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This is Argentine Tango
Complimented by many.
Flamed by none.
Of course I’m proud of that. :-)
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A little introduction.
Last page update - 3-13-08
And below the intro... ‘What Tango is not!’
The knowledge and understanding we have of Tango has been obtained over 13 years... ~ There is a fair amount to read here but you must truly *understand* Tango to dance it and enjoy it fully. Tango is not for everyone.
This is the distillation of everything I’ve seen, heard, and paid for in many ways. ~ It comes down to about one quarter of the total having any real and meaningful worth or good, for getting to where I wanted to be. ~ So please ‘understand’ what you’re reading before you move on. ~ It does no good to skim
Just for the record, I’ve always been outspoken.., so I’ll continue being so here, in my own inimitable way. ;-) ~ I also try for a little humour in my writing. ~ But you can take all of that with a grain of salt if you don’t get any of it. ;-> ~ I love Tango from head to toe. ~ Everyone does what they think best for Tango and this is what I believe should be out there too.
You can always explain your opposing view if you’d like. ~ I really do appreciate contrary input. ~ But so far I haven’t received any. And considering the internet.., that’s a very good sign. :-)
I’d suggest too that you print these pages out. ~ Many people find that reading texts from paper makes them much more understandable. ~ One does not gain as much from reading words off a monitor screen. ~ It’s an interesting phenominon. ~ In any case, you’ll be able to carry the pages with you for when you have a spare minute and not able to get on a computer. ~ Take a small section at a time, as you would if it was a regular weekly class somewhere. ~ Be sure you understand it well, before you move on to the next.
Ask questions if you find anything unclear. ~ Or if in fact you disagree with me. Say what you will, here on the Feedback page. ~ I will answer all as best I can.
So for now try to visualise the concepts put forth. ~ Incorporate them into your your understanding and dancing of Tango. ~ I’m sure you’ll find everything comes together in the end, whether you’re leader, follower, beginner or instructor.
Thank you.
So here it is. ~ How to Tango. ~ What is below will give you other ways to see things if nothing else. ~ And as we are not working ‘in person’, what I have written is designed to make you think! ~ Tango *is* just that. ~ A mind game. ~ The choice of eclectic people and not just a dance.
The very first thing one must know if they are to learn true, improvisational, Argentine Tango is that most instructors in this country (the U.S.) do not know how to teach it. ~ They will of course also tell you that I do not know how to teach it. ~ But that is a game everyone plays. ~ Everyone says they know best. ~ Right?
But to prove *I* am right, ~ I will present many provable facts for you to go by.
Then it’s up to you. If you have an open mind and truly want to learn how to dance Tango as it should be danced, you will consider them. ~ Check them in whatever manner you wish. ~ I am confident you’ll see that what’s presented here is ‘thee way it is’, and that everything does make sense. ~ Compared to what many other teachers may tell you. ~ If you think you can dismiss some or any of the facts presented, it would be a mistake. ~ To summarily dismiss facts will only mean you will never ‘get it’. ~ That you are most likely already under the spell of the dreaded 8 count basic step.
We’ll get to *improvisational* Tango here in a moment... ~ Please bear with me. ~ You’re being ‘immersed’. The way they learn to Tango in Argentina.
To begin, here’s a most important subject. ~ The one that needs to be covered first. ~ What Tango is NOT. ~ You need to rid yourself of preconceived ideas. ~ I know you have them.
You will read this later too, in several places and several ways. ~ But put it in your mind right now..., before anything else. ~ Try to visualize Tango as not being a dance. ~ It is a head game played by two people who have a challange to make the other person happy. ~ And only in that way will either be able to enjoy it themselves.
Tango as a ‘dance’ to be done has no ‘moves’, no ‘patterns’, no preset ‘sequences’ of steps. ~ NOTHING to memorize nor remember as to where to go. ~ Tango is simply a style! ~ A look. ~ A feeling... ~ It is an attitude!!. ~ One can stand perfectly still with their partner and still be dancing Tango. ~ And yet, as you must have heard, it takes two to Tango. ~ The two individuals doing Tango together must keep that in mind at all times. ~ *Each* must do their own part to the fullest.
All of this will be proven as we go on. ~ But let’s disprove other teaching methods first. ~ You must truly understand there is only one way to learn Tango.
Many (most) insructors in this country today are ‘ballroom’ oriented. ~ They taught ballroom first and they still teach it alongside Tango. ~ So they use ballroom methods and concepts. ~ It’s in their blood. ~ But we all know what ‘ballroom’ is. ~ Many people enjoy those dances for sure, and I have no dislike of ballroom at all. ~ But in general, ballroom is very structured and ‘memorized’. ~ So Tango is most certainly not ballroom. ~ You cannot and should not relate them in any way. ~ However, ballroom dance instructors cannot seem to keep from doing so, no matter how long they try to teach Tango. ~ They say they do not mix the two, but the longer they do, the more they believe they do not. ;-/ ~ It’s a paradox.
They teach memorized sequences of steps. ~ That is a fact is it not? ~ Think about it. ~ They should not be doing this, no matter what their justification is. ~ Not a single one. ~ When they teach a memorized sequence of steps they are instantly using a method that does harm to the student who is trying to learn an improvisational dance. ~ It teaches them that memorizing is an acceptable way to go when it is not. ~ It is not good nor wise to teach that way. ~ Followers, especially, should never know what the second or third next step is to be. ~ Not even what it might be. ~ They should even be very upset with themselves if they catch themselves simply wondering about it.
The next fact is that the ladies, the ‘followers’, never went to practice sessions in the days when Tango was coming into existance. ~ It was only the men, the ‘leaders’, who developed the moves that were brought to the dance floor. ~ They worked with each other in their neighborhood clubs to perfect the moves in their heads, and work them out with their bodies. ~ They then took those moves directly to the ladies on the dance floor. ~ This is where the ladies first knew of them, and did them, sight unseen. ~ Not needing to know where to ‘put their feet’ each step. ~ That’s a fact. ~ Because the ladies knew how to follow. ~ That’s the only thing followers need to know how to do. ~ It’s their job description, right? ~ To simply ‘follow’ covers everything that can come from the leader.
Please ladies. ~ If you are a follower, think about what was just said compared to what you have been doing. ~ How many times are you able to follow a totally new path, or a leader’s new idea, and dance it without hesitation? ~ If you can’t, you are not doing Tango as you should. ~ You need to work more at getting in touch with the leader and his lead only. ~ If you concentrate and ‘will’ your upper body to stay with the leader, your feet will know how to keep it there all by themselves. ~ You’ll not need to think about where to put your feet each step. ~ You’ll soon learn that this is the only way to Tango.
One of the more glaring examples of ballroom teaching is that leaders and followers are put together as a couple and taught to memorize a sequence of steps, usually starting with what is called the ‘Salida’, or ‘Basic Step’, and progressing from there. ~ I contend that as soon as this is done their minds are poisoned against social, improvised, Tango. ~ One bonds with the idea that they can learn patterns instead of single step leads. ~ This is completely and absolutely not true, not Argentine Tango, and not a good teaching method at all. ~ If any instructor teaches a follower a pattern or a series of steps, it is the antithesis of Tango. ~ They have shot the student in the foot the very first time they tried to move one. ~ The problem is that people actually think they can do both. ~ That they can understand the memorized step sequence is ‘just an example’. Ha! ~ But why do they need a memorized example? ~ Leaders should be learning how to lead, and followers should be learning how to follow. ~ That’s what they need... ~ Keeping their heads up. ~ Not looking down to memorize ‘examples’ of where to put their feet. ~ All they need to know is how to do it with Tango ‘style’. ~ Never fear the ‘where’. ~ The frame and lead signals are what cause followers to place their feet in the right places. ~ It’s an unconscious calculation done by your mind. ~ Just let it happen. ~ Remember it was done that way in the beginning and it brought about this world class dance. ~ What else is there to think about? ~ Of course Americans always want to do things a better way. ~ The ‘easy’ way. :-) ~ Just don’t you go that way, ok? ~ It doesn’t really work. ~ Tango happened before ballroom’s structured thinking came along. ~ Tango did not need it then nor does it need it now. ~ Do I sound adament? ~ Yes I am! :-)
Tango does not need ‘fixing’. ~ It’s not broken. ~ There is no good to the idea that the end justifies the means. ~ That ballroom methods can work too. ~ If you are told this is just one example and that you can change things at will, don’t believe it. ~ Not! ~ What it really amounts to is just the first of a whole lot of memorizing. ~ More and more patterns and ‘examples’.., and improvisation gets left behind. ~ Things become dragged out, everything seems a lot tougher to do, harder to understand, and so on. ~ There is a better way to teach and understand Tango. ~ The right way.
What often happens because of this pattern memorization thing is that all those who learn from one ‘ballroom’ oriented teacher, are able to dance well with others who have learned from that very same teacher.., but not as well with another teacher’s students. ~ This is much more pronounced between two separate Tango communities. ~ People may all appear to dance correctly, individually, but everyone knows there is a big ‘difference’ between communities where each has it’s own set of instructors and groups of people who dance mostly among themselves. ~ It may be accepted by some that there will be differences between any two communities.., but I submit that it is precicely because they are not taught how to follow properly by their instructors that causes most of the difficulties when they do mix. ~ It seems the footwork that makes up a particular move or group of moves done often in each of the disparate communities is primary. ~ Not the leads that should be given, felt and responded to. ~ The leads that need to be sensed and used by followers to easily complete all moves, no matter that they be new combinations never before seen.
Still another ballroom concept is that of the ‘forced’ lead. ~ Where, if a follower doesn’t go where she is ‘supposed’ to go by herself, or more likely is never even invited properly to go there.., the leader gets pushy and puts her there. ~ This is ‘his’ lead. ~ Done almost constantly, step by step. ~ A definate Tango no-no. ~ A leader is never to push a follower anywhere. ~ If a follower feels herself being even ‘pressed’.., she should tell the leader to stop doing that. ~ It takes two to Tango. ~ The follower is to move entirely on her own. ~ Under her own power and keeping her own balance. ~ Going on her own to where she knows the leaders wants her to be. ~ That’s the follower’s job. ~ There are supposed to be two people ‘working together’ to create every Tango dance. ~ Doesn’t that ring a bell?
It is possible to dance Tango without even touching your partner. ~ I do it often with certain partners. ~ No contact at all, yet they follow very nicely. ~ So how would one go about giving a ‘pushy’ lead under those circumstances? If in fact the lady did not know how to follow. ~ Obviously it can’t be done because it should not be done. ~ Plain and simple. ~ Physically forcing a lady around the floor in any way should never be considered.
So the turnaround being that followers must know what is expected of them, and do it.., or good leaders will likely not dance with them. ~ Unless they just like that person a lot, and don’t care that they can’t Tango. ;->
Personally I feel that allowing a follower to ‘fake it’ not only degrades the dance but it keeps the follower where she is, never to know the full height and breath of what she can be enjoying. ~ Not fair to them, the leader, or anyone else. ~ They should not be allowed to simply take up time, enjoying themselves at some lesser level of participation, without understanding that they are in fact ‘faking’ it. ~ Especially if they act or think they have gone as far as they *want* to go. ~ Tell them to take up ballroom or get a job at Xerox.
Is that radical ~ Ha! ~ Actually I was holding back. Nothing against copy machines btw... Nor ballroom either.., but just not here please...
I do realize of course that this is not how one acts or relates to others in practice. ~ We have to live with damage done. ~ With those partners who already have bad habits strongly ingrained. ~ So this is directed mostly to the newbies reading. ~ Those who still have clear minds on Tango. ~ It’s an attempt to make future partners think about where they’re going and what it truly takes to get there. ~ To emphasize what a follower needs to know. ~ What their job will be. ~ Because they should stop reading here if they do not want to do Tango right. ~ Tango is not for everyone.
Many followers have in fact told me they enjoy a ‘pushy’ lead because it’s easier for them. ~ That’s terrible. ~ It’s a dead give-away that they do not yet know how to follow and respond as they should. ~ That they’re not dancing true Tango. ~ That they miss the entire point of the dance. ~ Sorry but they’re riding on a ‘silly’bus version of Tango and may not even know what a real Tango lead is. ~ Physically pushy leads are for Tango fakers. ~ To not want to be an active part of the dance is to doddle their dancing along half heartedly.., never fully trying, much less reaching the level of enjoyment that is possible. ~ And they keep their leader from getting there too.
A good Tango follower works to feel for and find the constant, nearly invisible and subtle signals from the leaders body. ~ It is absolutely forbidden in social Tango that she ever be physically pushed or pulled in any direction by the leader.
NOW... Here we’ll put the proof of what has been said. ~ Here and now and perhaps further on. ~ To be sure that you see it is the magic analogy.
The follower must learn to follow the leads only.., and completely forget about their feet. ~ They are not to think about them *at all*. ~ Where to put them and why. ~ It is really very easy to not think about them...
Because you never think about where to put your feet when you’re playing tag, or tennis, or even while simply ‘tripping’ on a curb, do you? ~ If not, you should be able to dance Tango like an Argentine. ~ It’s all the same thing. ~ With all those other games and such, your feet do know where to go, by themselves. ~ They go there automatically. ~ You field the leads from somewhere else and you certainly do not look to the ground every time you need to move a foot. ~ Because if you did, you’d lose...
Consider for example,Tennis. ~ That you zig and zag all over the court, chasing the ball to smack it back. ~ You simply see and follow the leads from the ball. ~ It’s speed, angle and trajectory. ~ Your feet do all the work by themselves. ~ You win, not by questioning your second nature steps, but because you focus and respond only to the leader, the ball. ~ Tango!
Feel for the lead and ‘want’ to put yourself where it says you need to be. ~ Don’t think at all about *how* it will be done and you will just find yourself there.., looking for the next lead.., and doing the same thing again. ~ *That’s* where the thrill comes in... ~ The rush. ~ That you are doing it. ~ That this one may be a perfect Tango.
Does the Tennis analogy make sense? Yes or No.
If you answered no, you need to quit studying Tango.
NOW we can go on to the various other areas of the dance. ~ The overall concept of Tango in more detail. ~ The pivot, and the three simple walking steps that Tango consists of. ~ The so called ‘frame’, and leads that dictate which of those three steps are to be taken. ~ Then, the music. ~ Rhythm, syncopation, and simply staying in step with it and your partner as you dance.
We’ll finish by telling you to dance whatever style you feel comfortable with. ~ The particular way that feels right to you. ~ Because, basically every men’s club in Bs.As. had it’s own style. ~ We do not insist there is only one right way. ~ Heel first, toe first, straight leg, bent leg. ~ Golden Age, Nuevo. ~ It’s all Tango.
In any case we do have our favorites. ~ And they are with others too. ~ We will put them into the mix that follows for those who would like to do some homework. ~ You can start with them and see how they work for you.
Now read on to learn what Argentine Tango IS. The links at the top of page, taken left to right, are the way to go. ~ Absorb each fully, before moving on. The next is also right here...:
THE CONNECTION
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