Club 19 Class Notes, May 2012

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

7th May: Back ochos and sacadas

Beginner class:

You don't always have to walk "mirrorred" (in parallel). There are several variations you can use - for this class, we looked at 2-track to 3-track walking. The technique here is for the leaders to transfer weight, but without leading a transfer for the follower. This involves moving between "2-track" (parallel) amd "3-track" (crossed) walking

One nice movement which we can use this switch for is "travelling ochos" - that is back ochos with only a small degree of pivot, so that these are mostly travelling in the direction of the line of dance. Leaders, you can get into these ocho movements with a change of weight, and similarly get out of them and back into parallel walking with another change of weight.

Key points

  • Leaders, keep the chest oriented toward the followers, not to the side. But keep your feet facing forwards; so dissociation again.
  • Also, keep a steady sure lead - don't jump about and vary the pace, just because you're moving your feet in a different way.
  • Followers, follow the lead from the chest, don't pay too much attention to what the leader does with his feet.

More information:

Finally, this diagram (hopefully) helps explain the "track concept":

Improvers class: linear sacadas

We expanded this type of movement into a linear sacada movement, which can be done from crossed-walking.

To lead these, you basically put a bit of "swing" into your step (onto the right foot), stepping into the follower's outside (left) leg when she steps back.

The trick is for the leader to use a curved motion with his right foot when stepping forwards - aiming to have contact between the outaide of your (right) thigh and the inside of her (left) thigh, then stepping onto your forward foot. The "swinging" motion should then simply happen naturally.

Oh, and the trick is also not to step on your partners foot...

14th May: Giros and giro variations

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).
More information about giros

Beginner class: introducing the giro movement

Move 1: 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 then worked on this "linear giro" movement partnered-up, leaders facing to the outside of the room, followers facing inside.

Move 2: Standard Giro

We then worked on taking this grapevine pattern into a circular movement, as follows:

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

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.

Improvers classes: Giro variations

For the two improver classes, we looked at applying giros in both salon and nuevo tango styles.

Salon class: giros in a close embrace (Media Luna)

A giro is perfectly-leadable in a close embrace, it just requires a bit more work and technique to make it look good.

We looked at leading and following a "Media Luna" (effectively a half of a full giro movement) as follows:

  1. Leader steps forward onto the right foot, to the outside of the follower - the follower simulatneously steps back left and collects
  2. leader starts to pivot anti-clockwise - follower sidesteps to (her) right and collects
  3. Leader continues to pivot - follower steps forward and collects, continuing walking around the leader.

Example video

Here's an example of a Media Luna being used (with a turn):

Key points

  • Keep the forward intention, but not so much that you're off-balance.
  • Leaders - don't pull the follower off-balance at any point.
  • Followers - don't take too big a step, make sure you retain the connection with the partner at all times.

We finished off by adding a "sidestep" to the end of that "back-side-forward" pattern, to create a full giro in a close embrace.

Nuevo class: giro with enganche to boleo

We looked at adding a "wrap-and-flick" enhancement, to the sidestep portion of an anti-clockwise giro (usually after the forwards step), as follows:

  1. The follower takes a sidestep to her right and (attempts to) bring her leg together to collect.
    Note: she must not pay attention to what the man is doing with his legs.
  2. After the follower transfers weight to her right leg, but before she collects, the leader places his right leg through the lady's legs (close to her right leg).
    Note: the leader must dissociate here: his chest does not really move, but his hips and legs should rotate anti-clockwise.
  3. The follower, when she tries to collect to finish off the sidestep, will now automatically hook her left leg behind the leader's right leg.
  4. The leader can now pivot the follower anti-clockwise, leading the follower into a back boleo with her left leg, then reverse the rotation to bring her left foot around and crossing in front (not transferring weight).
  5. The follower can then step forward onto her left foot, continuing around the circle of the giro.

Key points

  • leaders: Correct timing of the "leg through the legs" is essential.
  • Followers: don't anticipate this movement. All you're doing is a sidestep, a pivot, and a back step. Ignore what the man does with his legs; follow his chest.
  • Followers: for "extra decoration", let your leg slid up the man's leg as you pivot away from him.

21st May: Musical Interpretation

Musicality is siimply "dancing to the music". Leaders, you should aim to do this all the time, when dancing. Don't try to do "figures" and musicality. Get the musicality right first, then you can worry about the steps.

Beginner class: Tempo variations

We worked on pauses, slowing down the movements of the dancing to create more effect, in time with the music. It's a good exercise to think of Tango dancing as being a set of pauses, with some steps added in between.

Key points:

  • Putting pauses and changes of tempo into your dancing makes it into "dancing" rather than "marching"
  • Slow movements: lower yourself a little and take larger steps
  • Quick movements: lift yourself and take smaller steps
  • Leaders, listen to the music. Followers, listen to the music but follow your lead.
  • Your average "speed" should stay pretty much constant - double-time steps should be half-size.
  • So you don't lead a double-time movement simply by rushing forwards.
  • Whenever you change tempo - going into and out of double-time, for example - you need to clearly lead that change of tempo. Don't yank your partner around.

Salon class: Media Luna and Rockstep

We introduced a couple of example movements which have inherent tempo variations, so allowing you to introduce musicality into your dancing with a few small "pre-built" movements.

We first looked at a Rockstep sequence:

  1. Rockstep forward on left, then back on right (Quick - Quick)
  2. Pivot to the left (Slow)

We then looked at a "Media Luna" sequence (basically, a half-giro):

  1. Leader sidestep left, follower sidestep right (leader takes a slightly larger sidestep to end up offset)
  2. Leader steps forward onto the right foot, to the outside of the follower - the follower simultaneously steps back left and collects
  3. leader starts to pivot anti-clockwise - follower sidesteps to (her) right and collects
  4. Leader continues to pivot - follower steps forward and collects, continuing walking around the leader.

We then put both together (Media Luna then Rockstep), to give us a full 360-degree turn which we can use instead of a giro, which works well in close embrace, and which fits a Q-Q-S-Q-Q-S tempo.

Nuevo class: planeo and gancho

The "Glide, or "planeo" - simply by the woman lowering herself a little, letting her free leg extending out to the side, then keeping that leg extended as the man walks around her in a circle.

Key points:

  • Men, lead this "lowering and extending" 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.

We also looked at the hook or "gancho" movement, where:

  1. Follower steps in a forward ocho onto her right foot (stepping clockwise - to the leader's right)
  2. Before the follower collects, but after she transfers her weight, the leader places his right leg (bent knee) in between her legs
  3. Both must have dissociated to keep chest facing each other - twisting the upper body to face
  4. Leader reverses the step direction by pivotting chest to his left; follower transfers her weight back to her left foot and starts to take a back step with her right leg
  5. Follower's right leg is interrupted by leader's right leg - hooking around it to create a gancho.
  6. Leader straightens his right leg to flick the lady's leg back out (into a forward step)

More information

Here's some useful links on musicality: