[Tango-L] Not Dancing with the music

[Michael]

The Argentines are content with knowing seven or eight figures which are
used over and over again. It's the North Americans who aren't content with a
"limited vocabulary." I remember when ganchos were in vogue, followed by
valcaldas and colgaldas. Connection isn't taught but how to do figures that
take up a lot of space on the dance floor.

 

Walking the tango presumes you know how to walk well. "When a man walks
beautifully, the woman wants to die in his arms. When a man walks terribly,
the woman wants to die."

 

When I sit out a tanda, I love to watch women's faces as they pass me. Very
few have a look of bliss. Some have a look that says "Please. Shoot me and
put me out of my misery." Others have a look that says "Please. Shoot him
and put me out of my misery.

 

Michael

Came home to New York where the Argentine Tango is better

 

 

-----Original Message-----



There is dancing on the beat, which may suffice for most European and
American ballroom dances. I'm not sure if Ming Mar was referring to stepping
on the beat or dancing to the phrases.

 

It is my belief that beginners should be first taught to walk the tango.
After they can walk, lead, and follow in time to the music, they should be
introduced to this idea: *listen to the music the entire time you are
dancing.* 

When I watch a dance floor, I see some people doing steps to the music. For
me, it is tango when couples are dancing with the music, immersed in the
dynamic flow of feeling that is so characteristic of tango. This is why it
is also important to listen to tango as music. Sit and listen and get to
know and develop a feeling for the tangos you dance to.

 

I think the Argentine emphasis on the feeling in the music and dance sets
tango apart from the Northern hemispheric approach to social dancing.

 

Jonathan Thornton