And now, a return to the classics . . .
Here’s a little treat, a blast from the past.
My first visit to Buenos Aires was in 2007 and a group trip organized by local SF maestros at the time, Roberto Riobo and Carolina Rozensztroch. It was a really amazing time, and Roberto and Carolina organized it such that for four mornings we had group private lessons with Los Dinzel (RIP) and their hand-picked assistants. I had no idea at the time who they were (absolute legends! Teachers of teachers!), so it was completely lost on me just how special these lessons were, and how important they were to my tango development, particularly in the area of connection.
It was Rodolfo Dinzel who admonished us for claiming to be “serious” tango students, but only one person was actually taking notes. He commented that many of his regular students had notebooks filled with hundreds of pages of notes. Since I was so new to tango at the time, I was not in the habit of taking notes, and even when I did take them, my efforts were pathetic.
So here are another fellow student’s notes. His name is not on them and escapes me, but I recall that he is (was) a teacher in a small tango community on the West Coast (Oregon?). He was so modest, he used the term “teacher” loosely as he said at the time in his community, there were only three levels of dancers: beginner, intermediate, and teacher. LOL.
So here it goes:
Tango Class with Gloria and Rodolfo Dinzel
Dandi Mansion Royal
San Telmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
August 8, 2007
Connection
1) Dance ½ tango with the right side (man’s) of the embrace only. Teaches both people not to rely on the arms to maintain connection.
2) Dance ½ tango with the left side (man’s) of the embrace only. Teaches both people not to rely on the arms to maintain connection.
3) The woman places her hands on the man’s shoulders, arms stretched, elbows stiff. Dance one tango. Teaches the man to lead with the chest. Teaches the woman to maintain a chest connection.
4) The woman follows the man’s shoulders with no embrace: chin up slightly so that she is not looking down at her feet. The eyes should be on the man’s chest. Dance one tango.
5) Dance two tangos with a very light embrace, keeping the connection in the chest. Puts the previous exercises into application in the dance.
6) Couple stands facing each other, feet are shoulder-width apart and do not move
a. ½ tango woman’s eyes closed and right hand on man’s chest. Man moves upper body without moving his feet. Woman follows without moving her feet.
b. ½ tango woman’s eyes closed and left hand on man’s chest. Man moves upper body without moving his feet. Woman follows without moving her feet.
c. ½ tango man’s eyes closed and right hand on woman’s sternum. Woman moves upper body without moving her feet. Man follows without moving his feet.
d. ½ tango man’s eyes closed and left hand on woman’s sternum. Woman moves upper body without moving her feet. Man follows without moving his feet.
7) Dance two tangos, slow and deep.
August 9, 2007
Connection (continued)
1) The woman places her right hand on the man’s personality center (center of the chest over the sternum), and her left hand on the man’s back. Dance 1-2 tangos.
2) Change to a very light embrace. Dance 1 tango.
3) Expression is accomplished in part by changing the speed and size of our steps.
a. Dance ½ tango slow, and the other ½ fast.
b. Now, dance one tango mixing slow and fast.
c. Dance 2 tangos, changing the size of the steps. The man starts the dance, and the woman changes the size. The man matches her, at which point she has possibilities to change the size again.
4) Dance 2 tangos, with the woman determining speed and size of steps, and the man determining the direction of the steps.
5) Design is made by variation in the direction of the dance. The changes in direction should be proposed in a subtle way, not by pushing. The man proposes where to go, and the woman determines how she goes there.
a. Dance 2 tangos where the woman proposes the direction (be careful not to lose your posture in the process).
6) Now, mix everything: big, small, fast, slow, direction.
The woman puts the salt and pepper on the proposal of the man. Tango is a game, with strategies for communicating.
August 15, 2007
Communication and Improvisation
To begin, an exercise for communication. The woman puts the heel of her right hand on the man’s solar plexus, and the left hand on the back of the man’s right shoulder. Women need to move in their own balance, bringing their feet together. 1 tango.
Next exercise: The woman puts her right hand on the man’s chest as he stands opposite her. She closes her eyes, the feet are shoulder width apart, and do not move. Only the upper bodies move. 1 tango.
Next, dance a slow tango barely touching, perceiving the body of the other. 1 tango.
There are always movements that we want to do, but couldn’t do because of the limitations of our partner. Pretend you have an imaginary partner and do whatever you want. 1 tango.
Now, play the same way, with the partner. Each person does what they want, without contradicting the other. 2 tangos, changing partners.
Break.
Repeat the previous exercise with a new partner for 1 tango.
Exercise for improvisation: In the embrace, the man makes one move, then the woman, then the man, etc. The result looks like figures, but the design is the result of a game, not the figures. In this exercise, try to realize all the other things we have done today. The music in this exercise is not for dancing, but to time the duration of the exercise. 2 tangos, changing partners.
Next, dance traditionally, until the woman stops, the man takes one steps, and the game begins.
Repeat this exercise visualizing the center of your partner, without looking down at your feet.
Next, play games with the legs, making every step an invasion, gancho or displacement. Again, visualize the center of your partner; don’t look down.
These exercises are all about communication.
August 16, 2007
Continuing from yesterday, putting it all together: connection, communication, and improvisation.
Dance with an imaginary partner, doing whatever you want but couldn’t do with a partner. 1 tango.
Dance as a couple, doing whatever you want. 1 tango.
Play games with the legs, playing with the space between the legs of the other. 1 tango.
Chest game – one movement by one, then one by the other, etc. 1 tango.
New exercise. We start with synchronizing, where for ½ tango the man pretends that his left foot is nailed to the floor. For the next ½ tango, the man is free and the woman pretends her right foot is nailed to the floor.
Next, same exercise, but change feet. This is more complex because the fixed foot is on the closed side of the embrace. You need to work more circularly, and disassociate more between the upper and lower body. ½ tango for the man, and ½ tango for the woman.
It has been 45 minutes, but we didn’t think about it one minute. It is a game, and the figures are a result of the game. It is important to listen to your partner, to let him/her finish what they are doing. Feel it. Don’t think.
Return to the exercise with the hand on the chest.
- While doing it, remember, you are what you are, not what others say you are.
- Move with greater sensitivity, but not the feet; only the upper body.
- 2 tangos, switching roles.
Place hand on hand (right to left or left to right), and do the same exercise as before, moving the hands as you want. One slow tango, e.g. Color Tango “Milonga Trieste”, or “El Arriero”, and one fast, e.g. D’Arienzo. To dance the same way to each orchestra is not correct.
Now, dance one tango following each other. In effect, this is the same exercise as before, but with the body, not the hands.
When our communication is subtle, it is not bad. What is bad is when you are hard. It is much healthier when you combine with the other, not force them.
Now, the couple dances together, she stops, he does 3 or 4 movements, until he sees how to start moving together again . . . until she stops, and the process repeats. This is like life. We go together, we diverge, we come together again, and continue until we diverge again. 2 tangos, different partners.
We have learned several exercises to communicate without force. Put all these exercises together in the last two tangos.
We are each responsible to practice and train with all these exercises when we return to the U.S.
