[Tango-L] A Training Scale

[Lisa Battan]

Hi Ming Mar,

You can tell a horse is focused if he responds instantly to very light cues
or aids.  A really focused horse responds to the changes in the rider's
posture without having the rider having to make a very big movement.  The
most focused horses responds to a rider thinking a change in movement.  The
rider's imagination of the movement causes the rider's posture to shift just
enough that the horse notices it and responds appropriately.

Good connected dancing also has a telepathic quality, but not without some
effort on creating very good basics.

When you ask if I have a list of things I would like people to do, I assume
you mean this to apply to dancing.

Of course I can think of many skills I would like in a good dance partner.
Many of them are the same as the skills in the dressage training scale.  I
want my partner to be musical (rhythmic), relaxed, forward thinking, clear
and energetic in his movements, grounded, connected and dynamic (to name a
few).

We hear a lot about connection in tango, but rarely about the fundamental
skills needed to get there.

Lisa Battan
www.battanlaw.com


Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2011 19:13:33 -0800 (PST)
From: Ming Mar <ming_mar at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] A Training Scale
To: tango-l at MIT.EDU
Message-ID: <783483.40167.qm at web114719.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Lisa Battan writes:
>The skills are rhythm, relaxation (or suppleness), contact
>(which I think many people refer to as connection in
>tango), impulsion (which could be forward movement,
>correct use of the joints and muscles and focusing of the
>mind),

How can you tell if the horse is focusing his mind?

>I think a discussion of basic, fundamental skills and how
>they build upon each other, or inter-relate would be
>interesting.

The skills and abilities a person needs depends upon what
you want that person to do.  Do you have a list of things
you want people to do?

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