Re: [Tango-L] heels on floor?

[Dubravko Kakarigi]

Now that the topic comes back again, let me add a few words. 

When I teach, I always emphasize, half in jest, that there is no Central 
Committee on tango (yet), so you do not go to a Gulag if in "error" of some 
sort. But then on a more serious note I state that I teach what I know, what 
works for me, and what I like. I also add, which bit of wisdom I inherited from 
another teacher (I think it was Jorge Torres) but agree with completely, that 
ultimately everyone must find their own dance since all bodies and minds and 
hearts are different. Of course, in pivot, the heel comes of the floor.
As an advice, I claim that studying with one teacher, hopefully a good one, one 
that teaches elements, concepts, techniques, ideas, for a long time is better 
for a novice than switching. Then also, taking private lessons is always 
preferred to group classes, if one can afford them, of course.

As a dancer I admire and welcome with great satisfaction when a lady/follower 
makes a deep forward step into the opening of my deep back step, usually in 
parallel feet system and usually with her left leg. I feel it as a complete 
trust and both a surrender and a strong opening as a partner dancer for 
whatever may come next. I never look, of course, but it feels like such a 
forward step is always made heel first. In most other cases, I feel that the 
heel is always slightly above the floor. However, I really do not care if it 
indeed is or is not, as long as the dance is good for both partners.

...dubravko ===
seek, appreciate, and create beauty
 this life is not a rehearsal
ich bin der Schmied meines eigenen Glücks
===
http://okvarbud.blogspot.com/
http://dbtango.blogspot.com/
http://dbpolitics.blogspot.com/



   
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Re: [Tango-L] heels on floor?

[Lois Donnay]

Jocelyn got it right - "All that said, there might be another question
here: what to do about conflicting opinions from different teachers."
That's mostly what I was pointing out.  I confront this a lot when I travel
to teach workshops in other communities. Tango isn't a "you must always"
kind of dance.  The woman who said this to me is a very organized, very
precise kind of person.  She tries to do eveything exactly as told.  Her
dancing had actually deteriorated from the last time I met her, because she
had been to a tango weekend and was trying to incorporate everything.

I think there is a new thing - overteaching.  For instance - women who used
to be fun to dance with, now are so obsessed with "being on their own axis"
that they don't connect, or fall backwards or sideways. Perhaps we have
lost something from the days when people learned just by doing.

Of course, as a person who makes her living teaching tango - I don't want
that to spread around... ;)
ᐧ

Loisa Donnay
Minnesota
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