Friday, December 1, 2023
Luciana Valle Weekend St. Paul, Minnesota (Triune Temple)
Workshop #1: Dynamic Walking, Axis & Embrace
This class would be the most important class to start our weekend. It is a fundamentals class, and super important.
We began with walking on our own, forward and back, starting with our heels together and toes slightly apart to point at 11:05 on an analog clock. With this footwork, it is easier to have stability as our hips are slightly rotated, and we have a bigger base foundation on the bottom.
Our hips are in the middle of our foot. The weight of the hips are between the metatarsal and heel. Our shoulders are toward the front part of our hips, on top of the hip bones, and the body is a little forward, but do not lean forward too much. Toes are still free of weight, but do not move axis to the front part of the foot. Put heels on the ground to center the axis. Our shoulders should be aligned with the crest of our hips (not our butt). The axis is in the middle of the foot.
We should ground and grow, getting taller in our steps. We explored moving the axis inside of the foot. Be aware of where your axis is on each step. Then take the step, undoing the flex in our knees. The flex in our knees should be tiny, and our knees should be soft but not bent. Smaller steps will have a smaller flex; as the step gets longer, more flex is needed.
Push from the standing leg. We should propel ourselves from the standing foot before we lose the power of the heel.
FOLLOWER: Move the axis inside of the foot. Do not incline the axis. Otherwise you will be on the metatarsal. Take every step. In the forward walk, the axis goes from the middle of the foot to the middle of the foot using the whole foot on the floor. Ground and grow!
There is only one working leg at all times in tango. The free leg should be completely available; put all the weight on one leg.
We practiced forward walking on our own, taking two beats for every step to focus on each concept: ground, grow, step, ground, grow, collect, and paying attention to the articulation of the foot. The we drilled this, walking on 1 beat.
These are the basic mechanics of the step.
In our walk backwards, the Leader’s and Follower’s work are different.
FOLLOWER: In walking backward, ground and grow and let the free leg go in the direction by preparing the standing leg. Go up, not forward. Push with the whole foot, including the power of the heel to make you travel. The free leg goes back with the heel, not the toes. Move the axis toward the back of the foot. Ground and grow. Start to move in the direction you are going. Do not fall into your step. Push off the floor. When you arrive, undo the flex in the knee.
LEADER: In walking backward, move the center toward the back; step with the body and leg together so you make the Follower feel when you are going, to get a vacuuming sensation.
Individually, we drilled walking backward, taking 2 beats.
Your legs make you travel. The Leader moving his axis makes the Follower move her axis.
Then, in partnership we worked these concepts in forward walking and backward walking.
EMBRACE
In tango, the embrace is uneven with one side open and one side close.
The Leader’s right hand is always front of his sternum regardless of whether the embrace is open or close.
Inside the embrace, the Follower’s connection is opposite to the direction they are dancing.
· When he walks forward, she pushes toward him with her right palm against his left palm, and her left palm against his right arm, assuming open embrace.
· When leader goes back, she pulls back with the fingers of her right hand against the back of his left hand, and her left fingers pull against his right arm, assuming open embrace.
Leading is not moving the Follower. It is about moving yourself, propelling and going, no matter the size of the step, even the small ones. The Leader goes by pushing with his standing leg. The Follower receives his lead with the connection in her hands and answers with the connection going down into her legs. She should ground, go, and grow, staying with the Leader. The Leader needs to feel where the Follower’s legs are, so she should be sure to push and grow. The Leader is walking himself; he is not moving the Follower. The Leader needs to trust that it’s enough to just go by himself. He doesn’t need to add anything to the embrace.
The Follower’s job is to maintain the connection, so she should be very active and aware in how her left and right hands push and pull against the Leader when he is going toward her or away from her. Do not abandon your embrace. In dancing and taking our steps, we are growing and grounding, while using the palms when the Leader is going toward the Follower, and using the fingers when the Leader is going away from the Follower.
Next, we explored the relationship of the bend of the knees and the length of the steps. We began in partnership with the Leader leading side steps that are different in size: small, medium, and large. We noticed that the knee flexes a little in taking small side steps, then has a bigger flex when taking medium side steps, and flexes a lot when taking large side steps. This is all very natural in side steps. However, even though everyone does perfect, natural knee flexes in side steps, most people have an incorrect amount of flex in doing front and back steps, usually having too much flex. So even in doing front and back steps, we should have the same relation of flex in the knee to the size of the steps as they have in side steps. In collecting, the standing leg straightens and brings in the free leg. The free leg does not collect by itself.
We danced one tango, just paying attention to walking, using different size steps. Have good posture to allow you to be comfortable with your partner. Knees flex a little; do not bend the knee too much, but keep the bend small. The Leader’s flex is a consequence of the size of the step: if the Leader takes a big step, there is more flex in the knee. If the Leader takes a smaller step, he can have less power in his legs. The Leader pushes the floor to grow. If the step gets longer, you propel more. If the Leader takes a very long step, the Follower feeds back with a longer step also. Feedback is in the Follower’s embrace. She responds with her step (answering with her legs). The Follower should have good connection in her embrace but not tension. Leaders: never lock your knee. Just push from the standing foot/leg and cover the space.
We drilled these ideas by dancing, taking small steps, medium steps, and large steps, all in any direction, to see and feel what the differences were. Move like you have rollers on the feet. Take the step before you lose power of the heel as you move forward. Undo the flex after stepping to ground and grow. Leaders led a long and then a tiny step to control the energy and so that the Follower could increase her sensitivity and provide good feedback.
Embrace: Leader’s right hand is in front of his sternum. There can be a change in his relation with the Follower, but his left hand / her right hand should be at the shoulder level of the shorter dancer.
Followers: Dance with whole foot on the floor. Having the heel on the floor is a more natural step. Don’t overshoot your axis. Being on the toes a lot is very tiring on the calf, and the knee has to bend, which doesn’t look good. If the Follower’s weight is too far forward on the foot with heels very off the floor, she will feel heavy on the Leader.
We drilled walking, Leader with power and Follower with good feedback in her legs.
Leader: Taking large steps does not mean stepping fast. Put more power in your standing leg to increase size and undoing flex for reception.
Follower: The Follower goes from center of foot to center of the foot. If her step is too long, she is arriving on the metatarsal. If she is too far forward, she will go too long since she is taking with her free leg, and she will go down. Keep heels on the floor, otherwise Follower will look like she is sitting and on tippy toes.
Next, we changed the dynamics of the walk. We tried the Leader doing one push with three weight changes, basically doing the Q Q S rhythm in one step. The Follower will feel one acceleration, and will answer with accelerating. The Leader moves himself, he doesn’t move the Follower. If the Leader moves himself correctly, the Follower will move as a consequence. The Follower’s feedback is a mirror of what she gets from the Leader. If she gets power, she should answer with power in her legs.
You have more time than you think in Tango. In stepping on the “one” – you do not arrive on the “o”, so it’s almost like you are going to be late, but you are really on time when you arrive on the “e”.
END OF CLASS
Practica afterward. Everyone was so nice, and many remembered me from my past visits. There were many students from Iowa since Mati has been teaching there and based there for his US tour. Skill level at the practica ranged from new to excellent, and there were a lot of women Leaders, some very skilled. I had a very nice time.
Saturday, December 2, 2023
Luciana Valle Tango Weekend St. Paul, Minnesota (Triune Temple)
Workshop #2: Exquisite Pivots & Viral Spirals
Yesterday, we worked on the foundation for the whole weekend. Today, we continue from yesterday, so classes will have progression using materials from the previous class (walking, connection, the standing v free leg, walk quality and power, connection in the Follower’s hands, etc.)
Today, our work is on pivots and spirals, to the ochos, and to planeos.
We began with the definition of pivots v spirals.
In pivots and spirals, there are two ways of disassociation in the body, both for the Leader and Follower:
Pivot: movement is a bottom motion to top
Spiral: movement is a top motion to the bottom, which comes around as a consequence.
In pivots, the Leader leads with his top and the Follower answers with her bottom. The Follower pivots from her standing leg and the torque of her hips. Leader and Follower have opposite torsions. Leader’s top to Follower’s bottom, the Leader’s bottom to Follower’s top. The Leader rotates his top as his bottom is fixed and his leg is an anchor. The Follower stays with the Leader’s top, but answers with her bottom.
Next, we worked on connecting the pivot with the ocho.
Leader does side step, collects, torques, does another side step, collects, torques, etc.
Follower steps, then pivots, steps, then pivots, etc.
Starting with the Leader’s side step, the Leader pushes with his standing leg, which moves his back as he rotates the Follower in place. He was to take care to be very clean in his rotation around his own back, so that he does not lead a pivot like a turn. The Leader needs to use his torso; it needs to have presence.
Follower: The Leader gives the direction of her pivot and angle relation his top. The Follower’s hip rotation is an amplification of what the Leader does. This is the Bon Bon Theory in action. Her hips amplify, like eating a bon bon. A bon bon is a tiny candy, but when you eat it, your hips become large. That’s amplifying. The Follower makes amplification in her hips from the Leader’s lead in her upper body. The Follower’s motion of the pivot is her’s, going from little to big. If the Leader does a lot of torsion, the Follower needs to do a very big pivot. Be active in your pivot; do not be stingy!
In doing our forward ochos, the Leader leads the Follower’s pivot, and then she steps. The Leader’s right hand needs to stay in front of his sternum at all times and not disconnect the arms from his chest. The Follower slides her left hand in and out as she pivots to the close side and open side of the embrace. This rolling in and out of the embrace is even more obvious and necessary when doing back ochos. She should not be on the metatarsal when she pivots, otherwise she will lean forward. She should roll the axis to the middle of the foot. The pivot never ends. The Follower should grow taller as her leg unflexes after the pivot. The Follower is the one walking in a curved step around the Leader, so have energy in your walk so the Leader can have power in his step. Her steps are not down. Her legs will bend naturally, but she should think up and around. The Follower’s flex is a natural flex. The Leader collects when he leads the pivot on the side step.
Follower: Take the step with power and actively pivot. Undo the flex of the leg coincident with pivoting. The free leg is together at the end of the pivot and grow, which will give you stability. The hips are lighter when the Follower is up (not bending her knee). Upper body torsion is toward Leader. Ground and grow. Move axis inside the foot.
In partnership, we did Follower back crosses and forward crosses.
Follower: In pivoting, the axis is in the middle. Her bottom goes one way, while her top goes the other way. The leg wants to go opposite (like a pepper grinder). Do not drive the pivot.
Leader: Your job is to provide a very clear lead for the Follower, maintaining clear connection, having a powerful step, and having clear torsion and clear direction.
In partnership, we did back and forward ochos, moving together. Here, the Leader’s collection and torsion is one move. The Leader gets power for the torsion in his legs.
Follower: If you lean forward, your pivot will feel heavy. Use the metatarsal to pivot, but weight is between the metatarsal and the heel, not toward the toes. In theory, the Follower should be able to pivot with her toes off the floor (though we did not try to do this). .
In partnership, we worked on this concept doing back and forward ochos in the line of dance. Leader maintains his right hand in front of the sternum, but allows the follower to slide in and out of the embrace. In doing ochos, Follower needs to pay attention to keep axis fully vertical, and pivoting with feet first (instead of hips), and keeping the bra line to the Leader.
For the Follower’s pivot, the Leader rotates the partner in place (pivot). This is in contrast to when the Leader travels partner (this is the turn). Leader’s rotation is torsion of the back of his own spine inside the embrace. When traveling, the Leader’s whole torso travels in the space. The Leader’s rotation around his spine leads the Follower to pivot (rotating around his spine, so he basically stays facing 12 o’clock, but as he torques his upper body around his spine) versus traveling his partner (leading her to step around him in a turn by turning the front of his body for example from 9am to 3pm and back).
The Followers pivot is a motion in place. She moves from the standing leg, but keeps her braline to the Leader, so her bottom pivots while her braline stays with the leader, and she should make the effort to maintain her top orientation to the Leader. The Follower’s ribs belong to the legs. The heel hits the floor, and then she pivots. Follower pushes off from the standing leg. Follower should keep her legs straight, arrive on the whole foot, not just the front of the foot. The Follower’s pivot never ends. The Follower still needs to move inside herself, she is never dead. The Follower makes amplification in her hips from the Leader’s lead in her upper body. When she collects her legs, she undoes the flex (has straight legs at collection).
Follower’s pivot goes from down to up, all the way to the braline.
SPIRALS
Spirals are the opposite of what we’ve been doing. It’s a top to bottom motion.
The Follower’s motion is from top to bottom, from the braline to the standing leg. So her braline goes first, then the rest of her body comes around as a consequence.
In partnership, the Leader leads the Follower’s forward ocho, but stops before collecting in his step, then he starts to walk around the Follower. The Follower keeps her top toward the Leader, and her hips will come around when she can’t torque her upper body any more. Her top brings the rest of her body. Here the Follower is the center and the Leader is the circle.
To understand this, individually, we took side steps so that our weight was on the right. We rotated our top, and our free leg goes out on the opposite side, then comes around as a consequence. We did this on both sides.
All circular situations in tango have the same structure underneath of the compass (needle and pencil), where there is one center (person remains fixed in one place) and one circle (person walks around the other person). In our exercise, the Follower is the needle, and the Leader is the pencil going around her in a perfect circle. When the Follower’s bottom comes around to meet her top, the movement is over. The Leader’s step needs to be around the Follower, in perfect equidistant around the Follower. He should have energy in his steps as the circle is the engine of the move. His steps are all forward or all back in going around the Follower (no pivots, not back or forward cross steps). In his walk, the Leader should go toward the Follower’s spiral (her standing leg), but if he gets confused and walks in the other direction, she will just unwind the spiral and then rewind it as he walks around.
Feet should be at 11:05 with no disassociation in her body. Th Follower needs to adjust her standing foot so she can be more stable. Her leg should rotate inside of the joint of the hip when the Leader starts to walk around her.
We could do this from the Follower’s back ocho as well.
Follower: Make him feel amazing.
It’s all about the direction of where the leader walks. When the Leader walks toward the open side of the embrace, he walks forward. When the Leader walks toward the close side of the embrace, he walks backward.
Workshop #3: Dynamic Ganchos
Our second class of the day requires accessing what we learned in the prior two classes. In tango, there are linear and circular moves. In this class, we will do Follower circular ganchos.
The gancho is a motion led the by the Leader, not one that the Follower sneaks in or steals because they are in position. It requires preparation in the Leader’s body to receive the gancho. If the Follower does a gancho on her own, it is dangerous as she could kick the Leader instead. The gancho is the Leader’s ask of the step that isn’t going to happen.
We began with doing back ochos that travel: (1) regular ones in the line of dance; (2) side to side; and (3) overturned ones that go back toward the Leader.
In leading overturned ochos, the Leader has more energy and deeper torsion in his spine. All of the Leader’s lead/torsion goes to the Follower’s standing leg. The Follower should not prepare her leg in advance. She needs to pivot without weight on her toes and not be forward, otherwise she will get stuck halfway; she needs to be on axis. In doing these ochos right now, we are just working on the prep.
In doing overturned back ochos, the Follower needs to step close to the Leader so he has room to place his foot correctly. All ganchos work better in close embrace than open embrace where dancers are farther away from each other. The Leader leads the Follower to do an overturned back ocho, so her step is close to the Leader. The Follower needs to pivot a lot and not be stingy, but be very generous, with her pivots. She should not pivot with her free leg out. The Leader asks for a step.
To drill, the Leader leads a Follower to do an overturned back ocho to the close side of the embrace. The Leader places his right leg, then removes it as if he is changing his mind.
The Leader should hide his leg until the Follower completes her step in her overturned back ocho, so he does not take her space too soon and prevent her from stepping farther away. This is “The Law of Hiding the Leg”.
The Leader’s motion is:
(1) Leader’s top opens
(2) Leader’s bottom comes around as a consequence so hips face Follower (thus, he has a slight foot adjustment/small pivot)
(3) Leader places his foot.
Then he transfers weight so that he is in front of her.
The Leader moves his top first, then his bottom comes around as a consequence with his standing foot pivoting a little, and then he places his free leg. The Leader’s pivot is at the end as a consequence of his bottom coming around to meet his top. The Leader needs to allow the Follower to slide in the embrace so she can come close to him in her overturned back ocho to the close side of the embrace. The Follower steps back cross near the Leader, doing a good back cross step, not falling and not sitting back in the step. After stepping, she needs to wait to see what’s coming next. If the Leader has his leg out too early, he won’t be able to torque his top as much as he needs to.
The Leader leads the Follower to do turns footwork around the Leader. In his chest he asks her to keep moving, to go. The Leader goes slightly down on his left standing leg and his right gancho leg also bends a little to make room for the gancho. There is no weight on the gancho leg.
Follower and Leader: the farther you are to each other, the more difficult it is to do ganchos. It’s easier if both dancers are near each other.
Follower: finish your pivot. The Follower tries to do her next step (a side step of the turn), but she can’t since the Leader’s leg is in the way, so does a gancho. So the Leader leads an overturned pivot first, then leads a turn.
If the Follower steps too far away, the Leader should abort the mission.
On the open side, both dancers need to really relax the embrace to enable the Follower to step near. Ganchos work better in close embrace so that dancers are naturally close.
END OF DAY
I had dinner at The Nook (492 Hamline Ave S, St Paul, MN 55116; https://www.crnook.com), a local burger and bowling place, as I was curious after seeing it in my Airbnb guide and researching on the web. Sadly, the lanes were all booked and were great for parties, but not serious practice, leagues or tournaments. Still, the place had its charms with well-loved wooden lanes and festive groups celebrating birthdays or just enjoying each other’s company. I sat at the bar as the place was packed, but luckily the folks sitting next to me were all friendly. I had the special December burger – the “Reindeer Burger” – a combination of beef and elk, not actual Reindeer. I had to wait a long time for my meal (over 30 minutes), and when it arrived my onion rings were on the cool side. The burger was decent but didn’t knock my socks off.
Milonga en el Alma @ Four Seasons Dance Studio (1637 Hennepin Ave, Mpls MN 55403; $15)
I had enough time to shower and relax a bit before heading out to the milonga, arriving around 10pm. The wooden dance floor is super comfy. The organizer and many of the attendees were class students. Maestra and Mati performed. I had a nice time.
Sunday, December 3, 2023
Luciana Valle Tango Weekend St. Paul, Minnesota (Triune Temple)
Workshop #4: Perfect Turns
It is important to drill the foundations.
In all of the below circular situations in tango, there is always the structure underneath of the circle and the center, like a compass.
· Planeos
· Turns
· Sacadas
· Circular Boleos
· Circular Ganchos
· Changes of Direction
· Shared Axis Turns
All have the same structure underneath of the center and the circle:
(1) Leader center; Follower circle (turn)
(2) Follower center; Leader circle (planeo)
(3) Leader and Follower circle (dancers go around each other)
(4) Leader and Follower center (shared axis)
Today, we will work on the Leader center, Follower circle.
To lead the Follower’s pivot, the Leader rotates the partner in place (pivot). This is in contrast to when the Leader travels partner (this is the turn). To Lead the Follower’s pivot, the Leader rotates around his own back/spine inside the embrace. When traveling, the Leader pushes on his standing leg as an anchor, and his whole torso travels in the space. To lead the pivot, the Leader’s torsion rotating around his own back/spine leads the Follower to pivot (so he basically stays facing 12 o’clock, but he torques his upper body around his spine), versus traveling his partner, leading her to step around him in a turn by turning the front of his body (for example from 9am to 3pm). The Leader’s top is connected with the Follower’s bottom. The Follower needs to anchor from her bottom, not her top.
From the back ocho, the Leader anchors on his standing leg, then does a weight change. In traveling, eh moves his front by opening his torso, top, bottom, out. The Follower does her three steps around the Leader in a turn clockwise. Her back cross step is overpivoted to come around the Leader circularly. The Follower’s turn is a walk in a circle around the Leader. In Leading the overturned back ocho, the Leader’s arm and Follower’s arm need to slide in so they get closer together. Otherwise they will be too far away from each other.
We did an individual exercise where we took a side step to get our weight fully on one leg, then rotated our top 90 degrees and then our bottom followed as a consequence of the momentum in our top. We did this on both legs.
The Follower is the motor of the turn, so she should make good pivots and strong circular steps around the Leader. The Follower needs to cross around the leader as she takes her steps around him. We did this turn to both sides. As the Leader moves his top, the turn keeps going. As his bottom comes around, when it ends, that’s where the turn ends.
The Follower’s turn has a tendency to pull her in (“eat you”), so always think center center center, and if she needs to adjust back up to axis, do it at the point of the pivot. Her weight should be spread all over the foot, with her toes free so she doesn’t lean forward. Her steps should be circular around the Leader. The Follower should keep her hips back, and check this at the pivot to make sure she is not leaning in. The Follower’s back cross step is overturned so that she maintains a circle around the Leader. The Follower can check to maintain the axis in place at her pivots; the Leader should check every time he collects, to think up and center.
The direction of the circle around the center is the direction of the turn, left or right.
We drilled in partnership, doing the basic step to the cross, Leader unwinds the Follower’s cross, then leads her to do a full turn. The Leader should give the Follower a clear center as he leads a full turn (Follower’s footwork, front cross, open, back cross, open, front cross). The Leader needs to know which step the Follower is on in this exercise. 2 ending options: (1) the Leader receives the Follower’s front cross and steps back (hardly anyone did this), or just go out normally (most everyone did this).
It is important that the Leader not mix up rotating (pivoting) versus traveling (leading a turn) his partner. Do not mix up the lead. It is rotating, THEN traveling, NOT combining rotating AND traveling.
We drilled some more, doing the basic step to the cross, unwinding the Follower, send the Follower around in a turn, and then Leader adjusts his foot. With his left foot, he takes the space in front of the Follower’s trailing left foot as she steps right foot forward cross around the Leader in a clockwise turn on the first step of her turn around the Leader. The Leader’s weight his on his right foot so he can freely take with his left foot in doing this sacada. The Follower stops at his step because the Leader’s torso stops moving. The Leader should send the Follower farther away by pivoting the Follower slightly more so she steps slightly father away. This gives the Leader more room to easily enter in his take in the sacada.
Follower: movement is from top to bottom in a spiral after her first front cross step as Leader does his sacada. The Leader adds walk around.
Workshop #5: Shared Axis Turns
The term “shared axis turn” is a misnomer because the dancers are not actually sharing an axis; they each have his/her own axis and are sharing the spot on the floor where we spin together. Leader and Follower are both the center of the circle, but are technically NOT sharing an axis.
We began with an exercise to understand the mechanics.
We began with a parada exercise. Leader takes a side step to his left, placing his right foot between the Follower’s two feet, catching her right foot in a sandwich. He should not go beyond the middle of her right foot. The Leader wants to move the axis behind the Follower, so the Leader needs to go around the Follower, stepping around her in a curve with his left foot. He pivots as he steps. The Follower does a spiral motion from her top to bottom to open space. The Leader just makes a small step, not a big super spin, as we are just trying to understand and feel the mechanics at this point.
EVERY TIME THE LEADER GOES AROUND THE FOLLOWER, SHE ANSWERS TOP TO BOTTOM.
For the Follower’s side step, the Leader should not sandwich farther than the middle of the Follower’s foot, otherwise she can’t pivot. The Follower needs to make room for her body to spiral in a top to bottom motion, opening the space to allow the Leader to go there. She should not move in a block or do a pivot instead of a spiral. She needs to move from a her braline first.
The Leader pushes from his standing leg, pivots, and steps around the Follower. For the quality of the embrace, do not be too stiff or too relaxed. The Leader’s weight is in the middle of his foot, not on his toes. The same for the Follower. They are centered on the axis.
Some fine tuning of our morning exercise: The Leader pivots, and his torso accompanies his hips. This exercise is done close, with both dancers in axis.
Putting this into the structure of the turn, The Leader decides the radius of the circle, depending on what he wants to lead. If he wants to lead a Sacada, the Leader leads the Follower a little bit away so he has room to do his sacada. In our new work on Shared Axis Turns, the Leader wants to get behind the Follower’s axis, so he leads her radius to come closer to him. The Leader chooses to lead the Follower to step closer in her radius, so he can step behind her after she passes. The Follower needs to have spiral and keep her braline to the Leader to give him room to step. She goes, then he goes; they do not step together. Leader’s top moves, then bottom comes around, then he steps around. The Leader goes toward the Follower’s standing leg, going behind her standing foot. Follower: Do not collect too fast and do not go in a block. She has a beautiful circular front cross step. He leads this on her series of forward ocho front cross steps.
The Leader needs to let the Follower step, then he needs to pivot himself before he steps around so he doesn’t push her inadvertently. Leader: Do not rush, he has more time than he thinks. Let the Follower pass before you step. Do not step flat; curve the steps instead. Send Follower. Then adjust his standing leg.
Do not be off axis. This is not a colgada move! It is an on-axis move for both dancers.
We were to try this on the other side (the close side), which is more difficult. We are attempting to move the boundaries of our dancing.
The Follower’s first step should be curved with big disassociation in her body.
When Followers dance flat, it is easy to end up pigeon-toed.
When the Follower maintains her braline to the Leader, it keeps her hips in the correct position. The Follower’s goal should be to always step in a curve (up and around), not flat and down. Otherwise, it is difficult to get momentum/dynamics to get around.
The Leader needs to have a little bit of distance in the embrace at the beginning, but after his first step, he comes in so they can stay together in the turn. At the first step, the Follower’s right foot front cross step, her left arm is in open embrace. Then after that first step, her left arm needs to slide in to close embrace.
Follower: Do not bring the hip around too fast. The last thing is the hip coming around. Do not do it too fast, otherwise the Leader doesn’t have time to do his second step. Her free leg should be straight and she should not bend it as it comes around.
We were to try this on the other side. If the Leader keeps stepping around the Follower’s foot, he can do it endlessly (calesita). But the Leader needs to really understand the basic one.
The Leader sends the Follower around him. The Follower steps around the Leader. At her front cross step of the turn, the Leader steps with her, letting her pass, then stepping behind the Follower, toward her, but behind her axis. Follower should not be far away. The Follower is the Circle, the Leader is the Center.
Follower: Have a very nice circular front cross step around the Leader so he can step behind her easily.
The Follower needs to step first, before the Leader steps behind the Follower. So she passes, then he passes, and then they go out together.
Follower: Do not be in a block. Do juicy ochos (do not be stingy in the pivot), have spiral in the top (like a pepper grinder). Focus on the quality of the step, pivot, and torsion.
Leader can change his legs in stepping and he can add the “shared axis turn” after the first one, to do a double spin so he doesn’t have to rebuild the energy, to the right with the right.
END OF CLASS
There was a lovely party afterward at one student’s home, with all the class participants and volunteers invited. It was all potluck with Lasagna (including gluten free and vegan options), appetizers and desserts. The food was plentiful and delicious, and the conversations and company divine, and the setting absolutely gorgeous! There was also dancing (tango, of course). I didn’t bring my dance shoes (some other folks did), but managed well enough in socks.
Monday, December 4, 2023
Tango Desperados Practica (2507 East 25th Street, Minneapolis, MN)
Lesson with Matias Sotto and Luciana Valle ($30)
This practica with lesson was separate from the weekend schedule, and after many years of missing it, I finally had the sense enough to ask for the day off so I could attend. LOL.
The topic of the class was Contra Boleos.
Leader makes side step to his left around the Follower as he leads the Follower to pivot counterclockwise. Follower’s left foot does a boleo as the Follower spirals into it as Leader steps with his left foot around the Follower. The Follower’s top moves 90 degrees, but her bottom moves 180 degrees. The Follower has top to bottom motion in her boleo. The Leader sends the Follower’s hips in one direction and then steps around in the other direction.
As in Friday’s class, the Follower should ground and grow and get taller on the standing leg, freeing up the free leg. She should push and take the step, land and undo the flex to free the free leg, it doesn’t free itself.
This exact thing happens with pivots and spirals. The free leg does not go by itself.
As the Follower’s top goes with the Leader, her standing leg rotates. Her leg adjusts inside the hips. The free leg goes opposite as it hangs from the braline. The leg that adjusts is the one that she is going toward with her tip. The opposite leg is free.
The Leader steps around the Follower, anchoring and pushing from his standing leg, with it pivoting a little so he can easily step around the Follower.
Allow the Follower to slide the embrace in and out on the close side.
On the Follower’s pivot, the Follower rolls in and out because the Leader’s left hand is always in front of his sternum. The Follower’s braline should be toward the Leader, and her free leg goes opposite. The Boleo is a spiral going from the Follower’s top to bottom.
The Follower needs to really feel it first as the Leader starts to step around and her free leg goes free.
Leader: It is very important when you walk around the Follower, the best thing you can do is release the embrace. The Follower needs to move inside the embrace so she can spiral. If the embrace is like a cage, she will move in a block. The Leader releases his embrace before his step around the Follower. The Leader shortens the radius, stepping a little closer, ending closer but still on axis after the Follower’s boleo. The Leader makes his closer step without affecting the verticality of the Follower (this can be done in close embrace). The Leader goes around the Follower’s hips. The Follower does not need to collect and bring together her legs fast and soon. The Follower landing and undoing the flex in her standing leg is how the free leg comes to close. ALWAYS
The Follower’s legs have to be separate as her leg goes into the floor and back. The Follower’s leg hangs from the braline.
Next, we added a leg wrap after the contra boleo.
Leader walks around Follower 90 degrees and a little closer and then takes another step around, not stepping in between. On the second step, the Leader shares axis with his free leg.
So his footwork is: Leader left foot side step (pivoting Follower and leading the left foot back contra boleo), and then a Leader right step into the Follower (leading the Follower to do a front wrap of her left leg of the Leader’s right leg) as she remains on her right weighted leg.
The Leader’s second right foot step is toward the Follower’s right foot standing leg.
For the Follower, it is pure spiral as she follows the Leader’s top.
If the spiral works nicely, the Leader’s side step before the Follower comes around. He goes, then she arrives, and he is interfering. The Leader takes advantage of the delay to step before the Follower faces the Leader. So the Follower should not rush her spiral or collection.
Leader: Do not stay in the middle of your weight on the second step. It is 2 complete steps around the Follower. The Leader steps are both circular, almost coming back to where he started.
There are no shortcuts in tango.
Ganchos are much easier when we are closer.
The Leader is going against his own body. He should really step with power in the torso.
We drilled this, with the Leader mixing things up a bit by doing just one boleo or doing one and then the second boleo (wrap).
The Follower should do her spiral and slide in the embrace. All the moves are inside the embrace. The Follower rolls the embrace in and out so the Leader can walk around easily.
Leader: Adjust the timing. If you are too late and she collected, or if she rushes into collection, abort the mission. The Leader needs the Follower to have delay in her spiral. The Leader needs to step past her foot to move around the Follower. The Leader needs to step beyond the Follower’s standing foot a little so he really steps around the Follower. That is his footwork! The Leader is passing the line of the Follower’s standing leg to get the gancho.
We tried 2 options:
(1) Back contra boleo, Pivot, Front boleo
(2) Back contra boleo directly into forward leg wrap (what we were doing in class)
END OF CLASS
During the practica afterward, some students worked the class material while others just danced or worked on other things. It was a nice practica.
Concluding thoughts about the weekend…
I find the St. Paul / Minneapolis tango community to be super friendly and nicely skilled overall, which is impressive. Many folks from Iowa were present, since Mati has been based there for a few months. So it was really awesome being able to continue to practice with U.S. dancers all that we’ve been working on at the Intensivos in Buenos Aires. I am looking forward to next year!
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