Tango Life

Perhaps the local dance scene isn't all that you would like it to be? You could complain, you could move towns, you could stop dancing altogether (??!!) or you could progress from being a tango consumer to being a tango scene builder and try to build a better tango world. This doesn't have to be a big commitment or even a big deal. You could help new dancers or visitors to feel welcome, help organizers to clear up after their milongas occasionally...every little bit helps. Perhaps you'd like to do a little more to help things along? Here are some ideas. Support Promotional Events We've been lucky in Welli that the Argentine Embassy has organized lunchtime milongas at the railway station with live music provided by 4XTango. This is a GREAT opportunity to get tango into the public eye. Consider taking a break from dancing at these events to chat to people who stop and watch. They're more potential new friends, right? Encourage New Organisers A fact of life is that ev...

There are more men wanting to follow, these days, and more women leading, so it seems timely to highlight that tall or heavy followers have a lot of leverage over small leaders, leading to smaller leaders experiencing headaches and painful necks and shoulders. The follower needs to have excellent technique so as to be as light as possible but still with a positive connection. The slumping, slouching and heaviness associated with poor technique, in combination with the taller followers' leverage, will only lead to 'morning after' problems and probable visits to their favorite osteopath. So, if you're a taller man or woman and would like to try following one of the Leading Ladies then you need to be aware of this, and do your best to be a light follower by at least trying to reach through the ceiling with the back of your head. For more detailed help on technique then ask a teacher, and if they can't talk about technique then perhaps find a better teacher. Pos...

I originally wrote this a couple of years ago and decided that it needed a refresh, based on a conversation with a newbie a couple of nights ago. New Dancers My new dancer said that two men from her class had gone to their first milonga recently and had been turned down by women because they had asked the ladies rather than using cabeceo. They were new and they were being brave at their first milonga, but they simply didn't know about it. Our local scene is not so large that we can afford to greet new dancers with disdain. More grace on the part of the ladies might have made these newbies feel more welcome and encourage them to come back! Some might say that it's their teachers' responsibility to ensure that they have all the tools necessary for the milonga. However, good manners cost nothing and a kind word could easily help ease new dancers into this new world. Lighting Lighting at milongas is THE critical element for cabeceo and whereas Argentine milongas have ...

Here's a link that I find really interesting from a historical perspective: The dancers are performing demonstrations and include: Carlos "Petroleo" y Alejandra Raúl Bravo y Haydée Antonio Todaro y Tití (his daughter) Pedro Villafañe y Alejandra Kalisay y Tita Oscar y Beatriz Omar Boragno y Marta El Lecherito e Isabel Fame y su compañera Fulto y su compañera Hector Ruso y su Señora Arturito y su Señora Virulazo y Elvira Miguel Balmaceda y su Señora Roberto y Angelica Molina y Teresa Cocco y Mercedes Chamorro y su compañera Coco y Betty Rocha y Delia Pedro y Chola y otros... There are some big names from tango's history, here, and while one can read a great deal on the web about the legends of the past it's difficult to reconcile what one reads with videos such as this and others. Their audiences are very impressed and they appear to be very good for their time. But now? Not so much. Perhaps their dancing away from these performances is much better? It's a rem...

Have you ever wished that more of your kind of music was played at milongas? Maybe you'd like to try being a DJ? Today's DJs tend to be tomorrow's organizers and it's always good to have a number of experienced, confident DJs in a dance scene. As far as gathering music is concerned I regularly check demos on YouTube, not for the dancing but for the music. If I like it I'll check my collection in case I've missed it and then buy it from iTunes. I like to pay for my music and iTunes has mountains of tango music now. The great thing about online music is that you get to sample the first minute for free. I only listen to the first 30 seconds, usually, because I want my dancers to be enthusiastic and if they're not captured in 30 seconds then it's probably not going to happen. You'll be able to spend happy hours sifting through Donato, Pugliese, Canaro, Troilo, Biagi, Rodriguez, Calo, D'Arienzo...there are soooo many great songs! The big thin...

Our teaching phrases change over time as we find better ways to describe the same thing. Here are our current ones with some clarifying text for both leaders and followers. These apply to both close-hold and open-hold. The only difference between the two is that open-hold is much more demanding to dance well, whereas you can stumble around the floor equally in either close or open if you have no idea what you're doing. Here they are: "We don't teach steps, we teach Posture, Connection and Movement." Posture - "Stand up tall, build a bridge"- Build a bridge to your partner with your chest, rolling forward from the ribcage upwards, no more than 1-2 inches/3-4 centimetres. The bridge has to have strong foundations i.e. soft floppy knees won't work. Try changing weight a few times with soggy legs and see if your partner even notices it. Try it again with strong legs. SURPRISE! - "Weight on your heels or mid-foot"- Weight on your hee...

Many nuevo and tango dancers resort to set-piece choreography and hip-turns etc largely because of a fixation on the "woman's role" and "man's role" rather than the simpler concept of leader and follower. This is assisted by the arrival of large numbers of ballet and contemporary dancers in tango over the years, all of whom are very good at expressing musicality when solo but are not accustomed to the tango concepts of lead/follow and one body/ four legs. A popular phrase among well known female teachers and performers is "I believe that the woman's role is 50% of the dance". This is usually translated into the woman leading on occasion, changing weight when she wishes, and suggesting new directions by her movements when she turns. The result is an "after you, after me" approach to dancing where both partners dance slowly while each interprets what the other intends. I believe this has come about because of a misguided applicatio...