[Tango-L] Steps for close embrace in close quarters

[Ed Doyle]

Hi Jay,

Very well said.  What you have written below is pretty much all I ever do,
crowded or not crowded.  I hope followers enjoy it, I do. Of course, doing
these things 'to the music' is most important.  I sometimes think when doing
more fancy ganchos and boleos and more complex patterns, some of us use so
much concentration on  getting the footwork and steps right, that we don't
have enough mental capacity left to 'listen' to the music and dance for/with
our partners.  I know I have been guilty of this, and of course that is very
bad.  So, I vote for 'doing what you do' well, and keep the fancy stuff for
practicas until it is really ingrained in muscle memory and can be called
upon without thinking, be improvisational, and of course 'only' if
pleasurable for the follower.

my two cents

Ed Doyle

PS - Those of you that CAN do more, SHOULD.  I am just cautioning that those
of us that do not do the fancy stuff WELL, should not keep 'practicing' it
at the milonga.  Practice off line.

On Dec 18, 2007 12:37 AM, Jay Rabe <jayrabe at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Ok, what the heck. I'll jump in.
>
> Steps/sequences for a beginner to do in close embrace on crowded
> dancefloors:
>
> First, the standby, walk. Just walk, with pauses and timing of step
> placement playing with the music to keep your partner interested.
> Second, walk in cross-foot, with the follower doing ochos, without much
> rotation if it's very crowded, continuing to progress in LOD.
> Third, the venerable ocho cortado. Keeps you in LOD, and if the floor is
> very crowded, you do it with rotation to lead her forward ocho (instead of
> you stepping back in LOD to receive her forward ocho). Lots of variations on
> the ocho cortado to give variety.
> Next would be simple turns, like rock-step 1/4 turns, lets you keep an eye
> on traffic behind you.
> Next, though a bit more difficult for a beginner would be tight molinetes,
> a 3-step sequence starting from a back ocho. This will put you facing the
> wrong way, so then you have to do some kind of turn to bring you back into
> LOD.
>
> You can dance all night on a crowded floor with nothing more than that if
> you want.
>
>         J
>       TangoMoments.com
>
>
>
> > From: Victor_Bennetts at infosys.com
> > To: Tango-L at mit.edu
> > Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:37:20 +1100
> > Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Close embrace question vs boleos question
> >
> >
> > I think the difference in numbers of posts is perfectly understandable.
> This is a natural result of the relative difficulty of answering the
> questions. Defining boleos and contra boleos is relatively easy. Actually
> doing them well is considerably more difficult. It's a bit like cricket.
> There are plenty of people who can provide definitions and demonstrations of
> a square cut or a cover drive without actually being able to make any runs.
> The only way to improve your batting is to watch how others do it then spend
> hours in the nets taking deliveries from your little brother ;-).
> >
> > The 'sequences to improve close embrace dancing' question is, in my
> opinion, a much more worthwhile one, but also by its nature so much more
> difficult to answer. For a start, it assumes you can improve your dancing by
> learning sequences then that there are some that are more suited to close
> embrace. Personally, I think doing exercises is more important than learning
> sequences. Next in importance is lots of challenging social dancing with
> sequences a distant third in importance. Sequences and steps are only good
> if you have a really good teacher correcting what you are doing and pointing
> out all the other variations and possibilities otherwise they will just be a
> vehicle for entrenching bad habits, whether in close or open embrace.
> >
> > Victor Bennetts
> >
> > Steve>On Thursday the 13th Mario requested tips on
> >   "Close embrace in close quarters".
> >   I have yet to see a sinlge response.
> >   Meanwhile, there have been more than 20 responses in the
> >   "Boleo & Contra-boleo" thread.
> >   I guess this speaks volumes about the interests of our
> >   on line community.
> >
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