[Tango-L] Four Layers of Tango Learning

[dchester@charter.net]

Steve,

Thanks for taking the time to reply to me.  I think I understand what you are refering to.  When discussing tango with my wife, I have been refering to this as either the geomtric or analytical aspect of the dance.  There are lots of way to model things, and your model makes as much sense as anything I've heard thus far, and it appeals to the analytical side of my personality (although I'm a beginner so my thoughts probably don't mean very much).  

For me, the hardest thing about understanding Tango has been the leads.  Most teachers I've encountered (thus far) are good at teaching steps, but not good at communicating how to lead the steps.  I still haven't really figured out if leading is more of a science (technical) or an art (but it seems like there should be a way to explain/teach this without taking a year).  For me that's the biggest problem I have with tango.  

If someone could come up with a model for how to lead, they'd get a lot more men to stick with it.

Regards,

David

---- Stephen.P.Brown at dal.frb.org wrote: 
> David wrote:
> >Would you be so kind as to explain what you mean by "Structure of the 
> Dance"?<
> 
> As no one else is tackling this question, I will try with the hopes that 
> someone will improve upon my comments.
> 
> There are two different chains of dancers/instructors who have developed 
> systems for organizing the possibilities of tango.
> 
> One chain was created in a group of dancers led by Petroleo (Carlos 
> Estevez) and Salvador Sciana.  Mingo Pugliese was one of the youngest 
> members of the group and he is credited for distilling the groups thinking 
> into a systematic approach to tango.  Mingo distilled the innovative 
> concepts developed by Petroleo and Salvador Sciana during the golden age 
> of tango into systems of generalized eight-count right and left turns 
> (giros) that can be used as a frame of reference for all turning steps 
> including giros, molinettes, enrosques and ganchos.
> 
> Another chain was started by Gustavo Naveira and involves people such as 
> Fabian Salas, Chicho Frumboli (and possibly Pablo Veron).  Naveira with 
> contributions from his compratiots developed a systematic way for looking 
> at all the movement possibilities in tango.  Walking is divided into 
> parallel and crossed systems.  Turns are seen as two sets of four-count 
> right and left turns.  Ochos are seen as part of the sytem of turns, 
> boleos are seen as interuptions in turns, back ochos are seen as 
> equivalent with crossed walking. 
> 
> If we think of the dance as being made up of these elements discovered by 
> these dancers/professors, we develop an understanding of the structure of 
> the dance
> 
> I recommend reading Brian Dunn's interview with Gustavo Naveira:
> http://pythia.uoregon.edu/~llynch/Tango-L/2006/msg04984.html
> http://pythia.uoregon.edu/~llynch/Tango-L/2006/msg05040.html
> 
> Some video tapes come to mind for a visual representation--those by 
> Gustavo Naveira and Olga Besio and those by Daniel Trenner.
> See: http://www.tejastango.com/video_resources.html#Structure
> 
> The Pugliese videos might also be helpful, but they are bit less direct 
> that they are teaching from a structural system.
> See http://www.tejastango.com/bridge_tango.html#Pugliese
> 
> With best regards,
> Steve
>