[Tango-L] Who is teaching toe-first method of walking?

[Gary Barnes]

Hi Igor  and all

Lots of people teach toe-first (actually I would say 'ball first' --  
the only real 'toe first' is en pointe).

In my experience, they are mostly people who trained first in ballet.

Some who teach this, but by no means all, also dance like this. For  
women especially, its very clear that if their heel never touches the  
ground, then the ball of the foot always gets both first contact and  
weight.

Many teachers, despite what they teach, actually dance like most  
people: with the placement of both first contact, and weight, varying  
hugely depending on where they are going and where they have been, in  
a usefully dynamic way.

Excellent dancers have great control over this; the rest of us do as  
we can.  I think its generally a distraction for beginners to even  
think about this stuff.

I used to get annoyed at the discrepancy between what people teach  
and what they do: I am gradually learning to find it entertaining  
instead...

Gary



On 10/07/2007, at 6:34 PM, Igor Polk wrote:

> Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
>
> Can you tell me please,
> Who is teaching toe-first method of  walking? In Argentine Tango.  
> When a toe
> goes first AND the weight is put right on the ball of the foot.  
> ( This AND
> is very important, please understand me ).
>
> Igor Polk
>
>
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