Berkhamsted Class Notes, September 2012

2012 Class Notes: Jan | Feb | March | April | May | June | July | August (no classes) | September

These are the class notes for September 2012 Tango classes in Berkhamsted19, on Sunday afternoons.

9th September: Ocho Cortados

We looked at the Ocho Cortado movement.

We started off with the "cut" part of the movement - a chopped / pulsed sidestep, followed by a lead to a cross. Once we'd got the hang of that one, we moved onto a full practice sequence.

We finished off by looking at this sequence - literally, a "Cut ocho".

This sequence goes as follows (from the leader's point-of-view):

  1. Sidestep left (larger sidestep for leader, as for leading a cross)
  2. Forward step on right
  3. (Double-time) forward rockstep on left
  4. Backstep on left
  5. Turn (open out) to right
  6. (Double-time) lead follower into a side rockstep / pulse sidestep
  7. Lead follower back from rockstep into a cross, transferring weight to the right foot and pivoting to your left as you do so.

Example video

Here's an example of this pattern, in close embrace, and with the instructions in Spanish for added authenticity (subtitled)

16th September: Connection basics

Beginner class: Connection, walking and posture

We started by walking separately, then connecting with an open embrace and walking along smoothly together.

Leaders, lead with the chest. Followers, keep a "forwards intention" whilst walking backwards.

We then got into a closer embrace - more of a "hug" - and introduced some of the fundamental steps in tango within this embrace:

  • Walk
  • Transfers of weight (lift -> transfer - lower)
  • Sidestep (lower - across - collect)

Improvers class: close embrace

Within the improver class, we covered the close embrace.

We did a "piece of paper" exercise - putting a piece of paper between us, and with the leader holding both arms behind his back, to ensure proper connection.

We then got into a "proper" close embrace, and put all the steps together, in different combinations.

We briefly covered changes of tempo, and finished off by introducing rocksteps to get around corners - small, quick movements.

Recap video

Here's the Recap video on the Learning Tango Facebook group.

23rd September: Connection and sidesteps

Beginner class: Connection and walking

We started out with walking to the music, seperately to the beat, then walking in an open embrace, looking at

  • posture
  • chest lead
  • Follower posture

We then talked about connection, musicality, and adding decorations as we walked along.

We then started getting into a closer "distance hug" embrace.

Improvers class: Sidesteps and close embrace

We moved on to using the close embrace within dancing, repeating last week's "piece of paper" exercise to develop connection, then getting into a "proper" embrace (using arms).

We repeated the decorations and movements from the beginner class, then spent some time looking at the sidestep, and putting in some decorations and movements to emphasize the movements.

Recap video

Here's the Recap video on the Learning Tango Facebook group.

30th September: Pulsing and giros

Beginner class: Pulsing

We looked at walking in a close embrace, with some emphasis on leading from the centre, and on following that point.

We talked about changes of tempo, and worked on leading large, slow steps, and small, quick ones.

We looked at a "pulse" step, with the leaders leading this type of movement.

To lead "pulse"-type motions: leaders, keeping the feet stable, led the followers to take sideways motions with their free legs; to either side. This is a nice way to "stand in place" during social dancing, marking time to the music.

Key points:

  • Leaders: don't step before the follower - leading with the foot. Don't do this. Lead from the chest - project first with your chest, and wait for the follower to move her feet back before you start to step forward.
  • Followers: don't follow the leader's feet, follow his leader's chest. As soon as you feel the lead, move your free leg. Don't fight it, let the leg move freely.

Improvers 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).

Linear Giro (grapevine)

We did a grapevine exercise - walking in a straight line, for both leaders and followers:
Forward -> pivot -> Side -> pivot -> Back -> pivot -> Forward -> etc.

Key points:

  • Step then pivot - as with ochos, these are two distinct movements. Don't try to do both at the same time.
  • Dissociation - keep shoulders facing the same direction.
  • Collect at each step - always collect your feet together at the end of every step. But don't change your weight during collection.

We worked on this "linear giro" movement partnered-up, leaders facing to the outside of the room, followers facing inside.

We then did a standard "giro pattern" is a grapevine, with the leaders doing an enrosque movement.

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.

More

Recap video

Here's the Recap video on the Learning Tango Facebook group.