[Tango-L] musicality & technique

[Jake Spatz (TangoDC.com)]

Sean,

I agree completely with your axis vs. legs analysis, and I teach that 
content regularly. By "same defect" I was referring more generally back 
to "poor form."

That said: It is not just a semantic dispute to argue that pivots are 
not steps (unless you call every move a "step," which is acceptably 
colloquial but obfuscates analysis). For followers to have enough time 
to pivot effectively, and cleanly, pivots must be treated as both 
musically and technically discrete. Sloppiness is the inevitable result 
of blurring them into the walking components without due attention. They 
get so blurred, in fact, that many a "good" dancer develops the habit of 
crossing her thighs as a shortcut-- stepping diagonally-- instead of 
pivoting her body and stepping straight (I've even heard of teachers who 
advise this). That habit is a BAD habit, and its cause is mud technique. 
Pivots are part of the dance, but not (as far as technique goes) part of 
the walk.

In other words: Simple back ochos have a quick-quick rhythm (if keyed to 
the follower's dance, as they should be), rather than the slow-slow 
rhythm most leaders give them (by keying them to their own, less 
difficult, footwork). Counterpoint & melody are far beyond this first 
concept, but only attainable through it.

I have seen exactly one (1) woman make simple back ochos shine with 
beauty. I saw her from a distance, but it burned into my mind. The 
goodness of form & technique I speak of is how she did it: her moves had 
the simple, crisp, fresh lines of a Botticelli. Little else was 
remarkable by comparison, but those ochos made every other pedicure I've 
seen since then a vain travesty.

Most of us treat these elements in a very legato way, which is fine for 
a lot of music and for many occasions. But legato is only one aesthetic 
attitude; staccato is the other extreme (if you will), and it requires 
greater technical cleanliness & excellence, from both dancers, to work 
effectively on the fly. This latter aesthetic is more machine-like, more 
cubist, more like breakdancing; it is perhaps not in fashion at the 
moment; but that's no reason to neglect it.

Moreover, the result of neglecting it-- of failing to distinguish the 
pivot completely from the walking components-- is plain bad dancing. 
It's muddy and even dangerous. Followers who need to "step" after a 
single boleo, or who go for a front boleo after a back one out of habit, 
are the direct consequence of this customary demotion of the pivot to a 
mere adjustment between walking steps. I'm not saying it's a followers' 
issue exclusively, because leaders must be exact about it too. 
Otherwise, it's impossible to distinguish between a planeo that is 
on-axis (i.e., an amague, frozen, then a pivot) and a planeo that is 
off-axis (i.e., a "colgada" with an extension).

As for the axis & leg collections... they are indeed separate ideas, but 
not necessarily separate in time. I imagine you tried to synchronize 
them in a solo drill, which makes it much trickier. Try with a partner 
in close embrace, and consider that finding-the-axis moment as 
follow-through of the step just done. I believe you'll find it easier to 
match your axis with your free (trailing) leg that way. If this doesn't 
get you there, I'll demonstrate in person whenever we finally end up in 
the same room with a few minutes to dispose of.

=CAVEAT=
I'm sure these topics won't appeal to the recreational or amateur 
dancer, and that's fine. What's not fine is neglecting the more driven, 
more perfectionist souls out there, in an effort to appease the 
implacably lazy Lowest Common Denominator. Art is demanding; and 
exhausting; but those who would be artists often find their vigor 
refreshed when they meet with another's labors, and realize there might 
be a point to giving a damn.

Jake Spatz
DC


Trini y Sean (PATangoS) wrote:
> Sean here:
>    
>   First, to Fan: Some people learn best by watching - visual learners. But this is necessarily a vebal forum, which is best suited to other methods of learning. I have a cupboard full of teaching videos. They are useless to me, I am a verbal-kinesthetic learner. In any event, why are you reading this? It's analytical. 
>    
>   Jake: "Collecting on the half-beat IS good form."
>   -Care to define collecting? Legs, axis, balance, center? This term is used to indicate so many different ideas in tango that it is more or less useless without extensive qualification.
>    
>   Jake: "Nor is 'half-beat' synonymous with 'upbeat,' unless the downbeat is all you care to 'step on.'"
>   -Good point.
>    
>   Jake: "I'd also add (to the discussion of walking analysis) that a pivot ISN'T 'part of a step,' unless you're dancing slop."
>   -Semantics. I think Trini was pretty clear in stating that pivoting is discrete from extending, transferring weight, and closing.
>    
>   Jake: "they don't collect with enough precision (either their legs, or their axis over their support-- it amounts to the same defect)
>   -I disagree with your last point; you are describing two different defects. When I am walking well, I arrive at my axis on the half beat, before I close my trailing leg. It is the final flexion of the trailing foot that brings me to my axis. I just tried to do what you seem to describe – (arrive at my axis and close my legs simultaneously on the half beat.) It may be possible, but I can't do it. I end up trying to pull myself from the weighted foot, or jumping. Either way, I don't get to my axis, and it's ugly. Conclusion: Not arriving at one's axis is a discrete defect that is at best marginally related to closing one's legs. 
>    
>   When I am walking poorly, I can close my legs and achieve balance without ever reaching my axis. This is very common, and I guess what you mean by "I'd venture further and say that plenty of experienced dancers, under examination, in fact have quite poor form". Many, many dancers think they are "collecting" by closing their legs, when in fact, they never reach their axis. Quite a few don't even reach balance.
>    
>   One must arrive at one's axis to pivot well. But there is no need to close the legs. If that was necessary, then the lapis and the planeo would not exist. So not closing the legs may or may not be a defect, but it is not the same as not reaching one's axis.
>    
>   ~Sean
>
>
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