Our 'Ladies Only' lesson last Friday went very well. Six followers came and one brought a partner. Experience ranged from zero to two having a lot of tango wear on their soles already. But experience didn't matter. They were all happy they came.
Even the 'partner' who drove a hundred miles to be here was enthused.. The woman of that couple saying she now regretted every 'Tango' lesson she had previously taken. What more can I ask, eh? :-) But to attract more people in the future I will be teaching similarly done classes to 'couples'. Probably even better that way than each having separate lessons... But we'll be teaching each their jobs only, and not the other's. Couples together only for the common points of the dance. Posture, balance, axis, attitude, etc. Along with *how* the leads are passed and followed. But *never* to show or teach patterns to followers... That should always be considered Tango sacrilege. The followers were told they are both the artist and their own work of art. That they are to consider themselves as dancing totally alone, under their own power, direction, balance, and the rest. That if a leader applied any pressure to their body to move them in any direction, they should object. They were told leader is there to 'hopefully' give the followers *new* combinations of steps to dance through as they are led around the floor to the music. Music that the leader needs to follow in order to do that. The leader also keeps the follower from running into furniture and other dancers while she dances her trance across the floor.., 'by herself'.., with her eyes closed.. I'm starting to think that it is the *leader* who is the object in Tango, eh? The label just makes us feel good so we'll dance with the ladies for their sakes... Ha! They learned that closing the eyes instantly increases the brain's Alpha waves so the follower relaxes and becomes more intuitive. That one can actually feel the effect on their body when the eyes are closed for a few seconds... They learned how to increase their poise.., which includes axis, 'attitude', how to pivot, smoothness, walking in two lines close-set, no head sway nor bob, feet always coming down close to and pointed towards the leader, ignoring the leader's weight changes, and many other ways they need to be aware of, if they are to Tango correctly. They were taught that leads are not just given one at a time. That they will come to see two and three being given at once. And so they'll get used to incorporating all leads into their head as one continuous, varying force that guides them about. They will feel and use inertia, centrifugal force, gravity, timing and more to carry out the dance. That understanding these natural laws too, will allow the follower to stay with any leader, combined leads, style, or force behind them.., as a continuous flow of sensory input they must learn to re-act to. All of it is aimed toward having followers do *steps* only. Smoothly, gracefully, and entirely.. That if they get to this point they will not need to be specifically taught how to step backward, the barrida, displacements, nor many other moves now taught to them as half of a couple, and memorizing them.. It was pointed out how important the music is.. Something both partners need to pay the utmost attention to. Especially the tempo changes and the syncopation they may be dancing to. Where the 'listening' to it litterally causes their dance to be part of the music itself. And the other way round, too... The music puts them in touch with the leader's choice of tempo and movement. It tells them which note they should touch their moving foot down on. They are not to just *do* a step to get it over with. It must be done *to the music*... Flowing their motions with emotion and comes from what they hear.. To syncronize both sets of feet. To remain 'in tune' with each other throughout the dance. Besides being very beautiful to hear and dance to, in itself. One of the ladies said she felt like she was actually dancing Tango with me.., instead of 'learning' it. I liked that... :-) Size limits how much I can say.. It's been edited down and changed around.. It's still not quite as I'd like it to be..., but the lesson was.., and that's what counts. So if anyone is interested in learning more, our online 'how to' pages explain what I believe should be the way to teach. It's different from most..., I know. :-/ http://www.buffalotango.com/html/l_-_introduction.html Take care... Floyd Buffalo Tango - Argentine Tango - How To Tango * * * * * * www.buffalotango.com * * * * * * _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
