[Tango-L] Dancing for an audience

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

Hi Manuel,

Interesting that you should bring that up.  A couple of
things have popped up this last couple of weeks that has me
wondering if I should focus a little more on how things
look (elegance) and when to work that into the curriculum. 


One event was realizing how poorly most people look in
snapshots of them actually tangoing.  In contrast, we saw
pictures of one couple (Richard Council and Colette Hebert)
as they were dancing and their lines and feet looked great
no matter what they were doing. 

Another event was some workshops with Melina & Detlef of
Germany.  Here again we focused a bit on how the feet and
legs looked in executing basic movements more elegantly. 
How something as simple as turning out the femur slightly
allows the man to move forward outside/inside partner
without taking an open step.  And it felt completely
organic.

I think the emphasis on dancing how tango feels is part of
a backlash against the early methods of teaching tango
through choreography, which included walking toe-first and
a "forced" elegance.  I remember it as being stylized and
not particularly comfortable.  With Melina & Detlef, it
felt like a natural extension of proper bodywork.  Folks
here really appreciated this type of study.  (BTW, Melina &
Detlef will be in NYC and Philly over the next couple of
weeks.)

I'm think I'm coming full circle back to appreciating salon
tango again.  Osvaldo and Miguel still amaze me.

Trini de Pittsburgh



--- WHITE 95 R <white95r at hotmail.com> wrote:

> The interesting thing is that many people here in the
states emphasize the "dance for yourself and not for the
audience", which of course is true. However, it's good to
remember that
> people watch and make judgments about other's skill and
dance ability. No matter what, it seems that you are always
dancing for the "audience"............


PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society 
Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh's most popular social dance. 
http://patangos.home.comcast.net/ 



       
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