[Tango-L] Lots of questions

[Michael]

A lot of good questions. I don't know that I have a lot of good answers. I'm 
not going to respond question question.

When I took yoga, I learned that every person has a mind, body, and soul. 
Sometimes they are in sync with each other and sometimes they aren't.

When I started learning tango, I used mostly my mind and it looked like 
others did the same. We tried to mimic the instructor. When I moved onto 
private lessons, I was better able to focus and understand. My teacher, Joe, 
said "It's not the WHAT that is important, but the HOW." Many times I'd 
analyze what I was doing. After a long while, I developed technique and 
didn't have to think so much of execution.. But then, the body took over and 
I focused on how something felt. I could feel that a figure didn't work 
because somebody was in the wrong place or on the wrong foot. I had to use 
the brain to figure out what went wrong. Instead of knowing when something 
was wrong, I moved on to feeling when something was wrong. My body told me 
about quality of movement, e.g. did I complete my pivots? My body told me 
how the woman was following though not if I was misleading or the woman not 
following.

I'm not sure anybody can be taught connection. However, people can be taught 
to relax, which is the key to connection. I went to yoga for 3 years where 
the yoga therapist squeezed the tension out of me like toothpaste out of the 
tube. I didn't realize how stiff I was and that I was gripping the woman, 
not embracing her.
To me, connection is like batteries in a flashlight. Either there is 
connection and the light comes on because the batteries are facing the 
correct direction or the light doesn't come on because a battery is facing 
the wrong direction.

How do you know when you have good connection? HMMM. That's like asking 
"when do you know you're in love?" Only the body and soul can answer that 
question. I have the best connection when my partner is relaxed with a firm, 
but soft frame. There's no pulling or pushing. We move to the music without 
rushing. When I lead a stepover, I feel when she's finished her pivot with 
or without an adornment. On rare occasions, I've felt my heartbeat or her 
heartbeat.

Questions about learning apply to the mind. I'm not sure how to train the 
body for connection. Connection to music? All I can suggest is to put on 
music and walk in the privacy of your house, thinking only of your 
movements. Your body will let you know if you're in sync with the music.

Michael
I danced Argentine Tango - - with the Argentines