[Tango-L] demo advice needed

[David Hodgson]

Hi Trini;
I have a couple of thoughts.

To the first question:
The lead comes in stage left and the follow stage right. They don't embrace
till the music starts, and the Follow is primarily to the audience side. The
performance piece is usually more linear because of the shape of the stage,
give space between the audience and performers and the performers do not
give recognition to the audience. 
If the performers are not used to improve, simply walking a lot with a few
choreographed moves work good, that are marked out at particular intervals.
Also what is really good is if the performers bring in some aspect of them
selves, a theme they are interested in or already know about. Unless some
one is really good at faking, it does not go very far.
I am also a fan of doing some thing that most of the audience could say to
them selves "Hey I could do that, but I would do it this way".

For the second question: Unless the audience is about 5-6 rows back every
one in the audience will see at least some part of the performance. Giving
space between the audience and performers helps. If your going to include
some kind of high foot and leg work (I think less is more) so do that type
of move a few times and in different spots on the stage.

As a side thought: Don’t take the performance personally, expect accolades
or that every single person will like a piece. Is something happens like
getting out of sync or a trip, do not apologize to the audience and keep
going. It was part of the experience the performers had (deal with it) and
it was part of the performance for the audience.
Do it because it is fun and show off some. Seduction works best when it
becomes a question and when it is an accent.

Hope that helps.
David

 


-----Original Message-----
From: tango-l-bounces at mit.edu [mailto:tango-l-bounces at mit.edu] On Behalf Of
Trini y Sean (PATangoS)
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 12:35 PM
To: Tango-L
Subject: [Tango-L] demo advice needed

Hola everyone!

If you’re an anti-performance person, please hit your
delete key.

So I'm wondering if folks might have some tips regarding
demos or performances.  Our community has gotten a bunch of
demo requests lately, particularly among the college
students for their universities or college talent shows. 
There are a couple of things that pop up for which we're
looking for advice.

1. Any tips for handling a demo when the audience is on
only 1 side of you, such as on a stage, so that the
visually interesting stuff is presented to the audience
instead of the back wall?  The obvious answer is to
practice, but I'm wondering if there are any tricks to help
with positioning since folks don’t always know in advance
where the audience is and practice time can be limited.

2.  In cases where the audience is sitting down and the
demo occurs at floor level, it seems that the only ones who
get to see the demo is the front row.  Those in the back
would miss the footwork.  So the only solution to keep them
involved is to either open the embrace or do higher leg
work.  Any other ideas?

Thanks,
Trini de Pittsburgh


PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
  Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh’s most popular social
dance!
  http://patangos.home.comcast.net/
   



 
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