[Tango-L] More mIlonga at milongas

[Ed Doyle]

Hi,

I enjoy the comments about the 'ocho machines' or 'machine gun ochos'.
 I have about a year of leading experience, and every once in a while,
I get a follower who is an 'ocho' machine. On slow music, I like to
lead just a single ocho and hold or pause, and then another and pause.
 The last time I danced with an 'ocho machine', I led one ocho, the
music slowed to a dreamy pause, and the machine started up doing first
ocho, then another, then another, faster and faster till she was
almost panicking.  I tried to stand as still as possible, not moving
any part of my body and faster and faster she went till finally she
abruptly stopped and angrily said, I don't know what you want me to do
when you don't lead me to do anything.  I tried to smile and calmly
say, if I don't lead anything, then don't do anything at all - just
pause with me and enjoy the music.  She did and I think we both did
much better after that.

I have actually only seen a few ocho machines, most followers are
wonderful, often covering for my inexperience or helping me get
better, but every so often I do experience the run away ocho and I
have never really known why they do it, whether it is something I
somehow cause, or they were taught it.

Related to auto ocho is the runaway molinette. Here, the followers do
not go on automatic, but they speed up, seeming to me to have nothing
to do with the music - but just traverse faster and faster again,
almost in panic mode.  This too only happens occasionally, but when it
does, I am always wondering if I did something that caused it, and how
can I get them back to the speed we were dancing.

Well, I really have no points I am trying to make here, just sort of
amused to see that perhaps other leaders occasionally experience some
of what I as a beginner experience. As I said, most of the time, I do
not experience the runaway molinette or auto ocho, but only
accaisionally.

Ed

On 5/1/06, Christopher L. Everett <ceverett at ceverett.com> wrote:
> tl2 at chrisjj.com wrote:
>
> >Christopher L. Everett wrote:
> >
> >
> >>It is possible for a follower to be essentially useless as a dance
> >>partner. ... The worst is when they think they know what they are
> >>doing. The universal constant with them is that they ... never
> >>took beginner classes.
> >>
> >
> >In my experience, the universal constant amongst useless partners is that
> >they /did/ take beginner classes.
> >
> Heh,
>
> I'm used to beginner classes that do something useful for
> beginners.
>
> The syndrome I was actually addressing is the situation of
> people who've taken a few workshops in salon style, but not
> much more than that, attempting to pass on "what they know"
> to other people.
>
> "What they know" turns out to be the tiny collection of steps
> they still remember, divorced from good posture, musicality
> or connection.  Stepping on the beat gets left behind in the
> rush to teach all the steps they know.
>
> And yes, the dreaded "machine-gun" ocho occurs in this context
> too.  Happened to me today.  It could have been worse, my
> first experience with auto-ochos was with someone with a lot
> of ballroom tango experience: scary.
>
> Christopher
>
>
>
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