[Tango-L] There are no side steps

[Jay Rabe]

> From: jackdylan007 at yahoo.com
> But, suppose we're walking directly in-line in parallel feet - are the lady's 
> backward steps back crosses or open steps - and which is which and why?

It depends on where the man is stepping. The test is, if the man and woman turn their bodies to fully face each other, keeping feet stationary and only pivoting as needed, do the legs become more crossed or do they 'open' up. For example, if the woman steps straight back with her R, and I step with my right to her right side, she is doing an open step and I am doing a front cross. If I step in the same place with my left, we are both doing open steps. If conversely she again steps back with her R and I step with either foot to her left side, then she is doing a back cross.

This is the system of analysis developed by Naviera/Salas et al that has been labeled Nuevo Tango. It is certainly not the only way of analyzing tango steps. The unqualified statement "there are no side steps in tango" is false in its stated universality. You could say with validity something like, "In the system developed by Naviera, in which all steps are reducable to a step in a giro, there are only three steps, front and back crosses and open steps." In my personal analysis system, I differentiate between side steps and other types of open steps. I really think most dancers do the same. The definition of open steps obviously has utility for analyzing patterns and positions and options, but it's clearly counterintuitive for most people who recognize the difference between stepping "to the side," as in the direction of the line of the hips, vs other types of "open" steps. If you insist on dealing only with front and back crosses and open steps, then the step that most people call a "side step" is simply one type of open step. However clearly not all open steps are side steps, so IMO it's valuable to discuss the properties and use of side steps as a special case of open steps.

    J

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