[Tango-L] Leading the cross/teaching tango

[WHITE 95 R]

> From: donnay at donnay.net
> To: Tango-L at mit.edu
> Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 08:22:08 -0500
> Subject: [Tango-L] Leading the cross/teaching tango
> 
> I think the confusion comes from our tendency toward "hero worship" - some 
> teacher said it so it must be true and we can't give it up even faced with a 
> preponderance of facts. 

How true! this happens much too often, specially with beginner dancers. However, after one's been exposed to a variety of teachers and has had some years of experience dancing, etc. One can begin to discern what's true and useful for each one of us in particular and to people in general.

> I caution students to remember that in group lessons 
> teachers talk to the group, not to the individual. Maybe the class contained 
> lots of beginners, who were unlikely to continue tango past that evening's 
> dance, so an automatic cross was called for. Or the teacher had been dancing 
> so long he didn't know he was leading the cross.  

I agree, the teacher(s) teach to the group and sometimes that causes confusion to individuals. I think that in the case of a class full of beginners who are unlikely to continue with tango, it's fine to use whatever expediency one thinks is appropriate. It might be a simple sequence or simple rhythmic walking, etc. It has to fit the occasion.

> Also, things can be 
> misconstrued, especially when you are dealing with someone not communicating 
> in their primary language. I think it is always wise to employ a filter. 

Unless the teachers native language is something other than English or Spanish, this is not he case in my experience. The communications problems are the same ones that happen between people who speak the same language.

> When I assist Argentines in teaching, they will often say something, yet 
> lead something quite differently. For instance, in a class I was assisting 
> in Buenos Aires, a teacher said "You must lift your partner in the embrace". 
> Feeling it with the teacher, the "lift" was almost imperceptable, and done 
> with the torso. Dancing with the students, I was almost picked up, and 
> squeezed uncomfortably. But they couldn't let go of what they had heard him 
> say.

That might have been a case of miscommunication, but I don't think it was due to a language difference. I've heard and used those very same words to describe things like the calesita or any number of leads which require the woman to stop. Obviously, the lift is almost imperceptible. Perhaps the teacher should have said as much, but I rather doubt that it would have made much difference with the student who almost picked you up...


> I seem to remember Fabian Salas saying that a big part of Tango Nuevo was 
> breaking the roles of the giro - maybe leading a back-side-back. Automatic 
> doesn't fit that concept very well.
 
Somehow this discussion has veered off a little bit. Perhaps it's the use of the word "automatic" to describe the the front cross.... There is nothing automatic about it. It is definitely a led step. The crux of the argument might be not about whether it's led or not but rather  *how* it is led. As for Fabian's teaching and other movements or steps, to me those are the famous "alterations" or deviations from the "code". For what it's worth, Gustavo was not the first teacher I remember who discussed the "code" of the tango. I can't remember the first teacher to couch the leading to the cross in those terms, but it was many years ago. I'd say that at least 99% of the Argentine teachers I've taken classes with have taught that the cross is done on the 5th step of the 8CB. Some of them explained it with the "code" and some did not, but all of them taught that sequence. Granted, some had certain "techniques" they taught to "lead" the cross but to my brain and my body, the *code* explanation works best.

One interesting thing I've observed is that in general, if a woman knows how to dance tango, she will invariably do a front cross after the open step if the previous step was a back cross. To obtain another step, it's necessary to actually impede the front cross and lead something else in it's place. Often, to lead something other than the expected front or back cross (or open step), it's necessary for the leader and follower to change positions, however slightly or imperceptibly, so that their relative positions have changed and the woman is no longer doing the giro around the man.


Regards,

Manuel