Berkhamsted Class Notes, January 2012

These are the class notes for January 2012 Tango classes in Berkhamsted.

29th January: Giros and calesitas

Beginner class: Giros

A "Giro" (pronounced "Hero") is a turn. Typically, the leader stands in place, and the follower is led to walk in a circular path around the leader (either clockwise or anticlockwise).

Exercise 1: "walk around partner"

Without reference to the footwork, we got the leaders to lead a turn, and the followers to follow - leaders starting and stopping when they wanted.

Key points:

  • For leaders:
    • Rotate smoothly, by moving the chest first.
    • Wait for the pivot to be done, before leading the step. Don't try to lead both at the same time.
    • Don't worry about the footwork yet
  • For followers:
    • Dissociation - keep your upper body facing the leader.
    • Don't overtake leaders - take your time on the walks
    • Follow each step as it is led. Don't try to anticipate the next step.
  • For both - keep upright, on the ball of the feet

We briefly discussed using giros in combination with other steps, mixing and matching.

Key points:

  • Giros can be done in either direction - simply by rotating in that direction. Typically, clockwise might feel more difficult than anti-clockwise because of the nature of the embrace.
  • Giros don't have to be full 360-degree, 4-step patterns - it's perfectly OK to just lead a few steps.
  • You can reverse a giro from a pivot step - turning that pivot into an ocho movement, then reversing the rotation direction.
  • Followers, please don't anticipate that the next step will be part of the giro pattern - it may not be.

Exercise 2: "add footwork"

A standard "giro pattern" is a grapevine, as follows:

  1. Step Forward -> pivot
  2. Step Side -> pivot
  3. Step Back
  4. Step Side
  5. Repeat

For the followers, we worked on this pattern as the footwork for the giro.

Key points:

  • Don't anticipate the pattern.
  • Collect through the feet at each step

More

Improvers class: Calesitas, planeos and variations

The improvers class basically focusses on possibilities where the leader walks around the follower.

Calesita (Carousel)

The Carousel ("Calesita") movement is almost a "reverse giro" movement - the woman stands in the centre, and the man walks around her.

There are some differences though; the woman stays on one foot throughout, and is rotated by the man, and the man simply walks in one direction (i.e. forwards or backwards, no fancy grapevine patterns).

Key points:

  • Men have to walk in a circle. If you don't walk in a perfect circle, you'll pull the woman off balance.
  • Men, keep your chest facing the woman at all times.
  • Women, keep your weight on one foot - the other foot trailing behind.

Planeo

We then extended the carousel movement to the "Glide, or "planeo" - simply by the woman lowering herself a little and extending her trailing foot back, then letting the man continue to guide her around in a circle.

Key points:

  • Men, lead this "lowering" motion, as always, by moving your chest.
  • Walk in the direction (forwards / backwards) which is most comfortable and stable for you. Some directions are more natural than others.

Note: you can use this "lowering to planeo" action on a normal ocho movement occasionally if you want.

Calesita variations

We briefly explored a sacada-based entry into a calesita as a sequence.