Re: Floor craft (TangoMarty)

[Carlos Lima <amilsolrac @YAHOO.COM>]

Nameless <TANGOMARTY @AOL.COM> wrote
>
In close embrace, I find that my field of vision is blocked to my right,
particularly if my partner is about my height.  Turning to the right to scan
the horizon may itself cuase a bump. It seems the only answer is to go
straight ahead, slowly. Any ideas?
<

I wish that there were more puzzling like this going on at all levels, from
raw beginner up; and that teachers (who can) not only provided answers, but
encouraged the puzzling.

The question can be answered at various levels. First, yes, there are the
simple solutions of going forward with the flow (oh, how I wish it existed,
at least half the time!), and even stopping, or rotating the couple in place
--- if nothing else seems feasible at the moment. This unfortunately often
ends up in interminable grid lock, because too many men do not know the
responsibility of keeping the dance lanes un-clogged and moving smoothly.

(My guide line for average rate of progress is about half the normal tango
walk speed, give or take a bit; this allows the co-existence of diverse
personal styles around a reasonable mix of progressive and non-progressive
moves. Those who want to "express themselves" through GREAT stillness,
octopus or washing-machine tango, etc, should ensure that they are not
holding up the whole floor. Go to the center, do not leave half-lanes on both
sides, do not drift about, BE REASONABLE!)

Second, you can "spiral" reverse, i.e., counter clockwise. There are many
ways of turning reverse in a way that develops (a little) into the visible
space toward the center of the floor. After half a turn (or more) possibly
combined with (forward, backward or both) progress DOWN the direction of
dance, you know what the situation is, so you may be able to veer outwards a
little, or a lot, thus "changing lane" a little, or a lot. You can do this
moving forward (WITH THE FLOW, of course), in which case you need to secure
room on your right hand side ahead of time, and move into it straight away;
or moving backward (ALSO WITH THE FLOW, of course), in which case you need to
secure space down-stream, behind and to your left, and move into it straight
away. (But see #1 below.)

Third, you are right that most natural (i.e., clockwise) turns and changes of
front that people are taught develop outward, and risk turning into what to
my mind is one of the most unforgivable kinds of aggression. (I will let you
figure out all the reasons why this is a really nasty thing to do, never mind
that it is also one of the most common.) But there is also any number of ways
to turn the couple natural (i.e., clockwise) pretty much in-lane, or
developing a little inwards. Then, we are back to the same.

Fourth, and this is THE REAL ANSWER for non-beginners, if you develop a
"spiraling" style, moving pretty much in-lane, DOWN THE DIRECTION OF DANCE,
at all times, "changing lane" always gradually, turning and changing front
both natural and reverse frequently, without drifting about; and if the men
around you are not being too wild (BIG IF), then you know pretty much what is
going on around you. Theoretically you do not need to find yourself in the
situation of not knowing if you have or have not got space to  move in a
particular way, and having to do something re-actively in order to find out.

Now this TRUE answer is easier said than done. It cannot be expected from a
new dancer before several, to many, months of study. What is a raw novice man
to do? First, stick to relatively un-crowded venues, as civilized as can be
found; walk forward with the flow a lot of the time --- walking beautifully
with the music, using pauses and rhythm steps, can produce GREAT tango; if
anything extra he leads, say, a mere forward ocho, leaves him cantered, and
he does not see how to curve back into the flow, he can use cunitas (back and
forth rock steps) to turn the couple in place until he is re-oriented to
facing down-stream; leave plenty of room (but see #2 below) between him and
the couple ahead; be always ready to stop or do more cunitas. Eventually he
will want to get rid of all these lame cunitas, but starting without them is
like starting a kid on bike riding without training wheels: somebody may get
hurt.

I am not going to try to even give examples of nice moves of the kind
referred to throughout this posting. Well, I will stop at cunitas, and no
dancer of any level should be without them. For the rest we need teachers,
right? A great many of them do not teach no elegant and civilized "spiraling"
walk conforming pretty strictly to the ronda. No. Many teach cockamamie
five-pointed star patterns combined with slinky toy shaped compound spirals
developing over a circle 4 meters in diameter, or wider, or as wide as the
dance track will allow, making sure that the "sequences" contain at least 50%
of steps taken across the direction of dance (both outwards and inwards) and
an additional 10% of steps AGAINST the direction of dance. (And let us not
forget to throw in some static tango contests too.) In fact, there are
teachers who will regularly DEMONSTRATE these patterns on the floor of
crowded (really?) milongas. (I am being facetious of course; such teachers
simply IGNORE the direction of dance, why, what is THAT!)

However, if students tell them that they want to be tango ladies and
gentlemen, not tango terrorists; if they insist that whatever teachers teach
as elements of the dance, or as examples of the dance, MUST conform
naturally, and strictly, to the direction of dance; then nearly all of them
will be able to help, it is no brain surgery.

A few are at the following level: navigation, oh, that is easy, men, never
take more than one (not too large) step back at a time, and if you do,
preferably look first and, if you step on anyone, make sure you apologize;
oh, and kind of circulate counter clockwise, you know; and stay "in the line
of dance", you know, it is that kind of procession, dancer after dancer, you
know, make sure you know your place in it, do not get out of the "line of
dance", do not dance "in the middle of the room", we have plans to plant a
garden there, and want you pre-trained not to go and step on the flower beds;
oh, and do not get too close to people ahead of you in the aforementioned
"line of dance" particularly if they seem to be spinning out of control ---
no, stop, or go some other way instead, for instance, to the right, boom, to
the left, boom ... or even back, ouch, but not more than one step at a time
OK? And now say, I am sorry.

If you find one of these, change teachers. (Yeah, I know.) Others will do OK
with a little help. OK, tango samples must conform to the direction, or line,
of dance. But what is the line of dance? Carlos says: I do not know what
*THE* line of dance is, but *A* line of dance is a path counter clockwise
around the room, roughly parallel (all along) to the nearest wall or other
floor boundary. One such is the outermost lane, alongside the floor boundary
all around. If for any reason one is not on that line of dance, one should be
on some other (inner) line of dance, unless there is a tango apparel fair
going on that takes up most of the floor.

If you did not know before, now you know why floors are full of dancers who
move wildly in all imaginable directions (unless they are "expressing
themselves" in one spot, as they hold up everybody else), then seem to stop
momentarily with their backs to you; and as you think they will finally start
moving along, they take that ONE allowable blind back step. They are putting
in practice the navigation principles and techniques that they were taught.

Remarks

(#1) This is the theory. Now the practice. One of the most common reasons to
find oneself wandering like TangoMarty is as follows. One is on the outer
lane, and the guy ahead decides to stop and do some "expressive figures".
After 15 seconds he is still blocking you, and the tango tangoes on towards
its end. Before another 15 seconds you see a chance to go around him and get
to all that free space that he is creating. The moment you are just a bit
ahead and ready to move to the outside lane again, you sense him moving sort
of alongside, like a bear stalking you. You turn to look. He has just found
out himself all this space that no one is using. He is now racing you at top
speed, to make sure you do not get there first. Besides he may feel more than
a little righteous about this. Were you not "behind" him just a moment ago?!!
What are you doing trying to overtake him?!! The exact motoring equivalent of
this can be experienced in some neighborhoods in the city of New York.

(#2) The old motoring joke applies to tango too. At 70 Km/hr you should leave
space for at least eight autos between yours and the one you are following.
If you try that you will find that the space will be occupied by eight autos.
The difference is that, on the road, others will pass you and sneak ahead;
whereas in tango the couple ahead may also move up towards you. No reason for
nightmares, this does not happen on the road.



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