[Tango-L] Close all the time vs all ranges debate

[Michael Figart II]

Hello Aurora,

And welcome to the wonderful world of Argentine Tango. It really is
wonderful, please don't get a mistaken impression by viewing some of the
"animosity" on this list. I'm looking so forward to seeing all my
friends at the Memorial Day festival in Denver, I had a real blast at
Atlanta festival last month, etc, etc. If it wasn't for tango, my spare
time would probably still be limited to watching TV, playing with my
Labrador, and yardwork.

I'm of the personal opinion that Argentine Tango is best taught first as
a close-embrace dance (for reasons I won't go into here), but I do
believe that it's very possible to teach beginners in the open style
also, if done correctly. Both require stringent attention to developing
VERY basic skills, with much emphasis on connection, and leading mostly
with torso (actually I think we should lead and follow with every fiber
of our being, but the upper torso (read; chest) is the "communication
center" to transmit and receive).

A famous tango expression; "To learn Tango we must first learn to walk".

Teaching figures from the start is a classic way to get off on the wrong
foot. To start off right; Posture, embrace, connection. Axis, balance
(sometimes shared), center, weight, changing weight. Walking, walking
with the music, stopping, walking again. Walking and throwing a few
"quick-quicks". A few weeks of this and maybe time to throw in ocho
cortado to help keep people interested. Then cross-footed walking,
getting in and out of cross feet, cross-footed walking inside, then
outside, your partner. Then some back ochos. Technique, connection,
communication, technique, connection, communication, etc, etc.....You
get my drift.

Any teacher who teaches ganchos inside of 8 wks should be drawn and
quartered, in my opinion, whether teaching open or close.

Forget the figures, concentrate on feeling comfortable in the
frame/embrace, developing the technique, teaching your body how to move
naturally, and also naturally with another body, in this new wonderful
"walk".

Look for teachers who just ooze "natural" in their movements, who seem
to have the music in their hearts, who concentrate on the communication
aspects, and who tell the leaders that their primary goal is to make
their followers happy and secure, and to learn how to interpret the
beautiful music.

Save the figures for later, they may still seem a little difficult at
first, but at least learning them won't induce the bad habits inherent
in the dancers who, from the first, concentrate on looking good, instead
of feeling good.

Best of luck, please email anytime I can help, and I look forward to a
tanda sometime!

Regards to all,

Michael Figart II
Houston TX



-----Original Message-----
From: tango-l-bounces at mit.edu [mailto:tango-l-bounces at mit.edu] On Behalf
Of Aurora Nemirow
Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 3:30 AM
To: tango-l at mit.edu
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Close all the time vs all ranges debate

I take a class at my university for beginning tango. This is my  
second term, and I wanted to share a few observations and ask your  
thoughts:

Last term was my first ever tango class and my teacher began with  
open embrace. We learned more figures and even got to touch on rad  
things like ganchos and boleos. Around the 8th week of class, we  
began doing close embrace. The leads in class found it very difficult  
(vocally! ;) to do any of the figures they had learned in open, in  
close. I think starting in open allowed a bit of "cheating" with  
posture, use of arms (as in shoving-me-around-the-floor-with-arms use  
of arms), and what my teacher calls duck-walking (cartoon cowboy  
walks for those who have not had the pleasure).

This term, we've begun with close embrace. Personally, I'm thrilled  
because my friends that continued from last term get to work on all  
the things they know in close embrace. BUT, the learning curve is so  
different! It seems to take longer for the brand new dancers to  
understand the connection in close embrace (and every figure is first  
taught in close), but once they get it, they can dance it in open.  
One of the leads even mentioned to me that he totally got how the  
thing he was doing at the time (the cross maybe? I forget) could  
easily be B.S.ed in open. But at our weekly practicas I've danced  
with him in open a few times and he, as with all the leads new this  
term, can lead it just fine. The thing about beginning with close  
embrace is that we have spent more time working on getting the  
connection that we have learned very few figures. Its definitely a  
trade off.

This all leads me to think that perhaps close embrace is a good way  
*to begin* teaching AT. Like Christopher said, it really forces the  
dancers to understand what a good connection feels like. For those of  
us that are just jumping into the dance, the idea of connection is so  
foreign that, I believe, it may be more constructive to shove it  
under our noses at first. Only once we understand what it is that is  
being asked of us, we can back off and use arms, legs, earlobes for  
connection. I know for myself that having begun in open and then  
spent this whole term in close, I have a much stronger understanding  
of my connection in any embrace.

To me this is similar to many things. For instance, few people could  
take an integral without understanding the concept of a tangent line.

What do you think about this? I would love to hear stories about  
other beginning classes, or your own experience beginning with one  
type of embrace. And what you thought about another kind when you  
branched out. Thanks a ton guys!


Aurora @ PDX



p.s. sorry about how long that was - didn't mean to write a novel! Whew!

p.p.s. Tine a while back you asked about people at other  
universities? Me! Me! Portland State U. is simply brimming with new  
tangueros. Can I hit you up for ideas and such?
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