[Tango-L] Direction: Pivots & fulcra

[Jake Spatz (TangoDC.com)]

Hi all,

Thanks for the energetic replies and engagements with this topic.

I'm familiar with the "FaGuChi" (as one poster once put it) analysis, 
and I find it very helpful. I've also got Mauricio Castro's books, which 
catalog things in long, cumbersome descriptions (which, if they have put 
both partners' movements on paper, have also regressed to individual 
orientation). And I've arrived at the same notation that Jay cited from 
his work (except that I shorten CCW to CC). That's all a good start, but 
I think we need to go further yet.

To answer Martin-- the thing is, we _do_ use CW and CC to describe the 
direction of circular movements. And in most cases that's fine. But when 
counter-turns come into play, or if we over-extend (or break) the frame, 
then we've got turns within turns. In such cases, the words "the 
leader's left" don't have a frame of reference anyone, sometimes for 
either partner. But the ghost of the embrace is still there, even if 
your back is to it for a moment; and both partners still know where that 
frame is. If we index the four sides of the embrace in a more neutral, 
universal way, so that both partners understand any point without 
pronouns, we'd have a way to clarify and illuminate soltada positions-- 
and maybe we'd even see new possibilities in familiar movements, without 
thinking of them as "deviations."

As Brian pointed out, the "new analysis" anchors things in the couple. 
That is what makes it useful.

As Manuel is reminding us, however, there's still a lot of choreography 
(strict sense: predetermined sequences) in tango. The molinete is a 
prime example. I teach beginners how to lead & follow it as improv, by 
showing them how to change the turn-fulcrum in the leader (from axis to 
left shoulder to axis to right shoulder), and how to read the difference 
as a follower.

If we enlarge that three-fulcrum analysis from the leader's torso to the 
couple, and find an "axis" fulcrum between them (the shared axis of a 
colgada, for instance), and then a fulcrum each in the leader (molinete 
center) and follower (calesita center)-- and THEN if we play round robin 
with the fulcra, we arrive at one of those traveling cadena turns, where 
the dancers alternate turning around each other. Viewed in this 
three-fulcrum way, the thing can be improvised, fragmented, and so 
forth, quite freely. (I.e., it can be taught as a naked concept, not as 
a stuck sequence.)

Most pivoting movements in tango, of course, use two fulcra 
simultaneously, as in the simple molinete. The follower pivots around 
her own axis, and travels around the leader's (wherever he locates that 
axis in his body). In most ochos, even over-turned ones, the follower 
only pivots around her own axis, then steps straight. I've come up with 
a couple new, simple patterns by combining these one- and two-fulcrum 
concepts (basically, alternating one and two on each half-ocho, while 
counterpointing the leader's delayed collection against the full second 
half of the follower's ocho). I swear, the movements are quite simple; 
it's the language that makes it sound complex.

I'm realizing this post of mine doesn't necessarily have a point, other 
than to introduce these items as well-- fulcra and pivots. I have little 
use for a directional system that reduces the dance to stepping, and 
neither (I suspect) do most followers.

Keep it coming, list-- I'm enjoying this.

Jake Spatz
DC


Jay Rabe wrote:
> Like you said, Jake, it may not be possible to find such a universal 
> notation. In my own studies, I've defaulted to "leader does this, follower 
> does that."
>
> A couple of points, however:
>
> * I have no problem using the terms "forward" and "backward" to describe 
> step directions. I use them to always refer to the step direction in 
> relation to the person stepping. So if the leader is facing line of dance, 
> then his forward step and the follower's backward step are both in line of 
> dance.
>
> * I try to avoid using the terms left and right as directions. I use left 
> and right to refer to which foot I'm talking about, and there does not seem 
> to be room for ambiguity in that, except for those people who say they have 
> "two left feet". So I might indicate a leader stepping L-side, and while 
> that does mean a step to his left, really the "left" as a direction is 
> redundant information, since the step is fully specified by saying he is 
> stepping with his left foot and moving to the side.
>
> * However when either leader or follower is stepping "outside," I find it 
> useful to say things like, "leader steps r-fwd outside of follower's right." 
> And while I would agree with you if you find such description cumbersome, at 
> least it is not ambiguous.
>
> * I use the terms CW=clockwise and CCW=counter-clockwise to clarify 
> direction of turns. I'd think there would never be any doubt that CW and CCW 
> refer to direction around axis of rotation, while 'right' and 'left' could 
> by convention refer to either leader's or follower's frame of reference.
>
> * I think in terms of there being 6 possible "basic steps" from any given 
> position: front, back, side, in-place, front cross (ocho), back cross (ocho)
>
> * Regarding the 8CB and numbering of the steps: I have heard instructors use 
> the numbers more to refer to the position of the feet than the actual steps 
> needed to get there. So if I am standing with my feet together, and my 
> follower has her left crossed in front of her right, we are in position #5, 
> regardless of what steps we just did to get to this position. Note that with 
> this interpretation, positions 1, 4, and 6 are all substantially identical, 
> as are 2 and 7.
>
>           J
>           www.TangoMoments.com
>
>
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: "Jake Spatz (TangoDC.com)" <spatz at tangoDC.com>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm wondering if anyone out there has found a more useful way to
> describe direction in tango, since "left-right" and "forward-backward"
> easily become confusing when two dancers are facing each other in the
> embrace.
>
> I've heard one teacher use (on occasion) the terms "open-side" and
> "closed-side," to refer to those respective sides of the embrace. Those
> terms, however, are already used to describe the distance between the
> dancers, so they're not that suitable. I've thought of using "hand-side"
> and "body-side," but that takes a moment of calculation, and I'd like
> something better.
>
> I've also tried using the old salida numbers from time to time-- 2 and
> 7, for instance, describe consecutive sidesteps-- but they have a very
> limited application, and only to parallel-system at that. (There being,
> to my knowledge, no cross-system salida.)
>
> Compass points such as North and South don't really work, because each
> partner is tempted to consider themselves facing North. Same goes for
> the clockface system (which is already used for rotation anyway). (The
> compass system may come in handy for describing the couple in relation
> to the room, but that's another matter.)
>
> Ideally, I'd like a set of terms that can explain *to both partners
> simultaneously* what direction everything's going-- relative to the
> couple, but not oriented according to either partner-- during complex or
> asymmetrical movements (e.g., overturned back ochos) as well as in
> simple ones. I've considered using Spanish terms as well as English, but
> that just creates a translation issue and complicates matters for
> bilinguals.
>
> Any suggestions appreciated, unless you're one of the schmucks who was
> in charge of naming quarks.
>
> Jake Spatz
> DC
>
>
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