Workshop Notes: Salon Tango

Date and Time: Sunday 20th February 2011, 2pm - 6pm

Warmup

(All in close hold)

We started with some warmup based around one track of tango music (Bahia Blanca), including reversing roles - getting the followers to lead, and vice versa.

Section 1: The embrace and cadencia

Examining the close embrace, in some detail.

The close embrace is like an airport hug where you are meeting someone special after a long break. Posture is basically: fully upright, weight over balls of the feet, centre / chest forward, and contact with your partner along the torso. Note that it's important to have space between your legs and your partner's legs.

Close embrace is best for Salon Tango dancing, without too many pivots.

Key points

  • Leaders, chest lead: don't move your arms / feet first.
  • Followers, wait for the lead: if there's no lead, do nothing.
  • Always keep in contact with your partner
  • Ensure you have a "forwards intention" - for both leaders and followers. Don't lean back - if you do, your partner will feel off-balance as they'll have to lean forwards too much.
  • Don't pull down on your partner's arms / shoulders; you shouldn't rely on your partner for support.
  • Close is close - yes, it's intimate, but if you don't press against your partner, it doesn't work.
  • If you do it right, close embrace makes leading and following easier, because you have more contact - at least for the steps covered so far.
  • Don't force (pull) your partner into a close embrace - he/she may not be happy with that. Invite it, don't force it.

More information

Cadencia (rock-step)

We examined using the cadencia (rockstep) in close embrace.

Key points

  • Small small small...!

Section 2: Connection and ocho cortado

Revision: basic principles

Connection in Tango is continuous - you need to be connected to your partner at all times. In tango dancing, there are no "moves" or "patterns" - each single step is led, and followed, individually. So leaders have to lead, and followers have to follow, continuously.

"Pre-lead": Ensure you set up the lead for every step, in the time before you actually lead that step. So start "pre-leading" the next step, during the previous step.

We did some basic revision exercises:

  • Lowering and lifting.
  • Walking forwards and back.
  • Stepping to the side.

We then swapped roles - leaders became followers and vice versa - and repeated this exercise. We did this role-reveral a few times in the course of the class; the idea is that it allows you to feel what it's like on "the other side of the fence".

Key points

  • Connect with your partner at all times.
  • If you lose connection, stop and re-establish it.
  • There's no rush. Take time at the start of the dance to connect. Take time during the dance to connect.

Ocho cortado

Literally, a "Cut ocho".

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.

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 videos

Here's an example of this pattern (in open embrace):

Here's another example, in close embrace, and with the instructions in Spanish for added authenticity (subtitled)

Key points

  • When leading the follower into the cross, give her space to cross by moving backwards.
  • Both rocksteps / pulsesteps are double-time, and are not full steps - so don't transfer the whole weight
  • Followers need to keep their shoulders (chest) facing the leader during the cross step.
  • This is a nice way of doing a quarter-turn anti-clockwise - for example, in corners.
  • This is useful in close embrace, and in situations where there's not much space.

Section 3: Posture and close-embrace giro

Posture

Keep a "forwards lean", all the time. Think of the posture as being an upside-down "Y" shape.

Head placement: Don't move the head in ralation to the body - keep it pointing in the same direction as your chest.

Walking

  • Walking forwards, push off from the back foot and soften the knee of the supporting leg.
  • Walking backwards, again soften the supporting leg, and extend your free leg back (free leg is straight)

Changes of weight / sidesteps

  • Think "up and around" rather than "side to side" for changes of weight
  • For sidesteps, conversely, think "down and across"; soften the knee of supporting leg, then step
  • It's a useful exercise to mix and match weight changes with sidesteps, so that you can learn to differentiate between the two

Close-embrace half-giro giro (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 an following a "Media Luna" - which is 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.

Section 4: Ochos and ocho milongueros

To finish off, we looked two distinct styles / types of ochos:

  • Pivoting and dissociating ochos ("normal" ochos) in close embrace.
  • "Crossing" ochos ("ocho milonguero")

Close-embrace ocho

Ochos are perfectly-leadable in close embrace - both forwards and back. However, it's probably most common, and easiest, to lead back ochos in social dancing.

The key thing within close embrace is to keep that embrace - not to open it up at all. So the degree you can pivot is constrained by the amunt you can twist your hips whilst retaining that embrace.

This may mean that the follower may naturally travel in a backwards direction; so the leader should travel forwards

Ocho milonguero - crossing ochos

Here's an example of this sort of movement (from 1:20 - 1:24):

The ocho milonguero step has no pivot and no dissociation; it is often used in the apilado style as it requires very close connection, and high levels of sensitivity.

It may help to think of it as a set of back-crosses, simply crossing one foot behind (or in front of) the other sequentially, when led to do so.