Re: [TANGO-L] Ocurrance of the number 4 in Tango and Candombe

[astrid <astrid @RUBY.PLALA.OR.JP>]

a)       "El Cuatro" (The Four) and the "Media Luna" (Half Moon) were the
names of dance figures past to posterity in a tango titled "Cuerpo de
Alambre" (A body as a wire), which was composed by Angel Villoldo (1898 -
1919). Villoldo in the lyrics of this tango describes his dance partner as a
morena (a black woman) with an excellent sense of rhythm.

Yes, it seems, those steps are still taught some times by teachers who
learned some canyengue, milonga, candombe. El Cuatro looks similar like a
boleo forward, I believe,but with the knees slightly open, so that the legs
form the shape of the number four.
Media luna is a half turn. You start a giro, but go right back. The feet
face the opposite way from the ocho cortado when you finish.

When I asked other Argentine teachers about those steps, they
exclaimed:"Cuatro? That step does not exist." "What, media luna? Nonsense,
who told you that?"

Astrid