[Tango-L] The dreaded back step

[www.tango-argentino.info]

Hello dear tango dancers, 
I'm one of the teachers who teach his dancers the back step. Also in 
my videos courses I always dance the back step.

Not as the first step of a tango, that step has always to be in the 
direction of the dance or to the side, but during the dance, you have 
to see, to feel where the other dancers are at the dance floor. It 
hasn't to be a big step backwards; normally the step backwards is 
quiet small actually.
I learned the back step of all my meastros: Pepito Avellaneda, 
Antonio Todaro, Rodolfo Dinzel, Lampazo, Copes, Eduardo, etc etc
I think one of the most important things is that we dancers can't 
take the back step out of our dance. That would be terrible, when we 
are walking (caminar) we have 3 possibilities: for-, side-, backward. 

The backwards step for the men (everybody is talking about the 
backward step, it is a FORWARDS step for the woman! so this step is 
very important in the expression of the dance, to dance a backwards 
step is a completely other sensation as a forwards step. I love the 
backwards step, to feel the strength of the women in walking forwards 
to me, years ago I danced in Milonga "Sin Rumbo" with Maria Nieves, 
when see walks a forwards step you can feel the force, the strength, 
the presents of a woman. It was a very important sensation and I 
would never take the backwards step out of my dance, yes we have to 
learn to see, to feel where the other dancers are at the dance floor, 
and I think that´s a job for all teachers: how to dance in a Milonga, 
the rules of the social dance tango. That´s as important as to teach 
figures, improvisation, musicality, etc. etc.


Kindly regards,

Ricardo "El holandés"

http://www.tango-argentino.info