Club 19 Class Notes, April 2012

These are the class notes for April 2012 Tango classes in Club 19, Southgate.

2nd April: Giros and Enrosques

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

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: Enrosques in giros

"Enrosques" are nice ways for the leader to adorn a giro.

We worked on enrosques for anti-clockwise giros (right leg) and clockwise giros (left leg).

The "enrosque" is simply a spiral. You turn on one foot and leave the other foot in place, allowing you to twist one leg around, then untwist it to allow effect.

A good trick is to have feet placement "twisted" in advance of a giro. So, for example, we did anti-clockwise giros with the right leg starting placed over the left.

Example video

Here is Osvaldo Zotto and Mora Godoy's enrosque:

9th April: Back ochos and Aranas

Beginner class: Back ochos

We practiced leading "overturned" back ochos - the same movement as the back-step part of a giro, effectively, where the woman has to pivot backwards "around" the man. Very easy for the men to lead, very difficult for the woman to follow, because of the flexibility and dissociation needed - but it's a good practice exercise, for precisely those reasons.

For followers: to expand on this a little - do not simply walk in a straight line, ending up further away from your partner - or, this is what not to do:

Instead, what you should do is to think of an ocho as being a step around your partner, in a circular manner. You're tracing the first part of a circle around your partner - so, as said, this is the same movement as the back-step part of a giro.

For example:

This means you'll be keeping yourself at the same distance from your partner at all times during the step.

We then worked on a more conventional back-ocho sequence, where the man changed weight and walks in "parallel" with the woman - but taking larger steps, around the "outside" of the circle.

Improver class: Arana and Leader Pasada

We looked at two example sequences, based on the "overturned back ocho" we did in the beginner class.

Move 1: Arana, from the back step of a giro.

The "arana" or "spider" movement:

  1. Man leads lady into the back-step part of a clockwise giro, but stops her before she collects her left foot
  2. The lady is standing with her left foot forward, but her weight on her back (right) foot
  3. The man then hooks his right leg around the lady's left leg
  4. The man steps onto the right leg - this creates a displacement which rotates the woman's upper body in an anti-clockwise direction.
  5. Lady pivots, then backsteps with her left foot.

Move 2: Leader pasada

Same entrance as the Arana movement:

  1. Man leads lady into the back-step part of a clockwise giro, but stops her before she collects her left foot
    Note: this works best if the lady steps around the man, so it's the "back-step part of a clockwise giro" rather than a back ocho.
  2. The lady is standing with her left foot forward, but her weight on her back (right) foot
  3. The man then steps over the woman's extended leg, pivots, and steps back over - effectively doing a set of forward ochos
  4. To finsh, get back on to the left leg, then step off on the right leg.

16th April: Enrosques feminino, Espirals de cruz

Beginner class: enrosques feminino (twistarounds)

Basically, this is similar to an enrosque movement for the followers:

  1. Lead the follower into a standard sandwich position (follower's left foot in front of right)
  2. Hold the follower in this position and walk around her clockwise
  3. Follower can effectively now do an enrosque movement, twisting to follow the partner's body
  4. Leaders can lead an "untwist" motion to finish, or followers can untwist when desired.

Improver class: Calesita variation

We did a simple variation of the carousel, where the leader "lifts" the follower's free leg (followers lifting their knee up) as part of the rotation movement, with an entry via a sacada.

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, pivotting on the ball of the foot.

Note: if you "lower" instead of "lift", you produce a "Glide, or "planeo"? - simply by the woman lowering herself a little and extending her trailing foot out, to a degree.

23rd April: Walking, Ochos and Boleos

Beginner class: Walking and Ochos

We spent some time walking in "practice hold" - hands on each others' shoulders. We worked on the posture for leaders and followers: both need to adopt a "forward intention" - the upper body closer to the partner than the legs.

The sequence of events for leading and taking any step is:

  1. The leader signals his intention by moving his chest (centre) in the direction he wants the follower to go - for example, forwards
  2. The follower extends/moves her free foot in that direction - for example, back
  3. The leader starts his step, extending his leg into the space that the follower has made available
  4. Leader and follower both then transfer their weight onto the extendeded leg

We then focussed on the pivot-and-step movement ("ochos").

Sequence: Leaders, without moving your feet, lead an "inside foot" pivot, then lead a forwards step - this is a forward ocho.

Key points:

For leaders:

  • Don't "row" - don't use your arms to pivot your partner, use your chest.
  • Always lead the pivot first, then the step. Don't try to do both at the same time.
  • The step is in the same direction as the pivot - forward ochos are done with the inside foot (closest to the leader).

For followers:

  • Step, then collect, then pivot. They are separate motions - don't rush into one before the other.
  • Keep your chest facing towards your leader (that's the "dissociation" thing).

More information

Some more information about ochos.

Improver class: Close Embrace / Boleos

We split into two groups:

Group A looked at close embrace movements:

  • Close embrace and posture
  • Leading and following steps

Group B looked at Boleos ("whips"):

  1. Leader sidestep left, change weight, pivot follower anti-clockwise,
  2. Lead several back ocho sreps, stepping sideways in parallel with the follower
  3. Start to lead another back ocho step anti-clockwise, letting the follower move her free leg back...
  4. ... before she transfers weight, stop and reverse the direction of movement by pivotting clockwise
  5. Follower's leg sweeps back and around in the boleo shape
  6. Follower completes the movement, then collects as normal - going into forwards ochos.

30th April: Back ochos, boleos, enganches

Beginner class: Back ochos

Following on from forwards ochos (last week's class), we then looked at "back ochos", with the leader taking sidesteps in parallel with the follower.

We did an example routine, as follows:

  1. Leader sidestep left, change weight onto right foot, pivot follower anti-clockwise, then sidestep left again
    Follower sidesteps right, pivots (but does not change weight), then steps back (this is a back ocho) onto her left foot
  2. Leader pivots follower clockwise, then sidesteps right
    Follower pivots and steps back onto her right foot
  3. Repeat for another couple of back ochos (4 in total)
  4. Finish with leader changing weight onto left foot
  5. Leader steps forward on right foot; follower steps back on left foot.

Note: this is simply an example sequence, please alter and experiment with different variations as you want.

Key points:

  • With back ochos, it's best done if the leader takes an accompanying side-step, and typically a larger step than the follower.
  • However, that means, the leader will have to change weight to start leading ochos, and also change weight when finishing (without the follower changing her weight).
  • Followers, keep your free leg down - don't lift your moving foot up off the floor.

Improver class: Close embrace movements

For the improver class, we revised close embrace movements: step, sidestep, and weight transfer.

We then looked at leading back ochos in a close embrace - using the same sequence as in the beginners' class.

Intermediate class: low boleos into enganche

Leading on from the boleos work we did last week, we look at another extension of this type of free leg movement.

  1. Leader sidestep left, change weight, pivot follower anti-clockwise, and place right foot forwards (to the outside of the follower's right foot)
  2. Lead the follower into a back pivot-and-step (anti-clockwise), letting the follower move her free leg back...
  3. ... before she transfers weight, stop and reverse the direction of movement by pivotting clockwise and placing
  4. Follower's leg sweeps back and around in the boleo shape
  5. Lift her frame so that she wraps her left leg around leader's right leg
  6. Leader holds and flexes to let the follower's leg go back, out and around again.
  7. You can then go into a set of back ochos from here.