[TANGO-L] Why teachers use the (D)8CB(WBS)

[JC Dill <tango @VO.CNCHOST.COM>]

Tom Stermitz wrote:

> 8CB
>
> The 8CB has 8 counts for the obvious reason that stage dancers want a
> structure to express the phrasing of the music (in addition to
> planning their figures). It is somewhat odd to me that step "1" of
> the basic is usually a back step, because the most dramatic step in
> Tango is normally the one to the left, out into the dance...that's
> why they call it the SALIDA.  Likewise, the resolution seems to me
> something final, at the end of the dance, not just at every phrase
> ending.
>
> But then, I'm a social dancer. Maybe one of the stage dancers can
> explain why step "1" of the 8CB is backwards...do you really wish to
> express a BIG dramatic energy going backwards on the strong beat of a
> phrase?

I am not a stage dancer, but I have a theory on why this figure has
developed into the "basic" figure used by many teachers when teaching
beginner social AT dancers.

The first two steps of the (Dreaded) 8 Count Basic (With Back Step)
enable the beginning leader to get into synch with the follower, and the
follower to get into synch with the leader, before they start moving off
down the floor into the dance.  For the leader, one of the most
effective steps he can lead to ensure that he and the follower are
moving together is for the leader to step back and to lead the follower
to step forward in unison with him.  Another effective step is to lead
her to step to the side, but not just *any* side step, one to the
*leader's left*.  Both of these are powerful connection steps because
the leader is able to bring the follower "with him", using the
connection created by his right arm on the follower's back, which is the
strongest connection point the beginning leader has.

Steps to the right, and steps to the follower's back are MUCH harder for
the beginner to successfully lead in unison, in partnership.  That is
because these steps require more out of *both* partners, the follower
must also have a good connection with the leader.  So the beginner
leader needs a really good connection with his (typically also beginner
follower) to lead those steps successfully.  IMHO, the beginner leader
is much more likely to achieve and keep that connection with his partner
if he has already had two "easy" steps for them to get in synch with.

Thus develops the (D)8CB(WBS).  It IS a very useful teaching tool and
drill that allows beginners to be successful with the first few steps of
AT.  The part that makes it so dreaded is that the teachers who utilize
this teaching tool don't do a good job of explaining to their students
that it is JUST a teaching tool, and not "the basic step of AT".  So the
beginning students learn that when you do the 8CB you are dancing AT,
and they do.  Over and over.

IMHO.

BTW, this same phenonema has occured with Night Club Two Step (NC2S).
The basic step of this dance is quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow;
the quick steps are rock steps in place (breaking away from each other,
then stepping back toward each other), the slow step is to the side.
NC2S was created by Buddy Schwimmer in the 1960s.  As Buddy created and
danced it, the dance starts with the rock step.  When this dance had a
resurgence in the early 1990s, most teachers taught it the way Buddy
danced it, starting with the rock step.  Today most teachers teach the
dance to start with a side step instead.  (As a result, the dance fits
very differently to the music!)

The reason?  IMHO, the reason is that it is much easier to learn it this
way, and that is because it is much easier for the beginner leader to
get the couple dancing to the music successfully if they start with a
slow step to the side rather than the quick rock-steps away from each other.

The beginning leader will more easily be successful when using his right
arm on the follower's back to guide the a beginning follower to take a
slow step to her right side (his left side), and has 2 counts of music
to actually achieve this and for them be together for the "quick, quick"
rock step to follow.  It is much harder for a beginning leader to
successfully lead a beginning follower to follow a left hand push back
lead (as the right hand allows space for the follower to step back) to
*quickly* step back (the rock step), while the leader is himself also
stepping back (and remembering to release that right arm away from
himself!), and for them to do it both in synch, step quickly, and stay
in synch as they then do the slow step to the side that follows.

All of this is made even more difficult when you consider that the
beginning follower often has a poor frame (aka "rubber arms"), and will
tend to collapse her frame when being led to step back into the quick
rock step.  Because she collapses, she doesn't feel the lead right away,
and when she follows she will be late, perhaps even a whole beat late.
OTOH, no matter how good or poor her frame, she WILL feel and follow the
leader's arm on her left side guiding her to take a step to her right
(the slow side step), and have 2 beats of music to follow and start
dancing in synch with the leader.  So, clearly the slow step has a much
better chance of being successfully led as the first step in the dance.

Good teachers start their students off with steps and figures that help
the student be successful.  The slow side step in NC2S and the back step
in AT's (D)8CB are both steps (as tools) that many teachers use to
successfully get their students dancing.

jc

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