[Tango-L] Why is it so hard to walk?

[Tom Stermitz]

Walking is not at all hard.

The average guy has spent a lifetime walking around the planet without  
falling over. If the guys are having problems walking, I would suggest  
that the teacher has created a situation where the men are unable to  
reference that life-long skill.

In short: have them walk "normal". They already know how to do that!  
The main problem comes when they think they have to do something  
different or special to dance. If you can get them "just  
walking" (heel ball, on the beat), you have solved 90% of the problem.

The rest of the problem comes because they are worried about stepping  
on the followers' feet. You have to make sure the followers are  
getting out of the way, with or without good technique. If they are  
trapping the leaders, the tangle of feet will reinforce the worry  
about stepping on the followers' feet.


Musicality is a different matter from walking, but confident  
musicality is key to confident walking.

Musical walking first means walking on the beat. A normal walk has a  
stride and a tempo close enough to the tango beat, so walking on the  
beat isn't that hard. The typical QQS pattern isn't too hard, so you  
can get walking and rhythm on the first day.

Musicality also means "movement energy corresponding to the phrase of  
the music". I teach walking to the phrase from day one, but I don't  
think many teachers do that. Usually, I see beginners walking around  
the room on the slow beat moving like robots: no commas, no periods,  
no acceleration, no suspension. Coming to a "together" step at the  
commas and periods of the phrasing builds in musical movement.

Back to confident musicality. If it "feels right", i.e. the movements  
correspond to the music, then you get good, confident beginner  
walking. I guess if you had confident musicality, you might also get  
good walking from the advanced dancers.


On Jun 16, 2011, at 3:13 PM, Sharon Pedersen wrote:

> I've been watching some new leaders in our community, and they  
> struggle with
> walking.  Huge steps leading with their legs, or holding themselves  
> in an
> awkward contorted stance and walking with always-bent legs, or  
> taking very
> wide steps when walking forwards, or being unable to coordinate to a
> relatively slow beat and having to hover the foot in the air waiting  
> for the
> beat to catch up before putting it down.  Why is it so hard for  
> people to
> walk?
> ...
> How do you help your beginners to walk reasonably and musically?

Tom Stermitz
c: 303-725-5963
http://www.tango.org
Denver, CO 80207