengthening my dance, I've noticed that I can dance for longer and longer periods with good technique (duh!). I'm going to start a follower's technique class, based on these exercises, in the next month, so stay tuned if you are interested in working on improving your dance.

Gancho basics: theory and technique for circular follower ganchos

There are many kinds of ganchos, or "hooks" in tango:

• follower ganchos
• leader ganchos
• circular ganchos (that move around a central person, usually the leader)
• linear ganchos done more in a line
• ganchos to the outside of the thigh
• ganchos to the inside of the thigh
• "overturned" ganchos, in which you can literally kick the butt of your partner :-)
• ganchos that happen the same direction as the movement before
• ganchos that reverse direction, compared to the movement before

If I think of any more kinds, I'll add on here; feel free to remind me if I've missed something.

Follower circular ganchos to the inside of the leader's thigh

The most important aspect of preparing for ganchos for followers is: the giro (turn). If you cannot do a tight, even turn around the leader, that person cannot lead you in a good gancho without cheating. Practice, practice, practice! Most of us think our turns are already fabulous, but get someone to video you, and you might see your feet edging out on your back cross, or stepping in too close on your front cross, or . . . you get my point. 

1. Make sure your turn is impeccable.
2. Use your hips and butt--not your feet--to pivot before taking your back cross step of the turn.
3. Push off on each step so that you arrive on axis for each step.
4. Keep your free leg relaxed, with at least the edge of the toes on the ground.
5. As your free leg makes contact with the leader's leg, focus on your supporting leg and axis.
6. Let the leader's torso torque lead your leg: don't auto-gancho.
7. As the gancho finishes, reestablish your balance (hopefully, you can ignore this step) before taking your next step.
8. Keep breathing.

The most important aspect of preparing to lead a follower's gancho, is: being able to control the twist of the torso while stabilizing the hips; called disassociation by many teachers. In the gancho, the leader brings the follower to the desired spot; the leader does not chase the gancho out of the center of the turn! To do this, the hips need to remain stable while the torso torques strongly in the direction of the turn.

1. Establish the center of the turn's radius.
2. Stabilize your hips, facing the location of the follower's rebound step from the gancho. Don't let the force of the gancho pull your hips around.
3. Keeping the hip stability, twist your torso in the direction of the turn, as far as you can: this helps the follower's back cross step, and brings them closer into your body, so that you don't have to fish for the follower's foot.
4. Place the follower's back cross step/foot BEFORE placing your foot and ankle for the gancho. For best placement, turn your leg out at the hip, and lift your knee so that your leg is in an S-curve shape. I find that I usually get my little toe down on the ground, but I focus on connecting my instep with the follower's ankle, so that I know the location of the follower's axis/balance point.
5. Keep your weight on your support leg, with only enough weight on your leg doing the gancho to anchor your toe on the ground.
6. Keep your hips back over the support leg. Otherwise, the follower will not have space to allow the free leg to hook with your leg.
7. Continue to twist your torso around your own spine and rebound back to neutral in order to lead the follower's free leg. This not a wrestling match: don't pull or push with your embrace to make something happen.
8. As the follower's leg completes the gancho, gauge the space you have to move, as well as the force of the gancho, and use that energy to create the next step in your dance.

The principal error I see on the dance floor, is to make the gancho a move about momentum. True, a good gancho can be fast and snappy, but a slow-mo gancho feels better to me as a follower, and is no less of a hook. The gancho is about TIMING.

The best exercise I have ever seen to practice ganchos comes from Chicho Frumboli. In his teacher training workshops, he had us practice ganchos, without using an embrace (balance work), in slow motion (timing practice), over and over (motor memory). By the end of the two-hour intermediate class, followed by the two-hour advanced class, my brain was fried, but I really understood how this move works!

In class this week, we'll work on doing the same gancho, but using the leader's other leg. This creates some changes in the above directions for the leader, but is not much harder. We'll also tackle leading ganchos after a parada and stepover sequence, as that is one that everyone in Portland seems to already know :-) If there is time for more, we'll do more.

Shoes, clothes and shopping in Buenos Aires: the quest

Sometimes, it is simply too hot to shop. That didn't stop me, of course, but it did limit how long I could coax my travel partner out to pound the pavement each day ;-) We were looking for the perfect tango shoes, the perfect tango outfits, and clothes cool enough to wear in 30 degree Celsius weather, with high humidity.

After trips to nine different shoe stores,I had found exactly ONE pair that fit me. Apparently, no one else who dances tango in stiletto heels has a wide foot! Did you know that? In the end, I returned to the shop where I found my new, favorite shoes, and tried on everything they had in the store: I now have two new pairs of favorite shoes that do not resemble any shoes I had on my prospective list when I arrived in Bs As.

I am now the happy owner of a pair of red, metalized "We're not in Kansas anymore" stilettos, and another pair of gold with sparkly animal prints and gold stiletto heels. So much for the all silver vision I had in my head when I entered the first store. I'd like to plug the store where I found both: Artesanal, T. de Anchorena 537, across the street from the Abasto shopping center, Carlos Gardel subte stop. Although I found many well-made shoes, these were REALLY well-made to my eyes; I will let you know how my shoes fare as they age! When you look at her site, remember that most of the shoe places do NOT put pictures of their stiletto heels or their new designs up, because of the constant pirating of designs that goes on.

If you wear lower heels, you will find better prices in Buenos Aires.  Almost all the sale shoes I saw had lower heels in droves. I found two pairs of classy, elegant, lower heeled shoes for a friend (the salesclerk looked at the drawings I had brought of her feet, and said in English, "bunion-friendly!" and ran to the back to find shoes for me to look at). Most of the lower heels cost between 170 pesos (on sale) to 300 pesos (not on sale). Most of the stiletto heels I saw were 400-450 pesos, with a few strange colors on sale for less.

Places that had good shoes/clothes/service:

Artesanal (T. de Anchorena 537, between Corrientes and Lavalle): As I said above, I was impressed with their shoes. They have heels that fit right in the center of your foot, so that your foot is well-supported. Only one pair I tried on did not do that, and they were very willing to have me try another pair of the same size to see if another pair fit better (with hand-made shoes, each pair is different). You can fax them outlines of your foot to help them size shoes for you. I wear a 39 in Comme Il Faut, a 38 in NeoTango, and a 40 in Artensanal. In terms of clothes, they had a sale going, and I bought a very sexy shirt for an excellent price. Buena gente!

Tango8 (Lavalle 3101, down the street from Artesanal): When I walked in, I was prepared to not like this store. It is very slick, with tons of young foreigners ransacking the fashions. However, the choice of clothing is one of the best I've seen, the staff are effective, and the manager found shoes for my friend in under five minutes. Bravo.

Scarpe Mahara (Suipacha 252): I used to buy all my shoes here because they last FOREVER (10 years average, teaching in them almost daily, but alternating pairs). Unfortunately, they have not moved with the times, and they have no stiletto heels, which is what I wear now by choice. For lower heels, they are great and I recommend them. This is a mom- and pop- kind of shop, and they are nice/good people.

Asignatura Pendiente (Corrientes 2176): We accidentally wandered by this shop, and I bought several nice pieces for reasonable prices (at last, a plain black skirt!!!), while my friend bought a lot :-)  The sales personnel were not terribly helpful, but they did help us find right sizes (still a mystery to me, can't find markings on my clothes!). Good prices, interesting fashions; not very many shoes.

Places that I did not like (remember that this is IMHO only):

Darcos Superstore (Sarmiento 835): The shoes have the heel WAY back on the foot, so that it doesn't feel as if it is supporting my foot. Also, the sales personnel were much more interested in chatting with each other than being helpful. All clothing came in one-size-doesn't-fit-most.

Tango Moda: The fashions were pretty, but almost nothing was big enough to fit me (and I usually wear a size 8). They had size 1 and some size 2s, but almost nothing bigger (I usually wear a 4 in Argentine sizes). OK, Americans tend to be big, but there are a lot of Argentine women out there bigger than me: what do they wear?? Hmm? Nice people, great view of the city from the 16th floor, but eh.

TangoLeike (Sarmiento 1947): I bought some dance clothes here, but the sales help were less than friendly (I considered not buying the outfit because of complete disinterest in selling anything). The shoes were pretty, but very narrow and didn't have much in my size (purple polkadot was NOT an option, sorry). Kinda rude.

In the middle or ??:

Neotango (Sarmiento 1938): I have three pairs of Neotango shoes that I love. I had already selected the colors and models that I was going to buy, before I got to the shop. However, the staff were not terribly helpful, and there seemed to be no shoes in my size available (I went back right before I left to try again, but no go). I did hear that one of the shoe makers was in the hospital, so perhaps the lack of shoes sizes was an aberration. The staff could be a bit more respectful and helpful. Frustrating.

Alana's (Av. Diagonal Norte 936): Closed both times I tried to visit the store. It's small, and didn't look like there were many interesting shoes, but it would have been nice to try some on.

Todo Tango (Suipacha 245): Nothing fit, but the salesperson was nice and helpful, without being pushy.

Tacondando (Arenales 1606): I didn't get to this store. Their stuff looks pretty, but I can't tell you the quality level; sorry!

Comme Il Faut (Arenales 1239): I don't like how Comme Il Faut fit my feet (the heel is way back, so it doesn't support my foot the way I like). We didn't go there, since we can always check out their new fashions here in the USA with Carrie.

We also went to two more shoes shops on Suipacha, but the names escape me. There were nice sales folk, but none of the shoes fit the way I like (again, the heel was further back like Comme Il Fauts).

Buenos Aires milongas, tips for 2010

I meant to blog from Buenos Aires, but forgot my blog password (so much for automatically logging in from a different computer).

Although this was my fourth trip to Buenos Aires, it had been a long time since #3. I was eager to spend more time in one of my favorite cities. I was excited about getting to dance seven days a week. I was scheduled for a bunch of private lessons with my favorite teachers, Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas, and I felt ready to bite off a new chunk of technique.

I accompanied a friend on this trip, so our choice of milongas was a combination of looking for high quality dancing, low numbers of tourists, and an older clientele who would ask women to dance who were older than twenty ;-) 

My choices for milonga attendance were also based on looking for the older dancers who started to dance before dance classes were popular. So many of my teachers have died in the past ten years (this year, Omar Vega and Tete, as well as a few of the milongueros I like to dance with), that I wanted to learn as many steps, tricks, and personal style details as I could by dancing with "the geezers" while they were still around to dance with me.

As the popularity of milongas changes constantly, we relied on advice from our teachers, friends and other dancers to decide where to dance each night. What follows is a synopsis of where we danced and what I liked/disliked about those venues.

Porteno y Bailarin, Riobamba 345, 11 PM to 3 AM

(Tuesday)

Porteno y Bailarin is only a half block away from Avenida Corrientes and 1.5 blocks from the Callao subte (subway) stop, tons of bus lines and millions of taxis, as far as I can tell.  It's centrally located and easy to get to. Cost: 18 or 20 pesos (sorry, I forget!).

Why we went there: I knew that this would not be the crowd we were looking for, but Jose Garafolo (the organizer of P y B) was one of my first teachers, and I wanted to say hello. II enjoyed catching up on the last few years and dancing a VERY fun tanda with him; I wish I had had time to go back and dance there again.

Who was there: This crowd had more foreigners than most of the places we went; perhaps 40-50%. It was a mixed bag of ages, from very young to tottering. There were a few hotshots doing open embrace, many close embrace dancers (square and V embraces), and a few who combined both styles as space permitted. The floor was not very crowded, but it still took navigational skills to dance there because of the small floor size.

How did the evening go: It helped to be greeted with enthusiasm by the host: we started dancing almost immediately. A few men thought I looked familiar and invited me to dance. After I danced a set with Jose later in the night, I didn't sit down much until we left.

Notes: The space was small enough to see almost everyone in order to cabeceo(for those of you who don't invited others to dance with this eye contact and nonverbal invitation: you aren't going to dance very much in Bs As unless you practice!). It was a bit dark, compared to many of the other milongas we attended, so I needed to put my glasses on each time I sat down to make eye contact ;-)

Other places to dance on Tuesdays (recommended by my teachers): Maipu 444, from 7 PM to 1 AM (see review below).

Maipu 444, 7 PM to 1 AM

(Tuesday)

Maipu 444 is close to the Florida subte stop, or the Pellegrini/Diagonal Norte/etc. stop at the Obelisco. It is of course bus and taxi friendly as well. Right downtown, you can go shopping on Calle Florida just a block away if you get there early.

Why we went there: Several friends recommended Maipu 444, and I was curious, as this milonga had not been open the other years I had gone to Bs As.

Who was there: This crowd had some foreigners, but was mostly Argentine, most from age forty on up.

How did the evening go: We had been advised to go early (I suggest reservations here for sure), so we showed up before 8 PM and got decent seats along the front edge. Both of us danced a lot that evening, despite the challenge of a few "pods" of men who would look at us, and then look away for the first few hours. The floor is small enough to be able to cabecear almost anyone in the room (we were at the opposite end from the bar, and there were a few tables at that far end where we could barely see the occupants enough to tell if they were asking us to dance). The lighting is good. The people were nice. The level of dance was variable, and we found that many of the men were at a lower dance level than we were! I'm not used to Argentine men apologizing for their lack of dance level--this was new to me.

Notes: Go early, or you won't get a table.  Also, there is a very yummy pizzeria nearby, on Corrientes as you head towards the obelisk (Palacio de Pizza?) with delicious baked things and flan to die for.

La Nacional, Alsina 1465, 8 PM to 2 AM

(Wednesday)

La Nacional recently reopened, and it was great to see how much nicer they have made this space, especially given the lovely (but slippery, so beware!) floor. This milonga is in the Congreso area, walkable from San Telmo or the Corrientes corridor; near the Congreso subte line and, of course, buses and taxis.

Why we went there: Oscar and Georgina recommended this milonga as a place with good dance level, good floorcraft, and good manners. Also, the seating is men on one side, women on the other, with mixed tables for couples and groups on the ends. This makes it easier to see potential partners, and makes for more possibilities for dancing.

Who was there: This crowd had foreigners mixed in, but I danced almost exclusively with Argentine men. One or two dancers opened up into bigger moves when there was room, but almost everyone stuck to close embrace dancing (both square and V embraces).

How did the evening go: This was one of the most enjoyable places I danced. Even the first night, I didn't sit out very much. We were placed in the third row back of chairs, but both of us are experienced at cabeceo, and managed to get invitations even when being blocked by the ladies in front. Some of the men who invited me to dance that night frequented many of the other places we danced, so I began to build my dance card.

Notes: The floor is quite long, and it is harder to catch the eye of men on the ends of the space if you are in the middle. HOWEVER, being in the middle of the long sides of the room is much better than being stuck in a corner. The floor is slippery, so bring your shoes with suede bottoms! Even with shoes wetted with water, you will slide here if you are not careful. Make reservations with Atilio Veron, the organizer, if you want a nice seat: 15-5963-1924.

Other Wednesday night milongas that came well-recommended: La Milonga, Humberto Primo 1462 (where Nino Bien is on Thursday nights), 6 PM to 2 AM; Sueno Porteno, San Juan 3330, from 7 PM to 3 AM.

Lujos, Riobamba 416 (El Beso)

(Thursday)

Even though the name of the milonga on Thursdays is Lujos, almost everyone just called the space El Beso.  It is a few doorways away from Avenida Corrientes and 1.5 blocks from the Callao subte (subway) stop, tons of bus lines taxis.  It's centrally located and easy to get to.

Why we went there: My teachers said that the level of dance on Thursdays was very high. Years ago, I frequented El Beso with Tete's vals class (we ate dinner after class and went to El Beso each week). In addition, my friend had heard of El Beso, and it was on her list of places she wanted to dance.

Who was there: Tons of Italians, and a lot of portenos, with a sprinkling of a few other foreigners. Mostly the forty to seventy year old crowd showed up, although with face lifts, I figured out ages from the wrinkles on women's backs!

How did the evening go: I felt like a piece of wallpaper. We got stuck in the back row, against the back wall. Because of the shape of El Beso, there is NO space for the tango sharks to circle, looking for partners, except near the entrance and the bar (the other side of the room). Men who happily danced with me at other venues looked right through me at El Beso: not a regular? Forget it. I got some mercy dances from nice guys I already knew, but apart from that, I had to wait until the second or third song of a tanda to get invited to dance. When I described the evening to friends, they said, "Si, El Beso, es un lugar MUY exclusivo" and explained that it was important to be seen there dancing well, so folks didn't take as many risks inviting unknown partners to dance.

Notes: El Beso was the darkest place we danced, and it was difficult to make eye contact across the floor, even though the floor is not large. Take a group with you, or be pushy and try to get a front row seat. I didn't notice that the level of dance was higher than elsewhere, but El Beso has that reputation.

Other recommended places to go on Thursdays: Nino Bien, Humberto Primo 1462 (see review below), from 10:30 PM to 4 AM; and La Cachila, La Rioja 1180 (Club Gricel), from 8 PM to 3 AM (see review below).

La Cachila, La Rioja 1180 (Club Gricel), 8 PM to 3 AM

(Thursday)

Go to Gricel on the bus or by taxi. It's a bit further out than some of the more central milongas, but it should not run you more than 12-20 pesos, unless you are way out in Palermo or Recoleta.

Why we went there: We promised to meet friends, and so went back to Gricel, despite mediocre experiences there the week before (on another night).

Who was there: This was mostly an older crowd (I'd say 50+), with some foreigners, but mostly Argentines out in force.

How did the evening go: This was one of my few experiences in Bs As of becoming one with my chair. We were placed in the back row of a front table, despite the protestations of the Argentine woman in the front row, who had hoped to keep the seats for friends, despite not having made reservations. We had a chilly reception at best. We could see five or six men from where we were seated, most of whom were foreigners also relegated to the corner. After dancing with them, we pretty much sat until giving up. Our friends didn't show by 9:30, so we left for Nino Bien (see below), which happily made up for this early evening experience as a piece of sculpture.

Notes: Gricel is not my favorite venue. It is a bit dark sometimes, and it's hard to see down the sides of the floor due to the pillars between tables. It's easy to see across the room, but not with dancing couples, so you have about one minute to score a dance at the beginning of the tanda, and then you will probably sit until the next tanda.

Nino Bien, Humberto Primo 1462, 10:30 PM to 4 AM

(Thursday)

Nino Bien is a long-running, famous milonga. It has been my choice for Thursday evenings for all of my trips to Bs As; so it was wonderful to walk in on a Thursday evening, greet Luis (the organizer, who looks exactly like he did when I first went there in 1999), and settle in for an evening of dancing.

Why we went there: We tried Gricel earlier in the evening, and had been seated in a horrible place, with almost no men in sight. I looked at my friend and said, "Let's go to Nino Bien" and off we went. We wanted to DANCE! and I knew we would at NB.

Who was there: Everyone was there, old, young, foreigners, regulars, even a camera crew who were filming for something (it was not explained, nor was it obvious).

How did the evening go: Great! We both recognized a lot of people from other milongas, and danced with them. However, we also got invited to dance by men we'd never seen before. By the time we left (right before a milonga set), I'd been asked to save the next milonga set for a specific guy--by four different men! If my feet hadn't been done (too much shopping and milonga #2 for the night), I would have stayed to figure out who to dance with.

Notes: Order dinner at Nino Bien! I had the best calabaza torta (squash quiche-like thingie) that I have EVER tasted. There weren't many choices, but we noticed that many early comers had ordered dinner, and so were encouraged to give the menu a try. Lovely! The difference between dancing at this venue in the "afternoon" and "evening" mainly seemed to be the steering skills of the dancers. Almost no one crashed in the afternoon milonga, but in the evening, I had several people run into me, and had one partner run into another couple. The level of correct manners is higher in the earlier dancers, too.

Entre Tango y Tango, Humberto Primo 1462, 6 PM to 2 AM

(Friday)

Entre Tango y Tango is at the same place that Nino Bien is held Thursday nights. It is walkable from San Telmo or Congreso, but be aware that I saw streetwalkers in pretty much every direction from the building after the sun went down; you may prefer to take a taxi! It's easy to get to by bus or taxi, and the subte is not far away.

Why we went there: I had heard from many of the men I danced with, that this was the best place to go on Fridays. As my friend had stomach flu (I succumbed a day later), I went by myself. I wanted to dance where my teachers said the best level of dance and floor craft were.

Who was there: I was one of the youngest people at this milonga, but there was a fair mix of 30- to 70- (or 80-) somethings. Many were from Bs As, although I saw the Italians from the night before, a few Japanese, and two Oregon guys there.

How did the evening go: I had been told to go early to get a good seat, so I arrived around 6:30 or 7 PM. I was given a front row seat at a table halfway down the room--choice territory. I danced almost every single tanda the entire evening. I was joined by three French ladies at some point, and gamely tried to keep my Spanish and French segregated into separate languages, one for dancing, and one for my table. I left around 11:30 only because I had promised to meet a friend at another dance; otherwise, I would have stayed until it closed. This was one of my most enjoyable evenings of the trip.

Notes: I love Nino Bien's dance space. I know it by heart from months of dancing there, so it feels like home to me. The floorcraft is great, if you avoid the middle row, who play chicken with the oncoming traffic. The floor is one of the best in Buenos Aires, the room is elegant, and the clientele polite but not snooty. I owe a debt of gratitude to the kind waitress who gave me change for the taxi (I tipped her well at the other milongas where I saw her after that).

Paracultural Salon Canning, Scalabrini Ortiz 1331, 11 PM to 5 AM

(Friday)

Salon Canning is only a few blocks off of Avenida Cordoba. It's almost a 20 peso taxi ride from San Telmo/Congreso, but there are many buses that can take you across the city for much cheaper (1.10 pesos at this moment).

Why we went there: I was meeting a friend I had not seen for ten years. Since I had elected not to get a local cell phone, our communication had been spotty, but I figured I'd look for him and dance for a bit if he didn't show up.

Who was there: This crowd was quite different from the one at my usual milongas (a friend had labeled my choices "the geezer milongas"). Many of the crowd were 20- or 30- something, mixed in with the regular up to 80-somethings. There were a LOT of foreigners. There were people trying to dance open embrace in a space designed for close embrace, and there were quite a few traffic issues on the dance floor at any given time.

How did the evening go: The air conditioning was broken that night (someone told me it had burned up?), and it was HOT and HUMID. It was so humid that pivoting one's shoe on the dance floor was difficult--and this is one of my favorite dance floors in Bs As! I came back from my first tanda to find my friend seated at the next table, by coincidence, so I was able to catch up with him and continue to dance with other men. This was the only place I danced where most of the people who invited me to dance were foreigners.

Notes: The evening milongas are a different beast than the "afternoon" milongas that usually end around midnight.  I've done the evening thing for a few visits to Bs As, and decided not to follow that route this time, in order to focus more attention on my private lessons. It felt good to be back in my old routine for an evening, but I found that I prefer dance with the "geezers" more than with beginner- to intermediate-level Europeans.

Other places to dance Fridays that are recommended by friends/teachers: Lo de Celia Tango Club, Humberto Primo 1783, 10 PM on; Sin Rumbo, Jose Tamborini 6157, 10 PM to 4 AM (out in Villa Urquiza, "nice for a group or a couple"); and La Baldosa, Ramon L. Falcon 2750.

La Nacional, Alsina 1465, 8 PM to ? (brand new milonga)

(Saturday)

As I mentioned above, La Nacional is easy to get to on foot, by bus or taxi, and relatively near the subte.

Why we went there: I was out of commission with the 24-hour version of a stomach flu our first Saturday night, but my friend attended La Nacional with some other friends of ours. Despite having a less than stellar night the first time (she estimated that it was 3- or 4- to 1 ratio of women to men), we chose to go back the next weekend, in order to meet friends and go out to eat afterwards.

Who was there: The Saturday I attended, many of the dancers were Argentine, sprinkled with a few French and Italians, as well as a few Americans (mostly us and our friends). The age range probably started at 30- or 40-, but most dancers were probably in the 50-70 range, with an enthusiatic 80-something pointed out to our table.

How did the evening go: I was not in the mood to put myself out and invite dances that night, so I sat in the back row of our table with three Argentine women, and gossiped until they huffily left for other milongas ("Why should we pay 18 pesos to get in, and then not get to dance?!" exclaimed one of them as she left). The male-female ratio was much closer to 50-50 than the week before, and many dancers were now familiar, so my friend danced a lot, and I danced when I felt like dancing.

Notes: Again, beware of the slippery floor! This is a good place to use small steps, even if it is big enough to have space to really MOVE. At no time was the dance floor so crowded that it made dancing difficult, but one foreigner told me he felt intimidated by the lack of space, so take or leave my opinion. They have good empanadas and tostados if you get hungry.

Other places to dance Saturdays: Saturday is traditionally date night, so you often see folks you thought were single, showing up with wives and husbands, or dates. When I was spending longer periods of time in Bs As before, I usually chose to go salsa dancing on Saturday nights, or to go out for dinner with non-tango friends. However, if you are on a short timeline, or just can't stop for an evening, have no fear, dance is still available: Cachirulo, Maipu 444, from 6 PM to 3 AM (according to books, but at 7:30 PM, there was still no music playing when we stopped by to check it out before going to La Nacional); Milonga de las Morochas, Riobamba 416, from 10:30 PM on (I used to go to this in years past); or Lo de Celia Tango Club, Humberto Primo 1783, from 11 PM to 4 AM.

Torcuato Tasso, Defensa 1575, 10 PM to 3 AM

(Sunday)

Torcuato Tasso was my old stomping grounds, being the nearest milonga to where I used to stay in San Telmo, back in the old days. This milonga is no longer free on Sundays, as of a few months ago :-(  but our teachers said they were going there, so we joined them.

Who was there: This was the most mixed group we encountered, all the way from non-dancers who were goggling at the dance floor from their tables, to teenagers in jeans, to full suits and spiffy shoes on older dancers, to tables of foreigners. The level of the dancers also varied from pitiful to amazing.

How did the evening go: This was a very uneven evening. I danced with a young Canadian who was a very new dancer; some Argentines who had danced for many years, but were definitely intermediate; and my teacher, who is one of the best dancers I've ever encountered (maybe the best). I had never encountered an Argentine who yells one's name across tables to dance because of being situated BEHIND me--I ended up ignoring him because it annoyed me, but accepted a very fun chacarera set with him later.

Notes: Torcuato Tasso's floor has not improved over the years: it is still rock or polished cement, or some other surface that gets nasty when wet and makes your feet hurt (funny, I never cared about that ten years ago!). I still like the space because it has so many memories for me. I once danced right next to Shakira on this dance floor, and one of my two witnessed fights on tango dance floors happened here, too. If you are looking for a good dance experience, this is not a sure bet.

Other places to dance on Sundays: A Puro Tango, Scalabrini Ortiz 1331, from 6 PM to 1 AM (see review below); La Milonga de Susana, Ramon L. Falcon 2750, from 6 PM on; El Beso, Riobamba 416, from 10 PM on; and Porteno y Bailarin, Riobamba 345, later on.

A Puro Tango, Scalabrini Ortiz 1331, 6 PM to 1 AM

(Sunday)

Again, Salon Canning is easy to get to by taxi or bus, but it's a walk from the subway.

Why we went there: My friend had not come with me to Salon Canning the Friday before, and she wanted to see the famous milonga. It was our last night in Bs As, and I thought we would be able to get some good dancing in.

Who was there: This crowd seemed to be almost completely Argentine, apart from the gorgeous Brazilian girl and her boyfriend who came in to watch and got dragged onto the floor to try tango (for the first time, I would guess). The age of my dance partners averaged around 60+ and most of the folks there were dressed nicely and started to clear out around midnight to go home.

How did the evening go: This was one of my best dancing nights in Bs As. I had one of the best Pugliese tandas of my entire Bs As career that night, with a quiet, older man who seemed either embarrassed or taken aback when I told him that. The level of dance was better than many of the places we had gone, but the level of "pickup" was higher: in several cases, I considered ending the tanda early because of the deep interest my partner was displaying in me (and not my dance, I don't think). I also had a great chacarera set (three! not two! three chacareras!), which is always a highlight for me, the former crazed international folk dancer.

Notes: This was one of my favorite places to go to "afternoon" dances when I frequented Bs As in the early 2000s, and it still is. Even sitting in the last row before the shark circling area, we barely sat down the entire evening. If you can dance well, you will get to dance here. Over and over and over.

Lunes de Tango, La Rioja 1180 (Club Gricel)

(Monday)

Lunes de Tango is at Club Gricel, which is a bit further out than the other milongas we attended (up to Plaza Miserere and hang a left). It is reachable by bus or taxi, but I wouldn't walk it if I were you.

Why we went there: Mondays are a day with fewer milongas, but we still had two possibilities that were suggested. We agreed to meet our teachers there, but ended up sitting at a women's table, while they sat together at a couple's table.

Who was there: This crowd was mostly Argentine, with a few Americans, Italians, French and one Spanish guy who kept appearing wherever we danced (nice dancer, actually!). The age range was pretty much on the older side, with most folks looking 50-70ish.

How did the evening go: This was not our best evening, but we had pleasant women at our table (Argentines), a table of guys on each side who ended up dancing a lot with us, and a position at one of the entry/exit points for the floor, so the men who wanted to dance with us knew where we were.

Notes: Gricel is long and skinny, with pillars around the edge of the dance floor. This makes it much harder to make eye contact with about half the tables, so, unless you are strategically placed, you have to make so with those you can see. There is space to circulate between the floor edge tables and the ones along the wall, so some men do the shark circling thang, but I still had no idea who was at the other end of the room.

Other places to dance on Mondays: Parakultural Canning, Scalabrini Ortiz 1331, from 11 PM to 4 AM.

Vals and Argentine tango musicality: games and exercises

Each time I get on the dance floor to do a tango vals, I feel grateful that I was a musician for several decades before learning to dance. Timing in music is something I feel and do not have to count. When I started teaching dance, I found it hard to describe how to move to music: couldn't everyone hear what I heard?

The truth is, many people struggle with finding the beat for dancing.  I recently fielded a request about how to be more musical with tango.  I replied to that person, and then realized that this advice might be useful to more folks.

After teaching dance for 22 years, there are only a few things that I've found work for learning to hear and use the music:

1. Start listening to the music as much as possible; around the home; in the car; at the office, etc.  Even if you are not paying close attention, your brain hears the music and starts processing it better, even without moving to it.  Eventually, when you move to the music, you will REALLY move to the music because of these hours of extra "listening."  This is purely aural learning, but it helps.

2.  In classes, dances and practicas, watch the people who look like they are moving nicely with the music . . . and copy them shamelessly.  I'd suggest getting behind a leader who looks like they are musical, and try to move at the same time.  Again, this is a long process, but in patterning your body to theirs, you are learning to connect visually with the music.

3.  OK, so far, we have aural and visual elements of learning musicality.  For kinesthetic learning, my games about musicality help (see my other musicality posts).  If you are in a class that is about musicality, you experience the movement with the music, connecting #1 and #2 to this body feeling.  You can also do this in private lessons, and I'd be happy to set some up with you if you would like that.  Another way to experience this is to have a musical person lead YOU so you can follow to the music and feel it in your body; we could also do that in a private lesson.

4.  Last part of musicality that I do as another kinesthetic approach (and aural): make sounds!  That's why I make people play my "silly games" about musicality while making noise. For some folks, attaching a sound to a movement helps them to remember how to move.

Different people learn different ways.  I learn mostly visually and kinesthetically.  I have a student who learns best by saying things while moving: sounds and noises that he then associates with the movement.  I have some students who need to hear me explain things as their way to understand.  Another students needs to stand and watch others try the movement, and then can do the movement. If you know how you learn best, you can streamline the process, but this will take some time--much longer than learning steps, but EVERYONE can learn this.

I disagree with people who say that musicality can be learned with a computer program :-)

Volcada technique: make volcadas easy to follow and elegant!

In intermediate class last week, we started to learn volcadas. A volcada is a "tipping" or "dumping" motion, where the follower is tipped off-axis and then returned to axis. Usually this includes the manipulation of the follower's leg--a sweepy movement that is created by the off-axis motion.

Because a good volcada is not an easy move, many people cheat to make this happen: the leader indicates a move to the follower, lets her do the move, and then tries to get back to leading after the follower has managed to get on-axis again. Can you tell I have a pet peeve with this strategy? Leaders! Make this move work for your followers! Lead it!

What does a volcada look like?

There are as many different shapes for a volcada, as there are tango partnerships. The follower's free leg is used to draw a shape on the floor, BY THE LEADER. This can be a V-shaped wedge; a big sweeping C, ending with going to a cruzada shape; a big sweeping circle if the leader also rotates the couple; or (in what I call a reverse volcada), an unwinding into a an of a circle, ending in a plain back step for the follower.

Part of the fun of a volcada, is that the leader gets to play with the shape of the movement. Although I don't 100% agree with the technique shown here, I like how the "regular"--ending in the cross, and "reverse"--ending in walking out of the move, look here: volcada demo  Although they may be out there, I didn't see volcadas done by the three people who have taught me the most about them: Oscar Mandagaran, Luciana Valle, and Florencia Tacchetti; if you find them, please comment and attach them to the blog!

Having said that, I think that there is only ONE way to approach volcadas in terms of technique, and that is to create as much clarity as possible, good balance, and control over the step, as possible.

Leader technique to make volcadas work

1. Stay as much on axis as possible: I think that the volcada is most striking when the follower does most of the tilting. Accordingly, when I lead this move, I try to remain almost completely on axis myself. 
2. Tell the follower not to switch feet by a subtle lift of the embrace (no one else should see it).If you keep your solar plexus energized and lifted, this gives the follower's leg room to swing, even if s/he is not performing good technique.
3. Think of the follower's support leg/foot like the point of a compass: all the other motion is happening around that main focus or anchor, and returns to that location before moving to another place on the floor.
4. Once the follower is lifted, move away from her/him to create the tipping motion. Remember to take relatively small steps away, but with your entire axis (don't take your feet and leave your head). I tend to move directly away from the follower with my solar plexus, which means quickly stepping back and to the side with one and then the other foot (I end up with my feet apart).
5. Catch the pendulum swing of the follower's leg (depending on the step before the volcada, this will be swinging around and towards you, or dropping directly towards you), and draw a shape that ends with the follower's free foot passing by the support foot. If you are doing a regular volcada, it is your responsibility as a lead to ensure that the follower is in the cruzada, and can switch weight to exit.
6. Note: In my opinion, it is OK to play with Body English (a student of mine calls it Body Castellano) to get the follower's foot where you want it. It is NOT OK to be off balance or out of control as the leader.
7. Release the "marca" and the lift before asking the follower to take another step. Do not release the lift early, or the follower's free foot gets stuck out in the swing and can't be collected elegantly under her/him.
8. As soon as you feel the follower's weight change at the cruzada, you can step forward. There is a lot of argument about when to step forward, and I see a lot of leaders stepping forward IN ORDER TO lead the cross step. As a follower, this does not feel as balanced and safe as when the leader places my foot with the chest, and THEN steps. We talked about this in class, and I led both variants on some of you who are taking the class as leaders: you can feel how much more stable it is to wait to step until the follower's feet are anchored; but you can do as you like when I'm not watching ;-)
9. Exit: Usually, I assume that we'll need one-two steps for the follower to completely regain being on axis. It is especially important during those steps that the leader is on balance and grounded for those steps, IN CASE the follower needs help.
10. Pet peeve: As a follower, I personally don't like the leaders to move in a circular path WHILE making my leg swing. Usually, this results in me falling into my cross step, and falling out of it to catch up with them. I want to feel protected and supported: wait for me!

Follower technique to make volcadas work

No matter how clearly a leader leads this move, if the follower is not paying attention to technique, it won't work. The follower has the same setup as for a boleo or a gancho or any tango move: correct posture and balance.

1. Keep your spine energized and stretched: a lot of volcada injuries occur when the follower sags into the move (and yes, I know some teachers say to keep your hips with the leader, but I don't think it's smart in terms of protecting your body). I think of doing a pushup, with my core muscles and abdominal muscles lifted and strong.
2. Keep your hips aligned over your support leg. For me, I follow Oscar Mandaragan and Georgina Vargas ideas of alignment: my hips need to shift slightly in order for me to be as on balance as possible. This means that my hips are released a bit, on top of my support leg. DON'T hitch up the hip for your "free" leg, or it won't be free.
3. When the leader tips me forward, I try to be even longer and more elastic than when on axis. I don't let my heel come off the floor on my support leg unless the volcada is so big that I have no choice. I spend perhaps 80% of my energy maintaining the groundedness and stretch of my axis (40% up, 40% down; 20% on the actual volcada).
4. Release your "free" leg as deeply in the center of your hip joint as possible. The shape of the volcada is determined by the leader's path of your leg (you can make it pretty after you've learned to let the leader be in charge of your leg). If you stay stretched and elastic in your spine and support leg, your "free" leg will naturally have space to slide on the floor. If it gets stuck, go back and look at steps 1 and 2: are you REALLY doing them? (If you are, check to see if the leader has dropped the solar plexus in the middle of the move).
5. Note: All volcadas are determined by the step that precedes the volcada. If you do the version that we learned that starts with a side step, the volcada will be V-shaped. If you start with a small boleo (this week), the volcada will be more circular. Try to give up guessing where to put your foot, and focus on your support leg and body. Let the leader worry about your free foot.
6. When the leader places your foot and releases the lift on your body, make sure that you stay in contact with the leader. It's not necessary to immediately return to on-axis; it may take a step of two.
7. By being stretchy and maintaining your axis even off-axis, you make this move easy for the leader. Even a follower twice my size is light if s/he follows correct technique.

Note: Because this move requires being off-balance and supporting another person's weight, is it VERY important to safeguard the back. Leaders: lift from your legs, not your back. Followers: work your abs to save your back. If something hurts, talk to me: nothing in tango should not hurt! If you feel that another person is injuring your body, make sure a teacher watches to check.

This week: More volcadas, more on vals, and improving your embrace to make moves work better. Still to come: ganchos, posture and balance exercises, and musicality games. See you Wednesday!

Classes start on January 6th! Come dance!

Happy New Year! It's time for class again, time to work off those holiday cookies (for me, at least).

All classes will be held at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, 5340 N Interstate Ave. (Killingsworth MAX station)

$60/six weeks or $12 drop-in

No partner needed, no pre-registration needed; just show up!

Not sure what section you should come to? Drop-in to all of them on Wednesday to make a decision!

Levels and description:

Tango Fundamentals/Beginning Tango

6-7 PM Wednesdays, IFCC

• Great for diving deeper into the dance, or starting off for your first tango class.
• This class will focus on correct posture, balance and energy to make tango easy on your body
• We will learn (or polish) basic tango steps: walks, turns, ochos, the cruzada, etc.
• Musicality: Make your partner swoon with your amazing use of the music!
• Navigation: Just in time for Valentango! Learn how to avoid crashes and have fun.
• FUN: Tango is an improvisational dance. Although there's a lot of technique involved, there is also a lot of room to play, break rules, and mess around!
• Tango culture and etiquette: how do you ask for a dance? What is a tanda? As a dance anthropologist, I teach not just the dance, but the cultural rules surrounding it.

Intermediate Tango

• Topics for this session include volcadas, ganchos, and tango vals--and anything YOU need/want/desire.
• As usual, we focus on deepening body awareness, improving posture, balance, energy and connection with the partner.
• Musicality: This session, we'll work on vals timing vs. tango timing; really using the music to make the dance rock.
• Energy: What really makes a dancer intermediate or advanced is their use of energy and the clarity of that intention to the partner. We'll work on building energy levels to make your tango more sexy, powerful, more GRRRROWL in your dance.
• Improvisation: Tango is not just about set steps. We'll look at connecting steps, finding new patterns, and playing with the dance.
• Navigation: With Valentango coming up, we'll play some navigational games to make cool moves work in small spaces with less angst.

Milonga Traspie with Robert Hauk and myself

• Robert Hauk and I are again combining forces to offer a milonga class.
• New moves! This session, we'll be doing traspie/rebound moves, ocho cortado, saucy stuff I've learned in Bs As, mixed with Robert's horde of repertoire.
• Navigation: Learn to tailor the size of your steps to the room you have, not cut down your vocabulary just because it's crowded on the dance floor.
• Come get your milonga on for Valentango!

Elegant walking in tango

My teachers, Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas, have a sinuous, elegant, sexy walk. They call it "walking like a porteno" but I call it "walking like Oscar" to avoid all the arguments about how portenos do and do not walk. In Buenos Aires, everyone agrees that there are many different ways to do tango, but here in Portland, we seem to spend a lot of time arguing about the one way to do something . . . 

In Tango Fundamentals, we've been working on this walk a lot, but many questions have come up that I think are more easily answered here.

1. How many "tracks" do I use for the "porteno" walk?

Don't you hate the "it depends" answer? In this case, there are two tracks for dancing, but the leader is on one, and the follower on the other. Compared to the "two track" walk, the leader is actually slightly offset compared to the follower, but not enough to be leading to the cross. As each person walks in a straight line, each person steps in front of him- or her-self.

This walk works best in a slight V embrace, close embrace, but not square to the partner.

2. Why is this better than two-track walking?

This walk is simply more elegant than what I see on the dance floor most of the time. Two-track walking is not wrong, but it doesn't look as nice. I'm not going to walk up to you on the dance floor and ask why you aren't doing this ;-) Your walk is a personal choice; mine is to do the walk this way when possible.

There are as many ways to walk in tango as tango dancers. The reason I teach the version of tango that I teach, is that this style uses the body efficiently, and reduces injuries, as well as allowing me to dance for hours with less fatigue and foot pain.

3. But what if the person I'm dancing with tells me I'm not walking right?

What I am teaching you is not what "everyone" is doing in the tango community. You will find people who think that different=wrong. You have two alternatives: improve your dance, or conform to local habits of dance, whether or not they are good dance choices. I like to think that, in a few years, we will all be dancing better and more fluidly, and many more people will be doing this style of walking. I've noticed that all of you who are in my classes look more elegant and balanced. I get a lot more comments about my good dancing since I've switched to this style.

By the way, when I am offered unsolicited advice on the dance floor, I respectfully suggest that I will ask for feedback when I want it.

4. What is all this about contra-body motion?

Part of walking like a porteno is using natural body locomotion. When you walk, your body uses a slight rotation around the spine to help shift the weight of the body from leg to leg. You can see this if you walk and pay attention to how your arms swing gently as you walk. When your right foot is going to step forward, your body rotates slightly to the right BEFORE you step; when you step with your left, your body rotates to the left first. When you step backwards, your body twists away from the free leg.

Using natural contrabody motion also allows you to stay connected to your partner. If the leader is stepping forward with the left, s/he rotates counter-clockwise before stepping. The follower steps back on the right, also rotates counter-clockwise to the left. That means that both people move together, allowing both more freedom of movement AND more connection in your walk.

5. Why do I have to move my hips to make this walk work?

When you walk down the street, your hip releases slightly to help you shift weight from one foot to the other. The hip shift moves your weight directly above your support foot without grabbing with the muscles that surround the hip--more mobility, less work! This is an active, lifting movement, not like doing the "bus stop." This is one key part of having a lithe, sexy tango walk.

To find the right amount of pelvic movement, stand in front of a mirror. Locate the inside edge of your hip joint with your fingers, and move your pelvis until that point is over the center of your foot. Each person will have a different amount of movement here, as a woman with wide hips will move differently than a woman with narrow hips or a man. Instead of copying the look of your favorite dancer, take time to figure out what is right for your body.

6. Why did you tell me to stick out my butt?

Many people stand with their pelvis tilted forward, but the femoral joint (hip joint) works better if the pelvis shifts back further. This settles the femur into the hip joint and helps use your bone alignment for balance so that you use

7. How can I find out more about my body and how it moves?

There is an excellent reference book, designed for the average person, that shows the bones and muscles of the body, as well as explaining what motions the body can perform at each joint. I HIGHLY recommend Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germain (ISBN 0-939616-17-3 for paperback). It has great pictures and lots of information without being overwhelming.

Leader back sacada technique and combining sacadas with boleos

Last night, we combined leader back sacadas with follower front cross steps and follower side steps (both line-of-dance, LOD) and looked at ways to exit the moves, depending on navigation needs.

There are three parts to a back sacada, of which only two are visible to the onlooker:

1. The leader pivots the hips and feet as far around as possible, so that the body is still on axis, but extreme rotation has been achieved, with the torso and hips/feet facing different directions. Both feet need to face away from the location of the sacada, so that the leader's heels and rear end are facing the follower, if possible. Note: if you are not a very flexible person, use the rotation that you do have, and focus on using the next step to adjust the sacada as needed.
2. Next comes the invisible part of this move. WHILE in full rotation (some people call this disassociation), the leader rotates in space several degrees, with heels gathered together. Don't reach for the back step yet! This is the most important part of a back sacada because it helps avoid kicking the follower's trailing ankle.
3. As the follower is led to take a step, the leader steps back into the follower's step, landing where the follower originally stood (replacing the follower in space). That completes the sacada.

Note: We did leader back sacadas counter-clockwise (CCW) because they are easier to do in terms of the embrace. I'll address clockwise back sacadas in an advanced class, as the need to "break" the embrace to do these adds another level of difficulty to these steps.

Tips for making the sacadas work better

1. Use a strong embrace on the open side to control the speed and size of the follower's step

The leader gets to choose the speed of the move, so instead of trying to hurry the sacada, I control the follower's step by maintaining the shape of my embrace. If I need more time to prepare for my back step, I slow the follower down compared to the music: better a slo-mo move than bruised ankles!

I don't push on the follower's right hand with my left hand as much as connect with the follower's energy. Some people prefer to keep a limp connection here, but I disagree: by creating a strong connection, I can slow down the follower's movement more easily AND I get to choose the EXACT position of the follower's step. Both partners move at the same time, maintaining the spatial relationship of the steps.

 Leaders: if you pull/push the follower to step, you are losing control over the steps that happen after the sacadas. You will now need to spend several steps regaining control, rather than dancing.When I follow, I often feel leaders pull me through this step by opening their left arm away from their body and their solar plexus. I feel they are saying, "Step somewhere over here, please." Instead of actually leading me, they are indicating that they want me to move and hoping I land correctly. Stay in control and in connection with the follower at all times!

Followers: It's difficult to find the right amount of pressure to use with your right arm. Too much, and the leader can't feel where your feet are. Too little, and the leader can't use the embrace to help the dance. I focus on using my torso muscles to anchor my shoulder girdle. I use very little tension in my upper arm and forearm and wrist. Instead, I think about sending energy out from my body, along the bottom edge of my arm, through the center of my wrist, into my partner.

2. Use the closed side of the embrace to adjust for rotation

The leader's right arm and the follower's left arm need to be able to slide for this move to work. If you've ever seen Francois Truffaut's films, he was fond of the camera iris spiraling closed to end scenes, with the visible scene closing to a pinpoint and disappearing. That is the same thing that happens with the space on the closed side of the embrace. As the leader rotates, the leader's right arms slides around the follower. The follower's arm needs to slide around the leader too, which can be complicated if they are a different height :-)

After the sacada, the embrace returns to normal, with the closed side opening up again. If you are having trouble detaching the follower's hand and arm so that they slide, examine your sacada to see if you are pushing the follower off-balance: both people need to stay on-axis for this to work.

3. Adjust the distance between partners BEFORE the move

Some people teach that the leader should create more space between the dancers before leading a back sacada. I don't agree that this is always the best alternative, especially on the social dance floor. If you find that you simply cannot rotate far enough the complete a back sacada, even with using step #2, you could explore placing the follower further away on the step before the sacada.

4. Use the follower's side step for the leader back sacadas

We worked on leading leader back sacadas through the follower's front step first, in order to feel and understand the need for rotation, but these are a lot easier! The leader has more space because the follower's leg is out of the way.  However, this means that the follower's next step does not continue LOD as elegantly. Next week, I'll show you possibilities for this that we didn't cover this week.

Navigational options after sacadas

As we have been focusing on using sacadas to move around the dance floor, we've tried to do linear sacadas, followed by linear moves LOD. However, there is not always space to continue LOD in real life. One option is to turn the follower in a giro (turn) around the leader after the sacada. Another option is to change direction using a boleo, and then either continue LOD or in place with a turn, having had a few more seconds to gauge space while performing the boleo.

Example 1:

Last week, we had the leader do a leader front sacada through the follower's front cross step, followed by the leader and follower taking mirrored front cross steps LOD. After the sacada, you can lead a small front boleo, and then reverse direction so that the follower is going LOD with a BACK cross step and the leader is stepping forward OR side (depending whether the leader changed feet during the boleo or not). Hint: the follower is already rotating a lot during this combination, so the boleo is more of helping the follower to unwind from a front boleo, rather than adding more force to start the front boleo. Leaders tend to over-lead this, so careful of the follower's body!

Example 2:

On this weeks' combination, with the leader stepping in a back sacada, there are two possibilities:

1. If the leader does a back sacada through the follower's front cross step, then the front boleo works after this move (see above).
2. If the leader does a back sacada through the follower's side step, then a back boleo works best, followed by a front cross step for the follower. Again, make sure that the leader is helping the rebound of the boleo, rather than adding a lot of force at the beginning of the move; the follower's hip motion provides the impetus, and the rest is timing, not force.