OK, here it goes! This is Oscar and Georgina's "Milonguero turn with amague variation" that they taught me and that is also on their DVD set.
Follower technique for the amague variation:
Leader technique for the turn, and then for the amague variation:
And here is the noteboard for the combination:
Thanks for being patient, everybody! If the movies don't work, let me know (it let me play them). I'll gussy up the process once I get used to doing this :-) Thanks Rich for the camera work!
The next session of classes starts 3/31 and 4/4 @ the Om Studio, 14 NE 10th Ave. in Portland:
The cost is $60/6 weeks, or $12 drop in per person.
The 6 PM class is a class for beginners, or anyone who would like their dance to look more like Buenos Aires style tango. We work on technique for walking, turning, changing directions, pausing (adornos, too), as well as a few other basic steps, depending on the speed the class works at. My classes are a bit different than run-of-the-mill tango classes: we play games with music, energy, balance, etc., that allow you to gain an understanding of tango very quickly. I encourage correct body alignment and use of the body structurally to find your tango. I also think that improvisation, energy and fun should be a part of every person's tango, right from the first class. If you need survival skills for the dance floor, this is the right level for you!
The 7 PM class is a class for continuing to develop an elegant, strong dance. I introduce new figures gradually, focusing on traditional, close embrace movement that can immediately be transferred from class to the dance floor. Again, balance, breath, embrace and musicality are ways to approach new movement, not just "fancy parts" to add in after the step is memorized :-) When you walk out of class, you will be able to use what you learn right away on the dance floor.
The 8 PM class is focuses on musicality, improvisation, elegance--making the dance your own. Often, we work on similar moves to the 7 PM class, but add details that challenge a more advanced dancer. Musically, I alternate six weeks of moves that work well in vals/tango with moves that work well in milonga/tango (yes, many are good for all three :-)). If you already know moves, but want to look/feel better on the dance floor, this would be a great class for you.
The Monday night advanced class is for dancers who have either already taken my other three levels, or who have reached an advanced level already and would like to polish their technique, learn new figures to enhance the dance, and build musicality. If you are not sure that you have a high-enough level for this class, please bring a partner along so that you can work at a slower pace, if needed. :-) This is a "one-room-schoolhouse" kind of class, with a wide range of dancers. You should have three years or more experience for this class.
See you in class!
This session of my intermediate/advanced Wednesday night class, we are looking at musicality through contrast. First, we learn a figure. Then, we try it to either milonga or vals music. We explore how many ways the movement can go with the music, especially in terms of slowing it down for adornos :-) Then, we try the figure to the other music, and make adaptations to make the musicality flow better.
Not every pattern works well in tango, milonga AND vals. There are some moves I prefer in just one dance, or in tango and vals, but not milonga (or vals and milonga, but not tango). I am not in the camp that believes these dances have different moves. Yes, there are some things I tend to do more in milonga than tango, etc., but for me, the deciding factor is: does this movement work to this music? If it does, then I use it. After all, this suite of dances are street dances! Who says we have to follow all the rules?
I'm using a lot of figures that I've learned from Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas because THEY WILL BE HERE IN A MONTH!!!!!! Hopefully, this preparation will help those of you who are new to Oscar and Georgina, so that you can get optimal levels of information in one short week.
This figure is on Oscar and Georgina's wonderful Rhythmic Tango DVD (#4).
Places to mess around to make the musicality work: This pattern takes a nice 8 measure phrase to complete, OR it can take longer if the music tells you to SLOW down: it depends on the song. I like to suspend the follower after #1 and at #6 so adornos can happen, but I try to make this music-dependent. One of my peeves is to see leaders trying to be dramatic by introducing slow and quick elements into the dance, but without listening to the music!! Believe me, the person you are leading usually prefers the dance to fit the music.
The pattern above is HARD to do in milonga unless you have a follower who stays on-axis, on-balance. If you or your follower tend to fall over, . . . change it to make it more milonga-friendly.
Musicality variations: You can do little corridas (quick quick slow) in this circle, or walk it in even counts. This also makes an elegant step for vals, by the way, where it can be slowed down and/or adornos added.
This move I prefer in vals (and tango), but several students showed great prowess in making this a milonga move. As a rule, I don't lead boleos in the milonga because few followers can stay on axis while pivoting that quickly, BUT that doesn't mean you can't lead it; be judicious in your choices.
Some notes on leading boleos, as these were new to some of you:
Leader:
Follower:
Again, nice places to add adornos are at the first side step and after the rebound of the boleo (so, at original #1 and #6-7 of the first move. In essence, because all these steps are built off of the same main structural beginning and end, the best place for adornos remains the same. Also, boleos can be different speeds. In vals, I like folks to lead me in a slower, sweeter boleo, rather than a WHAM! movement, allowing me time to really pivot well with my hips, and giving the boleo a more swoopy, vals feeling.
As I hear my next lesson knocking on the door, I'll finish here, and go over this step in my next blog entry. Stay tuned!
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.
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:
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 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.
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!
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:
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:
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:
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.
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!