[Tango-L] Toe First or Heel First?

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

Yes, I agree completely with you, Martin.  I find that not
using the knee is the most common fault of people who try
to learn toe-first.  And there's more than just the knee. 
There's also the lowering of the hip, which is discussed in
Steve's articles as pelvic tilt (great articles, Steve!). 
If you actually just took a look at your foot, you'll
realize that walking heel first requires you to drop the
hip.  Walking toe-first doesn't.  So if one is to discuss
the heel/toe, it's best to take into consideration the
entire lower body, at least.

I also agree with Steve's comments about to the need to get
to just a good natural walk.  Whatever walk you have in
real life is the walk you'll bring into tango.  So if you
want your tango to improve, learn how to walk in real life.
 Start taking Alexander Technique.

As far as heel/toe goes, I find that people need to work
more on things like using the whole foot (not flat foot),
pronation vs. supination, freeing their leg from their
pelvis, connecting the leg with the torso, allowing the
rotation of the femur (upper thigh), seating their bones on
top of each other, and relaxing the back to allow for
contrabody, just to get an efficient walk.   

Something that an Argentine instructor pointed out to us on
a visit is how much Americans drive, whereas portenos walk.
 I think the biggest walkers in the States are undergrad
college students living away from their parents and who
don't have a car.  I remember being at a party once and
some students were planning on walking home (about 30-40
minutes) at 3am.  We kept offering them a ride which would
have gotten them home in 5 minutes, but they didn't want to
trouble us because we lived in the opposite direction.  How
many on this list would refuse a ride at 3am?

Keith:
Here, the interest is in building a community first, so
having people learn heel-first is often much more freeing
at first than learning toe-first.  Wouldn't you agree that
learning lead/follow is much more important?  Learning
toe-first usually comes later.

Floyd:
I've heard of learning toe-first helps protect the woman's
feet.  To me, though, the man should really learn to listen
more where she places her feet to avoid hitting her feet. 
I'd rather have a man who listens more than a man who
worries about his foot.  Also, if tango is unstructured as
you proposed, then it would actually be contact improv.

Happy tangos,
Trini de Pittsburgh


--- Martin Waxman <martin at waxman.net> wrote:

> I just finished working on the chicken and egg thing.
> Eggs came first -- I found they use chickens to make more
> eggs.
> 
> Oh, boy!
> It's knee first.
> I reference the Gloria & Eduardo 3 VHS tape set Aprenda a
> Bailar el 
> Tango Argentino in Spanish (Castellano).
> In volume 1, the leg/foot movement instructions are
> clearly stated 
> and demonstrated -- rodilla, punta, taco (lead with your
> knee, then 
> point your toe, and then put your heel down on the
> floor).
> 
> It's my Tango.  I'll do whichever I want, including the
> in between -- 
> coming down flatfooted.
> 
> Settled.
> 
> M
> 
> At 02:17 PM 3/27/2008, David wrote:
> >Martin,
> >
> >Thanks for clearing that up.  Now could you tell us, is
> it Toe First 
> >or Heel First?
> >
> >David


PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
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