Re: [Tango-L] followers expressiveness
One barrier to expressiveness is not knowing the music. You'd sure hope so. Sadly it doesn't always work, as demonstrated by the few ronda-wrecking nuevos currently cursing the dance floors of our Easter tango festival. This is one area in which I think alternative music can help. That barrier is there for good reason, Trini. Responsible teachers do not put their efforts into undermining it. -- Chris ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] followers expressiveness
Hi Jackie, That's something we've been trying to encourage here. One barrier to expressiveness is not knowing the music. I've noticed around here that generally, women do not tend to study the music as much as the men. Around here, at least, it's the men who work harder at knowing the music. Part of this, I think, is that they become more aware of it as they are try to load their laptops with tango music. So I'm experimenting to get my students more discerning about the music. I gave my more experienced students an assignment of creating tandas to be played at our weekly practica. I became much more aware of musical differences when I had to choose music for my classes or began to deejay. So I am hoping that the same process I went through will help them develop an ear, too. If one can't hear the differences, then how can one dance them or be more expressive? This is one area in which I think alternative music can help. At least the music that people are already used to hearing. Some of the alternative pieces are not good at all for this. But I think that having them dance to pieces that they may associate with an emotion (happy high school days or whatever) can encourage them to dance more expressively. Trini de Pittsburgh --- jackie ling wong [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: as most people on this list know, i lead and i follow. i have been told that one of my best qualities as a dancer is my ability to express myself musically. to quote someone... you dance the music. this is not through only embellishments. now, i have led many followers... and there are followers who just follow which is nice and then there are followers who dance with you who dance melodically... and hear the notes that are emphasized and can translate that to their dance. it feels like they are reading my mind because my expression in the dance becomes so easy. her/his boleo considers not only the time of the movement but the energy, how the beat is used (emphasized at the beg. of the beat...etc)... it feels like painting. i probably am not expressing this correctly and please don't give me grief for that. in fact, if someone can express it better, i would love to hear it. my question... how do you teach this? is there an exercise that can help people understand what i am saying? thanks jackie ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburghs most popular social dance! http://patangos.home.comcast.net/ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
[Tango-L] followers expressiveness
as most people on this list know, i lead and i follow. i have been told that one of my best qualities as a dancer is my ability to express myself musically. to quote someone... you dance the music. this is not through only embellishments. now, i have led many followers... and there are followers who just follow which is nice and then there are followers who dance with you who dance melodically... and hear the notes that are emphasized and can translate that to their dance. it feels like they are reading my mind because my expression in the dance becomes so easy. her/his boleo considers not only the time of the movement but the energy, how the beat is used (emphasized at the beg. of the beat...etc)... it feels like painting. i probably am not expressing this correctly and please don't give me grief for that. in fact, if someone can express it better, i would love to hear it. my question... how do you teach this? is there an exercise that can help people understand what i am saying? thanks jackie ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] followers expressiveness
On 2008-03-18 08:52-0400, jackie ling wong wrote: as most people on this list know, i lead and i follow. i have been told that one of my best qualities as a dancer is my ability to express myself musically. to quote someone... you dance the music. this is not through only embellishments. now, i have led many followers... and there are followers who just follow which is nice and then there are followers who dance with you who dance melodically... and hear the notes that are emphasized and can translate that to their dance. it feels like they are reading my mind because my expression in the dance becomes so easy. her/his boleo considers not only the time of the movement but the energy, how the beat is used (emphasized at the beg. of the beat...etc)... it feels like painting. i probably am not expressing this correctly and please don't give me grief for that. in fact, if someone can express it better, i would love to hear it. my question... how do you teach this? is there an exercise that can help people understand what i am saying? thanks jackie I think you teach them the same way you would teach somone to smile. My point being I don't think you can teach it, rather you provide a confident platform of skills which gives the student freedom and opportunity; and then by having the right atmosphere you bring it (musicality,playfulness,creativity,improvisation) out in your students. I would put money this; that teachers who's classes are relaxed and friendly bring out more musicality in their students. If you are in a playground you play. 'Mash London,UK ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] followers expressiveness
what a great thing to say... a playground. freeing the inner child. :-)i love that visual! i just wish there were playground like exercises for feellng the music. i've done some but i'm not satisfied. what can i say. i want more.homer and cristina do a great job around playfulness in some of their exercises. great feedback everyone! thank you. jackie On Mar 18, 2008, at 12:03 PM, 'Mash wrote: On 2008-03-18 08:52-0400, jackie ling wong wrote: as most people on this list know, i lead and i follow. i have been told that one of my best qualities as a dancer is my ability to express myself musically. to quote someone... you dance the music. this is not through only embellishments. now, i have led many followers... and there are followers who just follow which is nice and then there are followers who dance with you who dance melodically... and hear the notes that are emphasized and can translate that to their dance. it feels like they are reading my mind because my expression in the dance becomes so easy. her/his boleo considers not only the time of the movement but the energy, how the beat is used (emphasized at the beg. of the beat...etc)... it feels like painting. i probably am not expressing this correctly and please don't give me grief for that. in fact, if someone can express it better, i would love to hear it. my question... how do you teach this? is there an exercise that can help people understand what i am saying? thanks jackie I think you teach them the same way you would teach somone to smile. My point being I don't think you can teach it, rather you provide a confident platform of skills which gives the student freedom and opportunity; and then by having the right atmosphere you bring it (musicality,playfulness,creativity,improvisation) out in your students. I would put money this; that teachers who's classes are relaxed and friendly bring out more musicality in their students. If you are in a playground you play. 'Mash London,UK ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] followers expressiveness
I've always felt that the follower's role teaches technique at first, while the leader's role teaches musicality. One disadvantage of the follower's role, is the emphasis on being adaptive and doing nothing more that what is lead. This can make it harder to discover a voice, and the spaces where the follower contributes. Learning to lead can help follower's learn how to impose musicality on the dance, find a stronger voice, as well as discover what other follower's feel like. It takes an experienced follower (and leader!) to realize that the follower isn't just an obedient puppet. One of the discoveries when you dance with women in Argentina is that they are oh-so-adaptive, yet oh-so-alive. The just following is a myth at the higher level, at least in close-embrace. On Mar 18, 2008, at 6:52 AM, jackie ling wong wrote: now, i have led many followers... and there are followers who just follow which is nice and then there are followers who dance with you who dance melodically... and hear the notes that are emphasized and can translate that to their dance. it feels like they are reading my mind because my expression in the dance becomes so easy. her/his boleo considers not only the time of the movement but the energy, how the beat is used (emphasized at the beg. of the beat...etc)... it feels like painting. ... my question... how do you teach this? is there an exercise that can help people understand what i am saying? ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] followers expressiveness
I get a lot of resistance from teachers on here, but, I still feel that there are a couple of things lacking from traditional teaching. Just mark this down as thinking outside the box. (1) Teach a class where the leader indicates the direction and feel of the step, the follower steps and the leader follows the follower through the step. Experiment with various types of music. Instruct the follower throughout the class on musicality. Let the leader be along for the ride. Why not? Teachers always set the follower up to be the extra in the class. Have the leader follow the follower through the step. (2) Remember my post on making the pivot be more important than steps? Okay. Using #1, above, teach the follower to move in and out of the pivot musically. Yes, teach the leader, too. But, I am all for teaching the follower and send them out to the milongas with feel. Then, the leaders will feel it through them! Can you spot the people, at milongas, that move with varying feels (energies) into and out of the pivot? Sit and watch. There are probably only a few in your community. Yes, NYC, Denver, and others will have more. One time, my partner invited an advanced leader from another community to our milongas for the weekend. I love my partner. She has what Jackie wants to teach. I gave her all the space in the world. Later, I said, So? She said, I miss that feel. No kidding. I was watching. He had a great variety of leads. For sure, I sat and, mentally, took notes. But, I knew he was missing one thing: He wasnt changing the feel as he moved through a step. You know? Give her some passion! Cool leads are, well, cool! Passionate movements are musical to the n-th degree. Here, go to this webpage: http://www.2dcurves.com/exponential/exponential.html Click on the various exponential links. Teach your leaders and followers to feel the music according to different curves. Let the x-axis be distance through the step. Let the y-axis be speed, emphasis, energy, anything other than the boredom of constant speed and energy! Create exercises where they dance to the violin, the voice, etc. Create exercises where they think of dancing heavy, like a clown, etc. AND, give examples derived from those curves. Make it fun! Let it by funny! And, above all, stop teaching just the leader! The follower paid, too! --- jackie ling wong [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: as most people on this list know, i lead and i follow. i have been told that one of my best qualities as a dancer is my ability to express myself musically. to quote someone... you dance the music. this is not through only embellishments. now, i have led many followers... and there are followers who just follow which is nice and then there are followers who dance with you who dance melodically... and hear the notes that are emphasized and can translate that to their dance. it feels like they are reading my mind because my expression in the dance becomes so easy. her/his boleo considers not only the time of the movement but the energy, how the beat is used (emphasized at the beg. of the beat...etc)... it feels like painting. i probably am not expressing this correctly and please don't give me grief for that. in fact, if someone can express it better, i would love to hear it. my question... how do you teach this? is there an exercise that can help people understand what i am saying? Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] followers expressiveness
On teaching musicality through the step ... I play blues guitar, specifically slow, bending blues. A lot of my movement, in dance, is similar to the way my left hand bends the strings. It's a lot like the curves from the webpage that I mentioned. Eric Clapton, and others, sometimes, use a wah-peddle. I think he used it, a lot, with Cream. Can anyone think of a song where he uses it a lot? Anyway, if anyone can find a good piece of music where the wah-peddle is used and you can try some tango exercises moving through a step with the same feel as the wah-peddle, let us know. I am working a lot, these days, and won't have a chance to look for a good piece. So, again, if anyone wants to experiment with this, let us know. I bet Jimmy Hendricks had some examples. Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] followers expressiveness
I also wanted to express that my two favorite partners, over the years, are very, very expressive. One danced a lot of salsa quite well and the other danced a lot of hustle, and other dances, quite well ... for what that matters. Also, I don't think there is any small number of exercises that can be stated for teaching followers expressiveness. I think it comes from followers really wanting it and teachers really teaching it ... a lot. And, I'll bet that cross training amongst different types of dances helps ... especially where, in tango, followers are treated as extras in the classes ... so the leaders can be accomodated. So, hurray to Jackie for asking! I hope something comes of this! Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
