[Tango-L] Tango is not a pose

[Chris, UK]

Ron wrote:

> One of the greatest deficiencies in tango dancing I see in the US is
> that most dancers are always in a hurry.

Same in the UK, though much less so in continental Europe.

> A lot of this is the consequence of thinking of tango as a sequence of
> steps rather than as a connection to partner and music.

A lot of it is the consequence of having been taught to execute sequences 
in lock-step with the beat i.e. one beat == one step.

This is what happens in almost all the beginners' group lessons I see 
hereabouts. One of the instructors told me she considered it an essential 
'framework' for the sequence, and she had to tell them to step on every 
beat otherwise "they wouldn't know when to step at all".

Urk. By starting off assuming people can't dance to the music, this soon 
/ensures/ they can't dance to the music. Iatrogenic or what???

I saw Gavito give a lesson to a group of averagely handicapped class 
victims and a few of their teachers, as follows. He asked everyone to 
dance an 8-beat sequence (starting any time you like) comprising:

 Step, pause, pause, Step, pause, pause, pause, pause

Then he asked for

 Step, pause, pause, pause, pause, Step, pause, pause

A very clever remedy! ;)

Chris