[Tango-L] Important vocabulary

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

Thought I'd introduce a different topic.  A newer tanguera who moved here recently from a different city commented on how ganchos were taught to beginners in her old city and how that they were hardly ever done in Pittsburgh.  Guess I was naive in thinking that most teachers all over the country had passed that 90's fantasia stage.  I've got nothing against ganchos (they can be fun), but I'm pleased that local tangueros have put them in a proper perspective.

It strikes me that teachers should be emphasizing the core vocabulary of tango, which are:

walks,
ochos,
giros,
boleos,
and sacadas

for a dancer at an intermediate level.   Creating contra-giros using just those vocabulary are also useful and quite fun.  Ganchos really don't lend themselves all that well for creating combinations, compared to boleos.  It can also be challenging in itself to figure out how to transition from one turn to another.  I suspect that if teachers challenged their students to figure out combinations and develop phrases, the students will be less interested in learning neuvo fantasia before they are ready to.

Developing long phrases is one of the things I've been teaching to get students to plan ahead and to think about transitions.  It seems to be working.

Trini de Pittsburgh