[Tango-L] Tango overtraining at practicas (Was: Different Styles)

[Brian Dunn]

Meredith wrote:
>>>
"...At Villa Malcolm, Practica X, Soho
Tango, La Viruta, La Marshall, and many more, the dancers are younger
(mostly between 18 and 40) and get bored if they have to dance in
close embrace all night, doing simple steps.  They are always pushing
themselves and both competing and collaborating with each other to
find new possibilities in tango.  This includes creating new kinds of
movements, finding new ways to put familiar movements together, and
exploring new ways to interpret traditional tango music (usually at
least 80% of the music played in these milongas is golden age, just
like at the traditional milongas)."
<<<<

Meredith, I can confirm your observations in detail.  Excellent, informative
message.  

>>>
On Monday nights, the practica at
Villa Malcolm ends earlier than on other nights, so afterwards dozens
of dancers head over to Salon Canning several blocks away.  When they
arrive, you wouldn't know that they were the same dancers.  The women
who were wearing dance sneakers at Malcolm are now in Comme Il Fauts,
and perhaps they even put on makeup and changed their clothes to
better fit into the milonga environment.  People who were practicing
jumps, 360-degree underarm turns and colgadas at Malcolm are now
sedately and happily executing their ocho cortados.
<<<

Last night, I was watching the "midnight transition" between El Motivo/Villa
Malcolm and Canning that you describe here, and another thought struck me.
These young dancers dance the small compact "Nino Bien" stuff exquisitely!
Superb musicality, delicate intricate footwork, tiny tiny little flicks of
heel, toe and ankle, just a delight to watch.  

Then I realized that by pushing themselves and each other in friendly
competition at high-energy go-for-broke practicas, they are also
"overtraining" their navigation and musicality skills under these
high-energy conditions, which tends to make them very expressive and solid
partners when crowded floors require them to reduce the scale of their
movements.  

This overtraining principle is exploited in many kinds of sports and
performance training settings.  I am sure many listeros have memories of
their own overtraining experiences in school sports, triathlons, and such. 

By pushing their edge in the "tango workout" practicas, the low-stress "Nino
Bien dancing" of these young dancers is well within their "performance
envelope", rather than being closer to the maximum they are used to.  This
leaves a lot more available brain power (and heart power) for musicality and
connection.

To achieve the same end, regardless of one's stylistic preferences in social
tango, any tango dancer who values floorcraft, connection and musicality in
milonga settings (as I do) might want to consider overtraining their
floorcraft and movement dynamics with higher-energy "big tango" practica
work.

All the best,
Brian Dunn
Dance of the Heart
Boulder, Colorado USA
(temporarily Palermo, BsAs)
www.danceoftheheart.com
"Building a Better World, One Tango At A Time"