October 1-7

October 2-4, 2009 Tomas Howlin Workshops, with Assistance by Shorey Myers.



Friday, October 2, 2009

Tango Teasers – Share Tango Temptations with Your Partner. The underlying theme of the workshops were to do the steps that we know, but give them a twist of unexpectedness or humor. In partnership, we began with side step (Leader’s right, Follower’s left), single beat or quick beat, and added a rebote for the Leader to lead her to his right (her left). She may or may not collect depending on what she feels. Leader can go somewhere else: as Follower goes to the Leader’s right, he can go to his left so dancers are going away from each other. Next, we worked on being funny or adding a twist. In the ocho cortado footwork for the Follower, where instead of the usual footwork into the cross, she does a left side step, then a right collect (weight change), to step forward cross with her left foot into front cross of her right foot. The Leader can also do a right leg parada of the Follower’s right foot at the open step before the cross as a form of play. Here, he can be even more playful by lifting his heel to stop the Follower, with his knee moving after his heel moves. The Follower keeps her feet on the floor before the cross (sweeping the floor with her toes). The Follower’s knees pass the Leader’s knees, then the Leader lifts up with ankle-to-ankle connection, then sets their feet down, and steps side right. During the lift, the Follower’s weight is on her right foot so that her left foot is completely free to be lifted; Leader should make sure they have connection before he attempts to lift. With this Leader parada with Leader and Follower ankle connection, he can do lots of things, like sweep to the other side to place her left foot to front cross of her right foot. It was an excellent workshop, very fun.



Saturday, October 3, 2009
1. Conscious Tango Connection (int) 1-2:30 pm Techniques necessary for all tango levels. We began with posture exercises, in partnership, with one person placing their hands on their partner’s small of back and lower top of spine, putting pressure on it to feel/help with the alignment so that everything sits on top of each other, stacked upright. We also did this on the front of our bodies, with the partner’s hands on the chest bone and stomach. We were not to lean forward, but just work on posture and equalizing, keeping our knees soft and springy.



Our connection exercises involved walking together with a filled balloon in between us, using intention, projection, and sending the attention through the other person (do not be scattered), and having impetus.



Our next exercise involved transferring weight fully one foot at a time.



Our next exercise/game was a sequencing one that involved a 8- or 12-sided dice that had words on each side: left leg, right leg, chest, head, right hand, left hand, full body, stomach, etc. One person rolled the dice three times, and the other three people in the group had to do those body movements in that same order (i.e., right hand, chest, left leg).



Next, we worked on a graciousness/sequencing exercise where the Leader danced 4 steps, then paused, then did 4 more steps, then the Follower does 4 steps, and then the Leader does 4 steps, etc. For the pause, the Follower can squeeze the Leader’s hand or change hand positions. The purpose was to release and make adjustments, be equalizing, and very sensual.



Next, we worked on Leader’s torsion with a very simple step of him stepping forward with his left on the outside, and the right on the inside with a side step in between, trying to make the whole thing as square as possible and not turn it in.



Next, we worked on the Leader playing with shifting her weight differently, sometimes doing a complete weight shift for a step, or for an extension only with no step, or sometimes half weight.



2. Viboritas (int) 2:45-4:15 pm Rattlesnake moves. We began with walking in partnership in a counterclockwise circle and then a clockwise circle. Then we tried to make these circles smaller by making the inside step shorter and the outside step longer. Then we did the clockwise circle with the Follower just walking forward, curving each step, especially the inside ones, while the Leader walks around backward with curved feet. The Follower has curved feet too, with her step in between his feet. My notes break down after this. :o(



3. Vertigo in Intimacy - (int/adv) 4:30-6 pm off-axis moves for close embrace. This was basically a close embrace colgada class. Follower: keep left hand engaged; always hang on, keep the spine straight up and down.



Sunday, October 4, 2009
4. Deconstructing Turns (int) 1-2:30 pm - precision for sacadas. We began with a discussion of what turns were, what we knew about them, and came up with questions that began with Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Next, we practiced the Leader not stepping while the Follower steps (let the step pass by). This was a difficult exercise. For the turns, we played with doing them with all forward steps, or all back steps, and found that it all works. To add these two concepts together, in partnership with did a front cross, open step, back cross, open step, with each dancer going one step at a time and waiting for the other person to finish before stepping. Then we changed the Leader’s footwork so that he can either pivot or do front crosses (right foot, then left foot, then right foot) into Leader sacada. Follower should bend knee at pivot for more stability, and not go up but maintain the same level. There were other Leader footwork options: right foot front cross, left foot front cross, right side step, left leg sacada. Or, left foot back cross, right foot back cross, left foot back cross, right foot sacada. Or Left back cross, right back cross, left forward cross.



5. Ghost Sacadas (int/adv) 2:45-4:15 pm - shadow placement/positioning in sacadas. In this class, we did a lot of games to help us work on alternate timing (where one person steps and the other person waits for him to finish before she steps). This was a very hard concept so we spent a lot of time doing different games with respect to grounding, reaching, transferring weight, and collecting, all on alternate timing. For the sacada portion, we worked on stepping where the person leaves, or “chasing” their step. We also worked on the elasticity/changeability of the embrace with respect to sliding the arm/hand so you don’t pull or push each other. Here my notes break down too when we worked on ghost sacadas and overstepping the line of force.



6. Empujadas (adv) 4:30-6 pm - sacadas in vertigo, on-balance, off-axis. The word “Empujadas” comes from the verb “Empujar”: to push. We began with several exercises that involved pushing: Dancers are perpendicular to each other. One person in football stance watches as the other person steps back and forth in front of him. When the person passes in front with weight in the middle, the football stance person pushes the other person’s hips. This will send the person’s foot to cross in front of his body. We did more of these types of “pushing” exercises, and eventually incorporated them into our dance in sacadas. I did not particularly care for this class.



My overall impressions of these workshops:



At the beginning of class, we began by introducing ourselves to the rest of the other students, which was a really nice community builder. They all ended with some sort of group massage or relaxation stretch.



The workshops included many exercises and games necessary for good tango dancing: connection, posture, intention, sequencing, patience and alternate timing. The workshops were very conceptual in nature with more exercises and games (including props) and a lot of discussions and Socratic questioning to help us understand the intermediate/advanced concepts taught. One of the toughest concepts we learned and practiced was one person dancing moving while the other one is still, since in tango we are first taught to move near simultaneously. Humor and being funny and doing unexpected things were the underlying themes of all workshops.



The steps/sequences taught to illustrate the concepts learned were very simple, which is good because the concepts themselves were new to most people. I noted that most of the Leaders in these workshops were very good to excellent dancers, so it was a treat to be able to learn with them. There were also several local tango teachers taking the lessons right alongside the other students. The information seemed fresh and innovative and in my opinion, would help dancers "get to the next level."



Maestros gave us ample time to drill the concepts using slow music and rhythmic music, and gave each couple and dancer individual attention and feedback.



These were excellent workshops, and it was a tremendous blessing for the Bay Area tango community, and especially the Leaders, to be able to learn from such a strong, innovative Maestro. Maestra Shorey was also great with excellent teaching and feedback for Leaders and Followers.



Wednesday, October 7, 2009

CCSF Classes with Chelsea Eng. In Follower’s Technique, we began with a discussion on foot care. After our usual essential walking, floor and barre exercises to improve our posture, core and foot strength, timing, and disassociation, our barre work focused on forward ochos (including embellishments). Then in partnership we worked on our molinete technique, really slowing it down in the beginning to be on Maestra's timing. She taught us the beat back embellishment on the side step after the back step as feet cross each other. In Advanced / Production we did our Midterm Review Part 1, going through what we learned so far: Follower’s Torsion technique during ochos; regular volcada; volcada with pulse (fakeout to walk out); volcada with Leader’s back, side, forward footwork; going to the cross, pivoting, Follower takes forward step with her right foot, then Leader leads volcada while he does back, side, forward footwork; Follower ocho cortado into volcada using QQS timing. It was a good class, and we got our midterm papers back.

September 24-30

Friday, September 25, 2009
Homer & Cristina Ladas Advanced Seminario: "The Embrace + Variations" at the ODC, SF.

This was Maestros’ handout:

Homer & Cristina’s Advanced Seminario
“The Embrace + Variations”
September 25th, 2009
8:30pm to 10pm, ODC, SF

Class Mechanics:
This will be a fast paced 1.5 hr advanced seminar. We will present several patterns to illustrate specific concepts and encourage you to explore deeper ideas and variations. Less experienced dancers with the right attitude can take the class and hang in there. A partner is highly recommended. You may also choose to work in a small group of 3 or more to enhance the learning process. We will not rotate. After the seminar, we will be available for roughly the first hour of the practica to answer questions.

Class Overview:
We will begin the seminar by exploring transitions from various forward facing embrace concepts from close to open. Then we will explore changes of embrace to obtain other kinds of useful, fun, and/or interesting tango embraces. Finally, we will work on the technique of letting completely go of the embrace and reconnecting.

Basic Embrace Terminology:
Standard forward facing embraces can be either close or open. Close embrace assumes a body connection and communication point. It usually (but not always) requires a forward tilted axis. It can range from very close or Apilado embrace (apilado is the past participle of the Spanish verb ‘apilar’ meaning to pile) to a more or less vee’d embrace often associated with a close Salon style. The close embrace can often employ hinged, sliding, and rolling points of contact. Open embrace assumes no body connection and can range from an open Salon embrace to a very spacious and often elastic embrace. The axis can also vary from forward titled to centered to tilted away. There are various arm and hand positions associated with each embrace for both the leader and follower. Sometimes they add functionality to the connection. Other times they are just for stylistic reasons.

Advanced Embrace Concepts:
The embrace is used to develop partner balance and communication. Both the creation of space and use of energy are important lead/follow factors. Energy in either a push or pull fashion often times exists through various connection points (on the body, via the embrace, or both). Most experienced dancers understand and employ variations of the standard forward facing embrace from open to close. They allow for and use transitions to accomplish both functional and stylistic ideas. Some experienced dancers also explore changes of embrace as well as completely letting go of the embrace and reconnecting.

CLASS SYLLABUS (Note that all the material presented can be attempted on both the easy and hard sides of the embrace):

Close to Open Transitions
1. Follower’s forward ocho from leader’s rock-step, cross-behind.
2. Follower’s close to open back ocho to back sacada.

Sweetheart Embrace
3. Sweetheart wrap from back ocho.
4. Sweetheart colgada spin
5. Forward promenade into colgada, wrap, unwind, back sacada.

Reverse Sweetheart Embrace
6. With follower’s sacada
7. With elbow grab colgada

Behind the Back Embraces (Be careful & remember that usually one side is the primary lead/follow relationship!)
8. Hammer lock colgada, boleo, follower’s sacada
9. Drag-and-spin
10. Arm-pit volcada

Soltada (Spanish - A bout between fighting-Roosters; to release them for the fight.)
11. Jaimes Friedgen back sacada spin
12. Chicho line variations with back sacada

Funky Embrace Transition
13. Jean Sebastian Rampazzi trap and step thru parada/pasada

Additional Embrace Notes:
There are a several schools of thought when it comes to partner balance and communication!
- Creating space vs. energy flow for linear and circular movements and pivots?
- Push-pull energy and other concepts for pivots, ochos, boleos, and turns?
- Projection of body/floor energy thru embrace.
- Bottom Line: Good vs. bad use of arms and hands!

------------------------

These are my notes as a class student participant:

Close to Open Transitions

First, we worked on embrace transitions from close to open and back to close. We began with a simple figure, just rock step with the Leader back cross of his left foot, to lead Follower to do forward ocho, transitioning here to open embrace, to do a parada, back to close embrace as the Follower steps over and forward around the Leader with her left foot. Here, the Follower should take big steps, but keep her hips close to the Leader, even in the open embrace. The Leader tilts toward the Follower on her forward step to invite the Follower back into close embrace.

Our next transition was from close embrace back ochos to open embrace back ochos, with the Leader leading an overturned back ocho in the open embrace so that he can receive the Follower’s right leg back sacada of the Leader’s trailing left leg. Here, the embrace opens up at the point of the sacada to accommodate room for the Follower. We can do this on either side, and can also do back ochos to close embrace forward ochos.

Technical points:

(1) Follower’s overturned back ocho: she needs to have good posture and maintain her axis vertically.
(2) Leader: If you are leading an overturned ochos, be mindful of your left arm. Do not push her because it will mess up her axis.
(3) Follower: Use both sides of your embrace too to hang onto Leader, as there is a continuous turning energy.
(4) Leader: Your right hand can release because you are making a transition and the Follower is holding on to you with her left hand. If you put pressure on her back when she is trying to do an overturned back ocho, you will stop her from pivoting as much as she needs to. The Leader, through his chest lead and opening up his shoulder, will give her circular energy.

Next, we went from transitions of the embrace to actual changes of the embrace.

Sweetheart Embrace

From the open side of the embrace, Leader leads Follower into sweetheart hold by doing a loop turn (inside turn) of Follower with her right hand with his left hand. We attempted to do this from the forward ocho, but we could also do it from the walk. From this, we could add the leg wrap of the Follower’s left leg to the inside of the Leader’s “sacadaing” right leg as he is behind her. Here, timing and how to position the Follower is key. Follower needs to really stretch the side steps and step around the Leader. Both the Leader and Follower take big steps to accommodate/shadow each other so they don’t crowd each other. The Leader can orient the Follower’s hips, and when he accommodates her wrap, he needs to keep his knee flexed and heel off the ground.

In the same sweetheart hold, we attempted other figures, such as stepping forward together. Some students were inspired to try other figures al reves or doble frente like ochos.

Next, continuing with the sweetheart embrace, we did a small shared-axis colgada like spin to exit back out, both dancers facing forward. We did this from cross system walking forward so both dancers are on the same feet at the same time, and then Leader traps the Follower’s right foot at the center of her foot or toward the back of her heel to do a the shared-axis colgada, to step forward on the Follower’s left foot.

Next, we went on to:

Reverse Sweetheart Hold

The Reverse Sweetheart hold is where the Follower is on the outside right and behind the Leader (instead of the Leader being behind the Follower). To get into it, the Leader takes a side step left, then loop turns himself so that he faces the opposite direction from where he started. Here, we have to options of (1) the Leader stepping left to lead a Follower back sacada of her left leg to his right leg, or (2) the Leader stepping left to lead Follower right leg back sacada of Leader’s left leg.

There are many possibilities of things to do with the reverse sweetheart embrace, such as the Elbow Grab Colgada, which maestros demonstrated but the students did not attempt. In this figure, the Leader knocks the Follower off axis in a colgada, then sticks his elbows out and the Follower has to hang on (it’s her only choice, and it’s instinctive), out to step forward.

Behind the Back Embraces

We attempted the Hammerlock embrace. Maestros demonstrated but students did not attempt the Drag and Spin or the Armpit Volcada.

Soltadas

We also worked a bit on soltadas, where the Leader completely lets go and spins around. Here it’s important for the Leader to have good posture and balance and be able to pivot well. He also needs to KEEP HIS ELBOWS IN. The best place for the Leader to attempt to do the soltada is on the Follower’s counterclockwise molinete on the side step after her back step.

Our last Soltada was the Chicho line variation, where dancers let go of the embrace in a linear fashion. This can be done with beginning from the side step, the back step, or the forward step. In our class, we chose the easiest option, the side step. Leader and Follower start with side step (Leader left, Follower right), to forward steps (Leader right, Follower left) to give the Follower a sense of rhythm and direction, and then both dancers turn (Follower clockwise, Leader counterclockwise), to resolve into Leader’s left leg back sacada of Follower’s right leg. For this figure, there is lots of pivot and rotation.

Maestros concluded with a demo to Biagi’s Racing Club. See the video at www.tangostudent.blogspot.com

It was an extremely challenging class, and certainly was advanced, despite the deceptively simple name. Most people did OK up until Figures 5-6. After that, we attempted many figures, and got our appetites wet about the endless possibilities of how we could create material using the many different embraces (some of which are common in ballroom or Latin partnered dancing) and dancing al reves or doble frente beyond walking, doing things like ochos, sacadas, colgadas, and volcadas, or breaking the embrace and coming back together entirely with soltadas.

After all our hard work, people could not resist the delicious gourmet fare, catered by Cristina: fruit salad, cheese & crackers, zucchini patties, tzatziki (cucumber yogurt), heirloom tomato and yellow cucumber salad with mozzas (baby fresh mozzarella balls), and ginger and berry panna cotta, all of which was complemented by the fancy bubbly citrus flavored water.

The guided practica was good, with Maestros giving lots of individual attention to the students who chose to work on the material taught in class.

There was doubt whether or not this Advanced Seminario would go on, and it was initially cancelled because of the issues related to the Allegro space. Fortunately for all of us, Julian Miller Ramil stepped up to the plate and graciously offered the ODC space for use. Without Julian’s generosity, this Advanced Seminario would not have taken place (or at least not until 2010).



Saturday, September 26, 2009

Sausalito Milonga with lesson beforehand by Gustavo & Jesica Hornos. Sometimes dancers dancing Vals can look like they are dancing tango at milongas. We were to explore what is the right way to dance vals by examining the structure, movement, and feeling to make it look like we are dancing to Vals. First, we connect with the Vals music, which is 3x4 timing (versus tango 4x4, and milonga 2x4). We need to be able to flow and make our own interpretations of vals to show the difference of dancing to vals, by using a different way of pacing the dance with difference accents. We began by doing a plain forward walk at the Vals pace to Pugliese’s Desde El Alma. Next, Maestro demonstrated walking, showing that the body needs to reflect the feeling of the music. How we hold our bodies and joints to be ready to step on the next strong beat (1). We must try to be gracefully and flowy. At the strong beat (1), our whole body is on top of our foot, so there’s a delay. With respect to foot placement, we arrive with the ball of our foot so that we are on time (we do not step with heel first, and then transfer the weight through the ball of our foot, this foot action would make us too slow). Next walking exercise: we were to walk and collect with or without a weight shift, so that we don’t step forward on every strong beat, we can let some strong beats go by. But we need to step on time, and always be on top of our foot on the strong beat (1). For our bodies, we need to always be expressive and dancing even when we are just shifting our weight. We need to keep the energy going the whole time, not just when we are propelling forward. Next walking exercise: we were to extend the pace of walking to step only on 1, taking a long step forward. Here, we were to hold our body and everything we have to slow down and accelerate to be on time. We were to step on 1, and then drag our feet through on 2-3, using all of the music. We were not to stop the momentum at 2-3, but keep the energy continuous and our whole body moving. Next exercise: we walked in partnership, walking with just stepping on the 1. Next, we changed the song and attempted to blend the forward step with a weight shift, but keep dancing even though at the weight shift we are not moving forward. Followers need to really reach back to make our step on the strong beat (1) very pronounced. We worked on the musical concept of vals trying to make it flowy and grounded through a simple sequence: side step (Leader’s left, Follower’s right), to Follower walk back 4 steps to the cross, to one back step, to side (opposite forward steps for Leader). To a new song, we danced the simple sequence on the 1-2-3 beat of Vals, trying to make the steps by really listening to the music, not by chance, and try to really relate to the music. Common problems: (1) Close embrace so that there is no pushing/puling or bubbles/reverberation in the embrace so she can take 100% of the Leader’s momentum. (2) Do not go out of her body (keeping her too far to the Leader’s right); if you do, then you are not 100% connected. Dancers’ centers need to be connected. Also, do not slide your bodies across/against each other. (3) Leader still dances when the Follower is pausing (in the simple sequence, he has 10 steps while the Follower only has 9 steps). (4) The challenging time is when the Follower enters and exits the cross. The problem is when the Follower stops the Leader’s rhythm; and she does this if she stops following. Follower should not be choppy, but always be with the Leader: follow! Follower should be ready to change weight at the cross, so she is ready to step back with her right foot immediately. Leader: do not rush her. It’s a sensation of holding, and then going. Follower: be on balls of your feet on the floor to roll into the cross, then extend back. Also, keep your knees bent. We added to the simple sequence, where instead of stepping back after the cross, the Follower steps forward with her right foot, to ocho cortado, with Leader step back on his left foot so he can parada with his right foot of her right foot before her return to the cross, to rock step, to counterclockwise turn out to resolution. Our goal was not to learn a tricky complicated sequence. It was to work on the musicality, timing and how we hold our bodies. Thus, we worked on the same simple sequence to many speeds of Vals songs: a slow one to work it out, then a faster one to be on the rhythm. It was a good class.



The milonga itself was fun. It was Jesica’s birthday celebration milonga, and Gustavo put on a great humorous, tongue-in-cheek skit for it, sharing with us his personal tango research experience. He found that Beethoven wrote the first tango, but had trouble with his first attempt. And his second attempt. And his third and fourth attempts. But he got it right with his fifth attempt. Then Gustavo & Jesica tango danced to the 5th of Beethoven. Next, he said he found a JS Bach Milomba (not typo), and they danced to that. Then his research brought him up to current times, where Jessica did a solo to a modern pop song that had the word “tango” in it (I am not sure what that song was). Anyway, it was fun little skit, and it kept us in stitches and in awe of their musicality and technical skills. After this, there was the usual birthday Vals to Desde El Alma, which was played twice to accommodate all the tangueros who a spin with Jesica. There was chocolate cake in addition to their usual generous and yummy milonga food.



Sunday, September 27, 2009

Studio Gracia Milonga. I missed the milonga lesson by Negracha and Diego, but I am sure it was excellent. The milonga was OK. It was gender imbalanced in the beginning with two many followers, but it evened out later on. Floorcraft could and should have been better. The farewell performance by Negracha and Diego was great, with both dancers showing their extreme professionalism, dignity, and sense of humor by effortlessly recovering from a wardrobe malfunction. Negracha and Diego might be back in December, but for sure sometime in the future, which makes the Bay Area very blessed to have such talented teachers and warm, friendly people visit regularly.




Monday, September 28, 2009

Orange Practica at the Beat with lesson by Homer and Cristina Ladas: Transitions Through the Cross. The goal of this class was to work on the concept of transitioning from close embrace, to open embrace, back to close embrace, smoothly, naturally and elegantly. The goal is to go back and forth between open and close embrace 3, 4, or 5 times during every song we dance to.


We began with a simple sequence of a side step, into the Follower’s forward ocho, to Leader parada / Follower pasada, out to resolution. Here, we were to work on refinement and understand where our axis is. We practiced this to one or two songs.


Next, we did a connection / transition / mirror and matching exercise: The Human Magnet exercise. The Leader and Follower stand face to face, and Leader leans in and Follower leans in to match his lean. Follower needs to be on her whole foot the entire time (not just on balls of the feet), and she bends from the ankle. Then the Leader separates back from Follower, and Follower separates simultaneously from Leader. The Follower tries to match the energy/lean of the Leader. Then we switched with the Followers initiating the forward lean or pull away, and the Leader matching her.


Next, we worked on changing the embrace to open as we get to the cross. The Leader gives the Follower energy as she goes into the cross by letting go of his right hand a little, and coming back on his axis (staying back). The Follower senses before the cross that the Leader is taking his axis. This sensation is reinforced by the release of his right hand.


For the “Part A” sequence, we began with a side step (Leader’s left, Follower’s right) in open embrace. Then in close embrace, we walked to the cross, during which the embrace opens as noted in the prior paragraph. Then Follower steps forward with her right foot to the outside of the Leader’s right, to do forward ochos. Leader does right leg parada with Leader's and Follower’s hips close. Then the Leader opens up on his left for the Follower to step around and near him with her left foot, and they transition back into close embrace, by the Leader coming forward/ tilting toward the Follower in his upper body to meet her back in close embrace. The Follower should practice taking long steps around the Leader as she steps in front and around the Leader with her left foot in the pasada.


For the “Part B” sequence, which is more advanced, we continued our exploration of the transition, energy, and ochos. Again, we were to walk to the cross, during which the embrace opens as noted above. Then the Leader steps to his left slightly forward and around the Follower with his left foot, while also opening his right shoulder, to lead the Follower back sacada of her right foot, into a Follower clockwise molinete footwork of side, forward, at which point he paradas with his right foot, she pivots, and then steps over as usual for her pasada.


In the "Part B" sequence, for the Follower back sacada to work, she needs to maintain good molinete/ turns technique, especially as it relates to the back ocho and how she maintains her left hand hold on the Leader’s right bicep. We quickly refreshed this idea with the Follower holding onto the Leader in teapot hold (his right arm is behind his back, and only his left arm/hand is available to the Follower to hold on to). Followers need to get used to getting the information / lead from the Leader’s body (not his arms). Also, the Follower needs to hold on for her back sacada, especially with her left hand on the Leader’s right bicep, using the horizontal energy of pull/push to get lots of pivot in her hips to do the overturned ocho/back sacada. Also, for this to work, there is a Follower weight change at the cross to be completely on her left foot, so she can pivot completely on her left foot, with her right foot collected at the point of pivot, and then completely free to send out in the back sacada.


For the Leader’s technique in the Follower’s back sacada, the Leader needs to let go of his right hand, otherwise he will stop the Follower from turning. He needs to trust his left arm/side, and trust her left hand hold of his right bicep. When the Leader receives the Follower’s back sacada, his right hip opens up to receive it.


We also tried this on the other side, which was difficult to lead since it is uncommon for the Follower to cross with her right foot over her left foot. To lead this, the Leader needs to open up his chest, come up and lift her a little as he comes up, and twist his torso a little. The twist in his torso causes the Follower’s legs to cross. It is a combination of a mechanical lead with his body and arms.


Next, we talked about the actual lead for the back sacada. The lead for the Follower is a pivot first in the initiation of an overturned ocho, and then have continuous circular energy. The energy into the pivot is at the highest level.


Depending on the energy and how the Leader receives it, instead of leading the Follower back sacada, he can lead an overturned back ocho into a back linear gancho.


Maestros concluded with a demo to Canaro’s Hotel Victoria. See the video at www.tangostudent.blogspot.com




What am I excited about these days?


Going to Fandango De Tango over Thanksgiving. The Early Bird deadline has been extended to October 25. So please come join me! You will have a blast! The Thanksgiving Brunch buffet is super yummy! www.FandangoDeTango.com



Tomas Howlin workshops October 3-4

Alex & Luz workshops October 11

Ben Borgart workshops October 24-25

I’ll be around for Halloween, so will be going to milongas in costume. I hope you do, too!

September 17-23

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Maria Volonte Tango Passions Band Dance Party @ Coda. This was a really nice event. Maria and the Tango Passions Band have a very jazzy, modern sensibility to it, with their versions of Piazzolla and Gardel, among others, as well as original compositions. Maria is fluent in English, has a lovely stage presence, and is excellent with audience engagement. The 5-person band is comprised of a pianist, bassist, accordionist, drums, and harmonica player. The songs were not limited to Tango or Argentina. There was also a song in English (“Broken Dreams”), a Chacarera, and a song from Peru and one from Columbia, among the many diverse offerings. Their song dedicated to the San Francisco Bay Area tango community (called “SF Tango”) brought down the house. It was a highly entertaining night, with dance performance by Gustavo and Jesica Hornos. Maria and the band truly want dancers to dance while they perform; they do not just want to be admired and listened to. The dancers energize and inspire them as musicians, and they would like to see us all be free to be creative and musical as their music inspires us. The dance floor was weird in that it was extremely textured concrete, so it gave the sensation of dancing on sandpaper. One happy result of this was that it slowed everyone down, which made us all look a whole lot better as dancers, and made the floor craft on the small dance floor quite good. Parking near Coda was super easy on this Sunday night, and it’s right off of 101. Maria and the Tango Passions Band have one more gig in the Bay Area on October 1, @ 12:30 p.m. at Yerba Buena Gardens (745 Mission between 3rd & 4th) and it’s FREE. Then they go on tour to Argentina. They will be back in the Bay Area at the end of December.



Monday, September 21, 2009

Orange Practica at the Beat with lesson by Shorey Myers assisted by Soheil with exercises on Posture, Balance, Pivoting, and Disassociation and a Twisty Sacada Sequence.



We began with exercises to help us improve our posture and how we hold ourselves while walking and in turning.



First Exercise: The class was broken up into two lines, back to back in the middle of the room, each line facing the mirrors on the two sides of the room. We were to walk forward to the mirror and walk backwards away from the mirror. For our posture when walking, we were to be tall and vertical and stretch through the back of the neck. We were to stretch our legs and take big steps. We were also to walk with engagement and practice the dancing, focusing on pushing from the opposite leg to step. When walking back, we were to push from the front leg, and have straight extension in our back leg, keeping our head steady and even. When walking forward, we were to push from our back leg to propel ourselves forward, and not be afraid to step big. When stepping backward, the weight is into the ball of the foot and rolls through to transfer to the heel. When stepping forward, the weight goes into the heel and then gets transferred to the ball.



Second Exercise: This was an exercise on disassociation. In pairs of similar height dancers, we were to walk with the Leader pushing down with his hands on the Follower’s hips while the Follower tries to keep her ribs up as high as possible and really raise the back of her head, keeping her neck straight. Then the Leader would change his hands to raise her up by her lower ribs while she would walk trying to keep as grounded and weighted/heavy in her hips as much as possible as if they were filled with sand and water. The purpose of this exercise was to stretch the area between the ribs and hips as much as possible. One thing we can do to remind ourselves to do this is to use our hands with fingers together at the side of our waist, and then stretch them apart away from each other up and down in the same direction that we want our ribs and hips to go. Everyone tried both roles of leader and follower.



Third Exercise: Separately, we went back to the mirrors and tried to walk forward and back by ourselves, remembering the concept of trying to be as up as possible in the ribs, and as grounded as possible in the hips, maximizing the space in between.



Fourth Exercise: According to Maestra, the fastest way to get better at tango is to work on walking and molinete technique. So we brought out the chairs (the standard metal folding kind). Standing behind the chair at the back left corner, we were to do counterclockwise molinetes (side, forward, side, back, etc.). We were to pivot all the way around and take large steps so that we could get all the way around the chair in the four steps at the four corners of the chair. Our chest orientation should always be toward the middle of the chair as if it were our dance partner; we could use our arms to help with this concept. Having a large chair is more challenging, as it forces you to take large steps, be fully committed in the weight transfers, and have lots of pivot. We spent several minutes on this. Ideally, you’d also work on doing clockwise molinetes around the chair as well.



Next, once our posture, balance, disassociation and pivoting had improved, we went on to the figure, which involved a series of twisty sacadas.



The Leader steps forward with his right cross step and does a series of rock steps while leading the Follower to do back ochos. He then takes an open step to the right to lead the Follower to do an overturned back ocho so that her left leg back sacadas the Leader’s left leg. To lead this, the Leader leaves his foot, but turns his upper body.



To this we added the Leader back sacada of his left leg of the Follower’s back trailing right leg on her left foot forward step of the counterclockwise molinete.



For Follower back sacada technique, she needs to pivot a lot to be able to step straight back on her back sacada (it is not a cross step). She should pivot with her feet completely together, and then send the foot straight out back in the back sacada. If she does not keep her feet together on the pivot and pivots and tries to sacada with one of her foot already out, she will not have enough room and end up kicking him or being outside his leg. The Leader can adjust his arm left arm to give her right arm and body more space when she does her left foot back sacada. For the related molinete technique for this figure, on the Follower’s forward step, she should go a little farther away from the Leader, but on the back step, she needs to have lots of pivot so that she can come a little closer to stay near. This will help maintain the same distance from the Leader.



There is the changeability of the embrace in this figure, especially if dancers are of extremely dissimilar heights.



Next, we added to the figure, a switch/rebound/pivot back to a clockwise molinete to Follower back sacada of her right leg of the Leader’s left leg as he steps forward with his right leg. At this point the dancers’ bodies are angled somewhat away from each other \ / to give space to their legs and bodies to accommodate the sacada, although both dancers still need to be on axis. Balance is key.



We worked some more on the switch/rebound/pivot since that seemed to be where many students could use improvement. We practiced by doing Follower forward ochos with the Leader stopping her periodically to send her back the other way, but either increasing or decreasing pressure. The Leader avoids leading a boleo by stopping the Follower when her hips are slightly before being exactly in front of him. If he’s too late and her hips pass that point, he will get a boleo instead. After we improved our switch/rebound/pivots, we attempted to add to the figure.



Next, we attempted to add the Leader’s forward sacada of his left leg to Follower’s trailing right leg, but we didn’t have time to drill it or figure it out since our time was up.



I liked this class immensely since it began with work on something nearly all dancers need to improve, and Maestra gave us much instruction on specific things to do when “walking”, and included exercises that we can practice alone at home or nearly anywhere else. Maestra is a gifted teacher in that she started with some basic, fundamental exercises which eventually built us up/improved our technique enough so that we had the tools to look somewhat OK in our back sacadas. Assistant Soheil also gave some very good perspectives and individual feedback on Leader’s technique regarding back sacadas.



Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Followers’ Technique and Advanced / Production Classes @ CCSF with Chelsea Eng. The Followers’ Technique topic was turns (molinetes). After doing our essential walking, floor, and barre exercises to improve our rhythm, posture, core and foot strength, disassociation and flexibility, we spent time on turns (molinetes). For the turn, Maestra emphasized not to rush to collect on the side step, to leave the trailing step out a bit, and not rush it so that the Leader has time and room to play, like for sacadas. We practiced a little bit at the barres before pairing up. Maestra also taught the molinete embellishment of the beat back on the open step after the back cross step. This can be done on or off the floor. In Advanced, we reviewed the change of direction from last week, and we also added the change of direction on the other side of the embrace. The step was right foot forward, pivot to open side step, back right, back left. When we did this in partnership, it was a linear step with the dancers circling/swirling clockwise around each other, so we’d both be on our right feet and left feet at the same time. Then we were to link the two changes of direction together, which was done by the Leader doing a forward step in between. Then we added a step to this that we learned a while ago: from the Americana footing of Follower left foot forward to Leader’s right foot forward, he leads her to do clockwise molinete of back-side-forward, and then does a left leg sacada of her trailing left leg as she steps forward with her right leg. It was a good class, as usual.

Note on Notes

Recently, a fellow student complained to the organizer/host about my note taking. She said she found it distracting. I was directed to this particular workshop’s policies, which specifically states that notes are prohibited until the end of the class during the review. I was surprised and turned off by this policy, as in my opinion it seemed antithetical to encouraging learning by restricting the use of a tool employed by many.


My note taking began in August 2007, when I took classes in Buenos Aires with Los Dinzel. They encouraged note taking as a way to record and remember all that was taught in class, much more so than video, especially as their commentary related to technical points, or as we did various exercises in class which would translate quite bizarrely/boringly on video. Since August 2007, during many of the hundreds of workshops/classes I’ve attended in the United States and Buenos Aires, the maestros who have commented on my note taking have all been encouraging and pleased that I do it. Many of them view me as a “serious student” (their words, not mine), and it reminds them of their students in Buenos Aires, many more of whom take notes via paper and pen than students in the United States. In Buenos Aires, it isn’t uncommon when being invited to an aspiring tanguero or full-fledged maestro’s home to be proudly shown their stack of notebooks filled with notes in their own personalized tango shorthand. At Luciana Valle’s Intensivos, she gives every student a notebook and a pen and specific instructions to take notes during class. I take much comfort in the words of Los Dinzel, Luciana Valle, and the many other maestros who have encouraged my note taking (and were pleased with the results).


During 2008, which I spent unemployed, taking notes in class and then having ample time to transcribe them on computer gave me something to do, a goal, a structure, a deadline, and most importantly, a reason and way to keep my analytical thinking alive. Basically, it kept my brain from atrophying and my spirit from getting too depressed.


To me, taking notes has been a way to link my brain to what I was seeing, to really think about it and to try to capture it verbally in such a way that I could reproduce it again in the future, whether it was a step, a sequence, or something technical. Writing the notes down initially was one thing, but transcribing them later on was another way I reviewed what went on in class in my head and sometimes with my body. Reviewing the printed notes for publication was a third time I reviewed what I had written. Without a doubt, these second and third intellectual/physical reviews would never have occurred if I didn’t take notes in the first place.


My early notes were pretty sketchy, but I found over time it got easier to write them. I am not sure if that is because my eye/brain connection improved, or because I had gone to so many lessons/workshops where, after a while, I noticed that the fundamental basic technical concepts were repeated many times over, even among different teachers with different dance styles. I did find myself writing a lot of the same things over and over again. For a lot of these things, sometimes it wasn’t until much later that I could actually incorporate them into how I dance because I finally understood them intellectually or because my muscle memory had finally gotten to the point where my body caught up to where my brain wanted it to be. But my brain was the driver, because I knew from a verbal context what was needed in a visual/physical context. And sometimes it takes a lot verbal repetition to finally get our bodies to where we want them to be. There were plenty of things that were wrong with my dancing, that I needed to be told many, many times how to fix, before they actually got fixed. And since I wrote the problems and fixes down, there was no excuse for me to claim ignorance about the problems or how to fix them, and gave me a goal to work toward.


Some people in the United States who see me take notes sometimes comment about how strange (primitive) it is, and ask why I don’t take videos instead since it’s easier than doing something manually by hand. I just smile and say it’s my thing. My notes are not just descriptions of what the maestros do in their summary demo at the end of class. The notes include a lot of technical tips and sometimes really good nuggets for my brain to roll around as well as background info such as the fundamental precursor exercises we did and why we did them, what music we drilled to, and how we built a particular sequence by breaking down each individual step. Examples of the difference between note taking versus video can be seen at the tangostudent.blogspot. And in my opinion, the optimal educational vehicle to supplement live instruction includes both written notes and video, though I have no desire or inclination to take video myself (no time to take, edit and upload). I’ve gotten a lot of kudos from fellow students locally and internationally because of my notes, but I won’t bore you with the details.


Personally speaking, my notes / blog are a way to honor the wonderful teachers I’ve been able to learn from thus far, without whom my tango identity would not exist. Those maestros are:


Adam Hoopengardner & Ciko Tanik
Adolfo Caszarry
Adrian Veredice y Alejandra Hobert
Alejandra Gutty
Alejandro Biggo
Alejandro Hermida y Silvana Anfossi
Alex & Luz
Alex Krebs
Alicia Pons
Andrea Corea
Andres Amarillo y Meredith Klein
Anthony Blackwell & Ye Ling Chen
Ariadna Naveira
Arona Primalani
Aurora Lubiz
Brigitta Winkler
Bruno Tombari y Mariangeles Caamaño
Carlos y Maria Rivarola
Carolina Bonaventura y Francisco Forquera
Carolina del Rivero
Carolina Rozenstrozch
Cecilia Gonzalez (la famosa)
Cecilia Gonzalez (la otra)
Chelsea Eng
Chiche y Marta
Chicho Frumboli y Juana Sepulveda
Christy Cote
Claudio Asprea y Agustina Videla
Colette & Richard
Damian Essel y Nancy Louzan
Damian Rosenthal y Celine Ruiz
Dani Tuero
Daniel Peters
Daniel Trenner
David & Nancy Mendoza
David Cadiz
David Orly-Thompson & Mariana Ancarola
Debbie Goodwin
Demian Garcia y Laura De Altube
Diego Alvaro y Zoraida
Diego Di Falco & Carolina Zokalski
Diego Escobar & Angelina Staudinger
Donato Juarez
Eduardo Cappussi y Mariana Flores
Eduardo Saucedo y Marisa Quiroga
El Flaco Dany
El Pajaro y Belen
Ernest Williams
Fabian Salas
Facundo Gil Jauregui
Facundo Posadas
Federico Naveira y Inés Muzzopappa
Felipe Martinez & Rosa Corsico
Gabriela Elias
Gachi Fernandez
Gail Robinson
Gary Weinberg & Nirmala
George Garcia
Gigi & Warren Jensen
Giovanni Garcia
Glenn Corteza
Graciela Gonzalez
Guillermo Garcia
Guillermo Merlo y Fernanda Ghi
Gustavo & Jesica Hornos
Gustavo Benzecry Sabá y María Olivera
Gustavo Naveira y Giselle Anne
Gustavo Rosas y Gisela Natoli
Homer & Cristina Ladas
Hsueh-tze Lee
Hugo Daniel
Humberto Decima
Ivan Shvartz
Jesus Velazquez
Jonathan Yamauchi & Olivia Levitt
Jorge Firpo
Jorge Nel
Jorge Torres
Juan Miguel Exposito y Daniela Peez Klein
Judy & Jon
Julian Miller
Julio Balmaceda y Corina de la Rosa
Laura Collavini
Lisette Perelle
Los Dinzel
Los Hermanos Macana
Luciana Valle
Luis Bianchi & Daniela Pucci
Luiza Paes
Luna Palacios
Marcela Guevara y Stefano Giudice
Marcelo Solis y Romina Hahn
Maria Eugenia De La Latta
Maria Paz Giorgi
Mariana Gonzalo y Gustavo Funes
Mariana Mazzola
Mariela Franganillo & Cesar Andres Coelho
Marta Anton y “El Gallego” Manolo
Matt MaMoody & Shasha
Michelle & Murat Erdemsel
Natalia Hills
Negracha y Diego Lanau
Ney Melo & Jennifer Bratt
Nick Jones
Nito y Elba Garcia
Nora Dinzelbacher & Ed Neale
Norberto "El Pulpo" Esbrez
Olga Besio
Omar Vega
Orlando Paiva Jr. & Laura Tate
Oscar Mandagaran y Georgina Vargas
Pablo Nievas y Valeria Zunino
Pablo Pugliese y Noel Strazza
Pampa Cortez
Patricia Gomez
Patricia Hilliges & Matteo Panero
Pier Voulkos
Raul Bravo
Rina Gendelman
Robert Hauk
Roberto Riobo
Rodrigo Palacios y Agustina Berenstein
Rosalia y Alejandro Barrientos
Ruben Harymbat y Enriqueta Kleinman
Ruben Terbalca
Santiago Croce & Amy Lincoln
Sean Dockery
Sebastian Arce y Mariana Montes
Tete y Silvia
Vanesa Villalba y David Leguizamon
Veronica Alegre y Jose Luis Ferrar
Victoria Galoto y Juan Paulo Horvath
Vijay


Anyway, sorry to ramble. This was just something that weighed heavily on my mind, being the avid note taker that I am.


The student who complained about my note taking will probably never read this, but to her I write:

I am sincerely sorry for causing you to be so distracted by my note taking that it irritated you enough to complain about it. I am jealous that without notes your brain power, visual perception/recognition, analytical thinking and memory are enough for you to improve as much as you want and are capable of, and can get you to where you want to be, technically, musically and aesthetically. I only wish you the very best on your tango improvement journey. You just keep on rockin’ with your bad self. Peace out.


And to those maestros who have given me some really good nuggets, and those who have encouraged me and my note taking, either by verbally thanking me or saying a kind word about my blogs (or insisting I start them in the first place by setting them up for me), or by giving me some really fancy notebooks and pens, or by generously sponsoring my attendance at classes/workshops locally, domestically, and internationally (that would be Pablo), or by comping me in to your events: you all have my sincere, heartfelt thanks and deepest appreciation. None of what I do in tango could have been possible without your support. Besos y abrazos a vos todos.

September 10-16

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Verdi Club Milonga with lesson beforehand by Jorge Torres. I got there late because of the traffic. They were doing a figure: Side step Leader left, Follower right. Leader does weight change, then back cross with his left foot, leads Follower to do forward ocho with her left foot. Leader leads Follower so that she steps forward into him with her right foot, to meet his right foot. Leader pivots, moving his torso to the left, then paradas the Follower’s feet as she pivots and collects as if for another ocho. Then he moves his right foot from the front of her feet where it had just parada’d, to behind her feet out of the way. She pivots. Then they step out to resolution. This is a circular move, like a snake. Then we did another figure, beginning again with side step Leader left, Follower right. The Leader is the center of the circle. Follower steps side left, to do a clockwise molinete while Leader does an enrosque. So for the Follower’s molinete steps, B-S-F-S-B-Side, on this side step the Leader does a forward right leg sacada of her right leg, sending it to back cross behind her left leg, which pops forward out as if for a back volcada (in this step showed by Maestro there was no off-axis element, though there could be depending on how much energy or circular torsion the Leader employs). It was an OK lesson. Pablo and I went to it to try to figure out if he should make the rather substantial financial investment for us to attend Maestro’s other workshops. We had been to a “semi-private” workshop the last time he was here and I was feeling a bit lukewarm, since I didn’t get that much out of it as a Follower. Still, it’s a wonderful blessing for the Bay Area tango community when a skilled a leader as Jorge Torres teaches, and as Pablo’s coach I have always strongly emphasized that he needed to especially learn from male teachers (not just teaching couples or female teachers teaching men how to lead, which are also a blessing as well). We decided to give the workshops the next day a go, and play things by ear regarding the other workshops (Sunday, Monday). The ball was in Pablo's court since in my opinion, Jorge Torres's workshops are desiged to teach leaders How to Lead, more than they are to teach followers How to Follow (or be pretty). The milonga itself had a weird vibe to it. The floorcraft on this particular night was oddly aggressive. Maybe everyone was so excited to be the in presence of such a show tango dance legend that it brought out their inner wanna-be-show-tango stars, even if their technical skills didn’t match their inner visions. I left early, declining to dance with several good leaders who asked (apologies to you if you are reading this… it wasn’t you… I just didn’t want to get jostled and bumped any more).



Friday, September 11, 2009

Jorge Torres Workshops: Theme: "Illusion & Magic"


Though the first class was all levels and the second class was intermediate, I found them both challenging because of Maestro’s teaching style for group classes, which has a very Socratic bent and obviously Leader orientation. I guess I am just too used to being spoon-fed and having every nuance of technique verbally spoken to me. I had to really pay attention visually since very little was said about the Follower’s side of things. Jorge’s focus is initially with the leader and so leading correctly becomes a ‘key element’. If the leaders don’t get it, then the Follower can only be expected to follow what the leaders in the workshop provide. If leaders and followers don’t use the opportunities to ask Jorge for assistance, or feedback, then they may not get the direct evaluation that would clarify whether they have achieved the objective.


6:00-7:30 pm "Deceiving Appearances" Illusions on the floor - parada, barrida, sacada (all)

Interestingly, Jorge Torres’s soles of his shoes are double rubber (not leather, not suede, not any other slick surface). He began with commenting that we shouldn’t take tango so seriously, otherwise it will kill you.



We began with dancing two songs with two different partners, trying to keep our feet on the floor as much as possible. Then, we went into the figure: Side step Leader left, Follower right. Leader steps forward with his right foot diagonally to catch her left foot as it steps back. He changes her torso so that she does a front cross of her right foot in front of her left foot, while the Leader does a back cross of his right foot behind his left foot, into a Follower counterclockwise molinete of B-S-F-S, where Leader does Left foot forward sacada of her left foot. In this figure there is a change of embrace, beginning in close embrace during the initial Leader and Follower cross steps, then opening up during the molinete, back into close embrace after the sacada. Next, we did the same figure, only going to the other side. The shape of the figure is circular, so turn the Follower INTO the circle. Bring her to you. The Leader should not go to her, otherwise he will push her out of the circle. Next, we built on the concept of having crossed steps, and did a figure with many Follower’s back cross steps with both her left foot and right foot, and Leader’s forward cross steps both with his left foot and right foot. It was an off night for Pablo, so he left early. I decided to sit out the rest of the lesson, and Chino came over to me and graciously emphasized that I was welcome to continue with the lesson even though it was now gender imbalanced with Pablo leaving. I thanked her, but sat out the rest of the lesson since I was OK with just watching.



7:30-9:00pm "Believe It or Not" Illusions on the fly - boleo, gancho, enganche (int)

Like the first lesson, we began with dancing two songs with two different partners, this time trying to keep things in the air as much as possible. First Illusion: Follower does forward ochos; when the Leader sends her forward and her weight is fully on the front leg so that her trailing leg is free, he lifts his right leg up in the air through her legs in between her steps, seemingly to flick her leaving foot, so it appears as though the Leader is causing her to do a circular boleo. During this, Leader needs to keep his thighs close together as if he has a secret. For the lift, the contact is at the bend of the foot (not at the shins or knees). For the Leader’s lift, his leg is making a type of reverse bicycle movement, or reverse horse movement. The key to this illusion is for the Leader to coordinate his feet with the torso lead for the ocho. Next Illusion: We began with an exercise of just the Follower walking forward counterclockwise, while the Leader does left leg back sacadas of her trailing leg. The Leader’s right hip touches the Follower’s left hip, though she should be a little behind the Leader so he does not have to torque so much (especially if he is not able to). The Leader moves his center. It’s important for his supporting right leg to be strong, stable, and a little bit bent, and his heel should not be weighted or stuck to the ground (weight should be on the ball of his foot) so that he can pivot around on it while his left leg is reaching to sacada. There is no transfer of weight and no shooting back with the heel as the Leader does not want to kick the Follower or do harm to her. The Leader can only do this (cause no harm) if his left sacada leg is unweighted, so he has the option to pull it back if he senses there is something wrong. The Leader also needs to have good posture and be upright, with head up. But for his head to be up, he needs to trust where his body is, and where her body is. Next, we combined these to a figure: Follower steps forward with her left foot, side with her right foot. Leader does right foot forward sacada of Follower’s left foot (almost like a slight colgada, sending out feeling while she is on her right foot), Follower steps left foot forward, side right, Leader does back sacada of Follower’s left foot. Follower steps forward, Follower steps side (outside, away oriented), Leader leads clockwise molinete while he is center of the circle and she moves from the left side of him to the right side of him, so Follower steps back, side, forward, to pivot to a forward ocho with her left foot. Here, the Leader leads the Follower to step forward in the forward ocho while he also steps forward; the Leader does a needle with his right foot reaching to point on the floor, which wraps his left leg into the needle as she continues to step forward in her ocho, and then he unwinds it out. As she continues to do her ochos, he can throw in an ocho leg flick with his right reverse bicycling/horse leg. It was a good class. I enjoyed the second class better than the first class.


The milonga afterwards was attended by all the attendees of the workshops, and by some more people who came just for the milonga. So it was full, but not overly crowded. In the beginning floorcraft was weird in that there would be bunches of couples dancing on one side of the dance floor while the other side was somewhat sparse. It evened out later on in the night. Though it started out slow for me, I had a good time at this milonga. I got to dance with the different leaders I rotated to during the workshop (several of whom are excellent dancers), and leaders who I have seen over the years, but who had never asked me to dance previously. I also danced with some visitors, so it was interesting to experience their particular styles. It was a very satisfying evening.



Saturday, September 12, 2009

Mat MaMoody and Shasha lessons @ Allegro. This was advertised in tangomango.org as a beginner lesson from 4-5 pm, followed by a performance tango class from 5-6 pm, both classes for $12 total. Pablo and I arrived late, and they were heavy on followers, so I decided to sit out the beginner lesson. There was no official break between the beginner and performance tango lessons, they just flowed into each other. The first figure was a Leader right leg sandwich of the Follower’s left leg, after which the Leader brings his left foot around. The Follower steps over with her right leg, and then ganchos the Leader’s right leg, to pivot, out to tango close. Next figure was a sweep of the Leader’s right foot of the Follower’s right foot from the back ocho. Next figure was the Leader’s right foot sweep of the Follower’s left foot on the outside left side of her left foot. Here, the Leader can take steps around the Follower with his left leg and do continuous right leg sweeps of the Follower’s left leg around in a circle. He can also stop the sweep, change his foot placement to be on the inside of her left foot, to flick her left foot/leg back the other way into a boleo. This was a very cute step. Next, we did ocho cortados with three different types of interruptions/endings: the regular ending, the one where the Leader interrupts her cross by inserting his right leg between her two legs, causing her left leg to gancho the outside of his right leg (and he can send her leg back out in a boleo), and one with the Americana cross. I found Maestro to be a very clear, articulate teacher with an excellent communication style, and what he taught simple but interesting and fun. The lessons exceeded my expectations, and delivered an excellent bang for the buck. The lessons took place in the medium-sized room next to El Garaje, so there was good cross ventilation since it opened out to the back. Maestro also gets bonus points for having a handout of the 50 steps he will attempt to teach.



La Milonga de Nora @ Allegro ballroom. I did not attend the lesson since I had a dinner engagement. The milonga itself was really nice. I had the best time there than I had in a long time, and a lot of other people said the same thing. The nearly surreal energy was very calm and elegant, and the floorcraft was quite good and respectful. Overall, people just seemed really happy. Even the spectators had no air of desperation or impatience, but seemed extremely content to just sit back and watch the lovely dancers go by.



Wednesday, September 16, 2009

CCSF Classes with Chelsea Eng. In Follower’s Technique, we began with a video clip of Florencia Taccetti on ochos. She said the technique was the same as for walking forward, you just add movement/turn of the hips. So, begin with feet together, knees relaxed (not locked), extend with toes, go forward with body, change weight to forward leg, collect with heel down and diaphragm up, rotate hips, repeat. Maestra noted that this video was different from what Rebecca Shulman said in last week’s video clip, and she also spoke about her own philosophy of ochos (collecting before pivoting is not always done depending on the dynamics and circular energy of how it is led). After our usual walking, floor, and barre exercises, we focused on ochos at the barre. We worked on the technique of the forward and back ochos, and then added the tuck embellishments (in front and behind), on the floor and off the floor (with knee down and foot up or with knee up and foot down). We also played with the back ocho back tuck off the floor, which looks like a rounded boleo. In Advanced, we worked on the change of direction from back to front. Here, we began with some footwork that both Leader and Follower does, only at different times. The step was left foot forward, pivot to open side step, back left, back right. When we did this in partnership, it was a linear step with the dancers circling/swirling counterclockwise around each other, so we’d both be on our left feet and right feet at the same time. To this we could add several Follower embellishments: the tuck on the floor or in the air of the left foot to the right side of the right foot after her back right step and before her forward left step, or the rulo embellishment on this same step before the forward left step around the Leader. Also, after the Follower two back steps and before the forward left foot step, the Leader can lead a carousel/calesita by not letter her transfer the weight (so she is still on her back leg, but her left leg is extended out in front). Here, she can also embellish with small rulos as he steps around counterclockwise while suspending her weight transfer. Next, we reviewed from last week the side volcada from the espejo/Americana, with Leader shift/pivot so that his left hip touches her left hip. Maestra reminded the Followers to not sickle their left volacada-ing foot. Then we put both steps together – first the change of direction, to the calesita, to the Leader hip pivot to lead the side volcada. It was a good class, as always.

September 3-9

Friday, September 4, 2009
Monte Cristo Milonga with lesson beforehand by Chelsea Eng and Gary Weinberg on Tiny Turns in Close Embrace. We began with an exercise to build the embrace: walking with just torso contact, no arms and no hands. We needed to come forward and toward each other and the Leader had three options: (1) weight shift; (2) walk forward; (3) side or open steps. We were to keep our sternums, our solar plexi up. One issues the dancers had was that they would pop apart at the stop. To remedy this, the Leader needs to pause with feet forward, and stand very straight up and be on his axis, not forwardly intended, otherwise he will send her forward and away from him. The Leader stops with his head over his feet, and is fully vertical. For the side steps, the Leader gives preparation to the Follower so she has time to join him in the movement. The Leader goes down a little, compresses a little (bends knee) before he takes steps side. If he doesn't give her warning by compressing, she will be late. Follower can go ahead and lean/put pressure on the Leader for the exercise. Next, we tried the same three options doing it with 1/2 embrace, just on the close side, Follower's left arm and Leader's right arm. We also added a fourth option, going to the cross. Next, we did these four options on the other side of the 1/2 embrace of Follower's right arm and Leader's left arm. Finally, we went on to the Full embrace. Then we added the turn. The Leader's steps are all curved as he steps forward with his right foot, to pivot (Follower back cross right), side left foot (Follower side left), back right foot (small tuck) (Follower forward right foot), side left foot (Follower side left), front right foot (Follower back into line of dance). Next, we added the ocho cortado. There are many possibilities for Leader's footwork in the ocho cortado, but we did it with the Leader taking every step with the Follower (no pivoting or being on two feet, embellishments, etc.). We were to do two ocho cortados to turn around each other, using the QQSS, QQSS for the BSFS, BSFS steps. The second back cross step is close, small and tight to stay with the Leader. Follower embellishment: amague of left foot across the right side of right foot on the Back - Side step. Or your can really stretch your toes like cat paws to add expression to your feet. Next pattern was the Follower's zesty forward walk around the Leader counterclockwise. Here, we did the ocho cortado into the Americana position / mirror / espejo, and to the rhythm SSQQS, Follower steps left foot forward (S), right foot forward (S), left foot forward (Q), right foot forward (Q), left foot forward to pivot (S), back step right out to line of dance. This is all done in close embrace. There is a change of embrace of Follower's left arm around the Leader's back, and the Leader's right arm around Follower's waist. The milonga was fun. It wasn't super crowded, but had just the right amount of people to make it fun and diverse, but not competitive or obnoxious floorcraftwise. The food was better than usual (and it's usually pretty good to begin with).

Sunday, September 6, 2009
Tango in the Square, Union Square San Francisco. This is a really nice event that the Bay Area Tango Association participates in to help grow the tango community and take the dance to people who aren't currently part of the local tango scene. Professional audio services are provided by Jewels in the Park from 2-4 pm, then the Bay Area Tango Association generously provides boom box audio 4-6 pm. The floor is textured granite, and it's all outdoors. So bring sunscreen and sunglasses/hat if you can/want to dance with them, bottles of water and something to nosh on if you plan to stay the whole time. The sun is obscured by the Westin to the west of the Square later on in the day, so bring a vest or wrap if you are prone to chill. Floorcraft is difficult, perhaps because of the sun getting in people's eyes, but I got the impression that some people were absolutely thrilled to be there since it gives them a venue and a captive audience to get their performance groove on. For me, it was amusing watching (but not dancing among) some of the dancers really playing it up on stage (there was more than one flying stiletto, and more than one pause-and-pose couple causing a backup of the dancers behind them). What made the afternoon fun for me was watching the lower dance floor where absolute beginners gave it a whirl, and the audience enthralled by what they were seeing on both dance floors. You could almost hear them thinking, "Hey, I want to do that...Maybe I can!" Be sure to put a dollar or ten in the donation box, since the Bay Area Tango Association has to pay for insurance to participate in this event. The next event is scheduled for October 4, and the Bay Area Tango Association needs volunteers: demo dancers, teachers, and tango helpers to get people up to dance, and take the time to help grow the tango community. Contact bayareatango@yahoo.com to volunteer, or just show up and dance with 10 new people (not just your favorite partners or seasoned dancers). Union Square is very easy to get to by BART Powell Station, and street parking on Mission/7thish or up on Bush is not bad. And of course there is the public lot directly under Union Square or the Sutter/Stockton garage. Afterwards, I highly recommend the food court at the Westfield Mall on Market, or if funds are tight, the daily slice at Blondie's on Powell.

Monday, September 7, 2009
La Cumparsita Milonga with lesson beforehand with Gary Weinberg and Carolina Rozensztroch on Leg Wraps. Unfortunately, I missed the lesson, but had a chance to be led the particulars on the milonga. I believe there were two leg wraps taught; I am just going by what I was led to do several times that night during the milonga. One involved the Follower's right leg wrap of the Leader's inside right leg, and the Follower's left leg wrap of the Leader's outside right leg (after he sweeps her right foot back with his right foot). Both of these wraps can be followed by a boleo. Pablo said there were lots of technical points taught (when to lower into the floor, how / where to break the plane, when the Leader crosses behind, etc.). I am sure it was an excellent class. The milonga was great fun. Many lovely people came out to celebrate the birthday of Maestra, a very lovely person. She had a birthday vals that was fantastic, with many local maestros taking her for a gentle spin on the dance floor.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
CCSF Classes with Chelsea Eng. In Follower's Technique, we began with a video of Rebecca Shulman on ochos. We began with our usual walking, floor and barre exercises to improve our walking/timing/rhythm skills, our core strength and disassociation, and our foot strength and articulation. At the barres, we focused on the forward ocho. Maestra emphasized the torso to the barre, and the spiral starting in the upper body, then the hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles, and feet coming around sequentially and organically. When you take a step, it is a complete transfer of weight to be on top of the supporting, standing leg. Check your balance periodically by letting go of the barre. We were not to collapse the back of the knee, but keep the space generous. We also practiced some embellishments at the barre involving the cross (with our feet slightly turned out). Cross, release, forward ocho, into cross, release, forward ocho, into cross, etc. It was a good class, as always. What a treat that the lovely Miss Charlotte has decided to join us this semester. In Advanced/Production, we worked on the side Volcada. We got into this with side steps (Leader's left, Follower's right), into Americana / mirror / espejo forward steps (Leader's right foot, Follower's left foot). Then Leader does a pivot so that his left side of his body is toward the Follower, and he also sets her weight back so that her weight is on her back right foot, freeing her left leg to do a forward volcada to cross in front of her right leg. Her body must not break, so she needs to be mindful of keeping her core engaged. To this we added a Gustavo Naveira change of direction, where, from the Americana / mirror / espejo position of forward steps (Leader's right foot, Follower's left foot), the Follower does a clockwise molinete of back cross right foot, side step left, forward right foot, at which point the Leader does a left foot sacada of the Follower's trailing left leg. We did two of these in a row, and then the side volcada since they both began from the same Americana / mirror / espejo position. It was a challenging class, but fun and expanding.


What am I excited about?
Jorge Torres is doing a series of workshops on Tango illusions this weekend.
Luz and Alex are in town.
Negracha and Diego are coming back into town.
Gustavo & Maria are coming back to town.
Tomas Howlin workshops October 2-5
Graciela Gonzalez November 14 (she was my first Women's Technique teacher)

August 27 - September 2

Friday, August 28, 2009
St. Aiden’s Milonga with lesson beforehand by David Cadiz. Unfortunately, I missed the lesson, though it was probably great since he is an excellent teacher. It was a sweltering night, even in San Francisco, and only the die hards came out. I wanted to test out my Kool Tie and Cool Downz personal cooling bandanas. They worked beautifully, and I will be sure to use them when I am next at a sweltering lesson or milonga; I could pretend they are part of my gaucho costume. Though it was sparsely attended, I still had a good time at the milonga. The skill level was quite good, we were evenly matched in number, and so everyone got a chance to dance with everyone else. Oscar and Georgina made a visit, and what a treat it was to watch them social dance. I had been curious about the floor since it has been advertised as “FIXED.” My impression? It’s better, but there are still a few slick spots (which I suppose is better than having a lot of extremely slick spots interspersed with some sticky spots).

Saturday, August 29, 2009
Private house warming party for local tanguera. Many local tangueros came out to celebrate the new digs of one of our favorite tangueras; our communality stemmed from being in Maestra Chelsea Eng’s classes at CCSF at some point in our tango education. The food was divine, and the company marvelous (and not just made up of tangueros, but family and friends, too). We danced the night away in her enclosed back porch, which has a new tile floor a la Buenos Aires.


Monday, August 31, 2009
Orange Practica at the Beat, with lesson by Homer and Cristina Ladas: Milonga basic rhythm and phrasing. See the video at www.tangostudent.blogspot.com

In this lesson we had two concepts: (1) Focus on the two strong beats in milonga, and (2) work on sentence structure / phrasing.

We began with a simple pattern: Side step to Leader’s left (Follower’s right), rock step of Leader’s right foot forward (Follower’s left foot back cross), to come up with weight change, side step to Leader’s right (Follower’s left). Within this pattern, we were to work on the subtle use of the height change: with the Leader using height change to signal stepping (down) or weight change (up). For the Follower, her challenge is to be able to sense the subtle height changes and step appropriately. The quality of the height change directly affects the quality of movement.

Next, we did the same simple pattern, only really focusing on the quality of the rock step, as the quality of the rock step affects the quality of the movement. In the rock step, the weight is in between. The Follower’s upper thighs are closed, as are the Leader’s. The dancers should try to maintain contact in the outside thighs of the Follower’s right thigh to Leader’s right thigh. Also, in the rock step it is important for the dancers to keep the relation to each other in their chest, with contra rotation, which helps their thighs stay together.

In the rock step, the Leader can turn to his left, or turn to his right, or do a crab walk to the left, or a crab walk to his right. The Follower copies the Leader’s legs, so keep the weight in the middle.

Next, we played with the musical phrasing by having the Leader walk forward around the Follower clockwise, either after the rock step or directly following the pattern. While the Leader walks forward around the Follower, she walks backward, with her outside leg doing back cross steps as for ochos.

To improve our musical phrasing, we danced much of the night to D’Arienzo’s Milonga Vieja Milonga, our goal of which was to hear the phrasing in the song and put our movement in it. Historically, milonga used to be danced on the strong beats: the 1 and the 2. To this song we were to dance, and pause on the really up, or the really down, but not in the middle with split weight. We drilled the dancing and pausing several times to this same song.

Then we changed the song to D’Arienzo’s Silueta Portena, and our goal was to identify which was the 1 beat and which was the 2 beat in milonga. First, we did an exercise where we just stepped on the 1 with our left foot (and on 2 with our right foot), and then switched it to step on the 1 with our right foot (and on 2 with our left foot). The 1 beat is the ultimate home base, ground zero. Rhythmically, the 2 is where you’d do traspie (assuming no melody in the milonga). To this song, we continued to dance, trying to work on the phrasing, breaks, and pauses.

Homework assignment: When not dancing (such as when we are in the car or in the kitchen washing dishes), play milongas, lots of them, and just try to figure out where the 1 is and where the 2 is. In milonga, we often don’t think about phrasing.

Maestros concluded with a demo to D’Arienzo’s Milonga Vieja Milonga.


Wednesday, September 2, 2009
CCSF classes with Chelsea Eng. In Follower’s Technique, we focused on posture and core strength. She had a handout, “Health and Fitness for Life” and showed a video clip of Rebecca Shulman on posture. Rebecca emphasized the rib cage: breathing into it to expand the ribs in three directions: out to the side, forward, and up. Do not collapse when exhaling, but keep lifted and expanded in the rib cage. This helps keep the belly in. Rebecca also talked about the use of breath to increase the space between the rib cage and the hipbones, which will make the hips move with more freedom. The rib cage and arms are related. Let the elbows hang, the tips pointing toward the floor. Someone in class asked about head positioning. Maestra said to dance with the head in a way where it is comfortable (as opposed to turning it to the Follower’s right or having it touch the Leader’s head if it is uncomfortable). In Advanced, we reviewed Volcadas, both the one from the Follower forward step on her right foot into the volcada, and the one with the ocho cortado timing. Next, we reviewed the walking left turn (counterclockwise) of forward, forward, side (open), back, back, for Leader (opposite for Follower). Then we tried to fit the volcada into that directly after the open step, when Follower steps forward on her right foot, to volcada with her left foot/leg. We also tried a new volcada where the Leader walks outside partner in cross system (so dancers’ inside legs are moving together), to lead a Follower contra back boleo of her right foot, to pivot to step forward on her right foot, into a volcada with her left foot/leg. It was a very good class, and we looked better as a group.