Re: [TANGO-L] Tango Dialects

[Carlos Rojas <Crojas @HACIENDACDC.ORG>]

Manuel wrote:
"man and the woman would dance in front of each other but travelled sideways
to the man's left"

Manuel and Daniel are correct, finally outside Argentina we are
understanding how the tango dynamic works.  If you dance as described by
Manuel, then you are leading the follower in a molinete to the left; the
follower has no choice but to cross, regardless if it's lead or not.
Remember that what we called the "cross" in the so called "basic", is
nothing less or nothing more than a front cross in a left molinete.

Just to add some leader etiquete, the man's back is towards the center of
the dance floor and the woman's towards the tables.  This serves a few
purposes:
- 1st. Allows the leader to protect the woman from being stepped on.
- 2nd. It travels in the line of dancing and allows the man to navigate
better.
- 3rd. Allows the woman to show her dance skills and beauty (since she is in
front).

Remember, tango is about her.

Also, if you have problems dancing milonga, try dancing it to the left as
describe by Manuel, it makes it a lot easier.


Carlos Rojas
Portland, OR


-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango
[mailto:TANGO-L   @MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of WHITE 95 R
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2005 5:43 PM
To: TANGO-L   @MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: [TANGO-L] Tango Dialects

Hi Daniel,

Actually I'm very much in agreement with you. What you wrote and what the
old timers say is true. I only wanted to explain why the cross happens. As
you know, in the old days, the tango was not danced like it is now but the
man and the woman would dance in front of each other but travelled sideways
to the man's left. I've seen many excellent teachers show these old ways to
tango. Later on it became the "tango cruzado" which is what we do today.
I've taken lesson from Eduardo and Gloria as well as other teachers who've
explained all this very well. Actually I received a private email reminding
me that Gustavo Naveira has also been tremedously helpful in de-mystifying
and explaining the code of the tango. Actually I remeber taking lessons from
you in Cleveland where you very aptly showed the same principles in action.
If people understood that the principal step of tango is the grapevine,
there would be a lot less discussion and argument about these things. It's
un-necessary to lead the woman to do each and every discrete step of the
turn. It's only necessary to lead her to move in the turn, if she has even a
rudimentary knowledge of tango, she'll know that she must step in a certain
pattern, open, cross, open, cross. Of course, the cross steps alternate
between back crosses and forward crosses. From this "turn" or "molinete" or
"grapevine" comes the tango dance. The man leads the direction and number of
steps and he accompanies his partner. That's the magic of lead and follow.
All the steps of tango come from the turns. Sure, the man can lead the woman
to stop the turn and reverse directions which produces "ochos", "ganchos"
and "boleos". The ocho can be very short as in the "ocho cortado". The man
can produce all kinds of sacadas by stepping between the feet of the woman
(following the trailing foot). Likewise he can produce all sorts of other
simple or complex figures but they almost all are a result of the interplay
of the dancers while doing turns. The woman does the molinete or grapevine
(open, front cross, open back cross, etc.) while the man generally keeps
walking forward, maybe turning or in a straight line.

Happy turns to all,

Manuel


visit our webpage
www.tango-rio.com




----Original Message Follows----
From: Daniel Lapadula <clubstyletango   @YAHOO.COM>
Reply-To: Daniel Lapadula <clubstyletango   @YAHOO.COM>
To: TANGO-L   @MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: [TANGO-L] Tango Dialects
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:06:30 -0800

Hi Manuel...I respect any way you or anyone else feel
confortable to dance .I just made my statement from
the way our older generation used to do it.
We discuced this in many other list in the same way...
For example ,my mother ,does not know the basic 8
patern and she shall not collect in front on the man
indication...instead she will pivot to take a forward
left foot step in a half ocho way at that moment...to
continue with any other ,perhaps giro or linear.
Regards.
Daniel