[Tango-L] Tango is a dance of collections or pivots

[Tom Stermitz]

On Jan 21, 2008, at 12:56 PM, Tango For Her wrote:

> I say that tango is a dance of collections or pivots
> rather than a walking dance.  I say this to change to
> focus of the dance to where the real tango takes
> place.

I disagree that this technical explanation gets at the "real tango".  
Music and feel are more important than technique. You can do a  
spectacular "real" tango by dropping one or any number of these  
technical elements.

> I use the term pivot to indicate the point in a step
> where the feet are collected.

You are describing a staccato form of pivoting.

This is a perfect example of repeating what teachers SAY instead of  
looking at what they ACTUALLY DO.

Normally, when walking or doing ochos, you want to "pass-by-close" or  
"pass-by-while-pivoting" or "pass-by-then-pivot" or "pivot-then-pass- 
by", not "snap to the collect, pivot, & snap to the reach". The  
default movement for walking or ochos should be a flowing, not a  
staccato. Staccato is an interesting decoration, but flowing is a  
better foundation for walking and ochos. Women who have been taught  
the staccato "collect-pivot-reach" have a hard time doing the flowing  
"pass-by-while-pivoting" motion. It disables boleos, which are more  
commonly accomplished with flowing motions, rather than staccato ones.

Even the word itself "COLLECT" causes a lot of problems by making  
women (men also) think they need to snap to the middle of each step.  
The sultry quality of movement is better evoked using the words: "PASS  
BY CLOSE".

And if you look at the actual dancers, from nuevo to milonguero, you  
see that 95% of the time they are passing by close, not "collecting".


Tom Stermitz
http://www.tango.org
2525 Birch St
Denver, CO 80207