[Tango-L] Heel-first versus Toe-first, teaching history

[WHITE 95 R]

>From: Keith <keith at tangohk.com>
>
>Tom, Manuel and other heel-walkers,

Hi Keith, first of all you should watch me dance before calling me a "heel 
walker" ;-)... Secondly, what I was talking about and what I understood Tom 
to say is that focusing on *fine* points of technique such as "toe 
first"walking can be a huge obstacle to a beginner dancer. A lot of folks 
have horrible posture and their walking or standing "normally" is terrible. 
They must be taught how to walk and move through space before they can begin 
to dance. If you tell them perfectly reasonable and correct points of 
technique, they'll likely focus on it and forget everything else. In their 
effort to achieve that point of technique they might end up twisted up like 
pretzels.

I won't argue that technique is unimportant. On the contrary, as many 
already said, the walking is most important. And proper technique is most 
desirable for good dancing. OTOH, there are opposing opinions about the "toe 
first" and "heel first" methods. I've had some very well respected 
(Argentineans of high reputation) teachers and dancers tell me unequivocally 
to land "heel first". I've also been taught by other equally well known 
Argentinean tango teachers to step "toe first". I've learned that they are 
both correct depending on how one dances, what style one uses, the 
conditions of the milonga, etc.

Cheers,

Manuel

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