Lesson 3: Step Frequencies and Other Things

In Lesson 3, we worked some more on posture and walking technique. Remember to keep a straight axis through your torso, with the energy going up and forward in the upper part of it and the energy dropping heavily from the lower part, the pelvis and the legs. Walking should be done with a minimal expenditure of strength, and as little tension in the hip and leg muscles as we can manage. Imagine the leg being a freely swinging pendulum hanging from the torso.
We practiced step frequencies in the weight changes: double time, simple time, half time, pauses. You can practice this alone, without need for a partner. And don't bother counting: the beat you hear is the emphasized beat, and stepping on each of these is what we call simple time. Don't worry about measures and musical phrases.
In the weight changes, make sure you use joints as needed. You cannot do quick changes (double time) when trying to move the axis as a whole - your ankles and knees need to work with the music, too. Just put the weight down on the foot on the beat you want to hit.
Finally, we introduced a simple method of doing double time in forward steps: the traspié. The traspié is a kind of stumbling step, or hesitation. We take the step, but stop short of finishing our axis transport, pushing back a bit instead, then finishing the step after all. The easiest way of doing it is just not allowing the forward knee to bend after placing the lead foot. The straight leg almost automatically pushes us back from the floor, we rock back, then forward again, this time allowing the knee to bend normally, which results in our axis going forward and finishing the step. Voilà.

The Music of Lesson 2: "El Señor del Tango"

Carlos di Sarli's music is widely regarded as the epitome of tango. It has everything that is typical of tango, and everything that is in tango has been refined and sometimes whittled down to the essentials in his arrangements. It is, simply put, exemplary tango.
Di Sarli was known as somewhat difficult, and his perfectionism sometimes got him in trouble with his musicians. It also, however, gave us a number of incredibly beautiful and at the same time eminently danceable tangos. All periods his orchestras went through have something to offer to both the music lover and the dancer: there is his relatively simple yet appealing music from the late 20s with his Sexteto, then (after quite a long break) the amazing recordings with Roberto Rufino and with Alberto Podestá, two brilliant singers. Then there are his classic and widely popular instrumental recordings, and finally his slow, rich late recordings with singers like Mario Pomar, Roberto Florio and Jorge Durán.
Di Sarli was a pianist of extraordinary skill - his style is unmistakeable and is an irreplaceable part of his orchestras' expression. Listen to his incredible left hand play and you will never mistake his orchestra for any other.
When you start buying Di Sarli CDs, make sure you get his recordings with Rufino and those with Podestá as well, and then throw in some of his instrumentals as well - they are very popular for practice, and with good reason.
Simply go to Mike Lavocah's site (see the link on the right) and follow his advice there.

Lesson 2: Introducing Simple Rhythmics

In the second lesson on 12th May we repeated what we did the week before, and then added what I call step frequency - simple time, double time, half time, and pauses. To keep matters simple, we worked with weight changes, not with actual double time forward steps. Also, we didn't yet really work with all possibilities, instead concentrating on double time.
These quick weight changes require a good connection between the partners, with the woman being attentive and maintaining her apile (forward energy) and the man remembering to not just do the weight changes himself, but actually leading them.
The music we used was that of Carlos di Sarli - more on him in a later post.

The Music of Lesson 1: "Los Angeles"

For the first lesson in Taunton, we used the music of the Golden Age orchestra of Angel D'Agostino. D'Agostino himself was a pianist, and his preferred singer was Angel Vargas, one of the all-time greats among tango singers. Vargas' singing had an incredible immediacy - I somehow think of him as sitting on a bar stool and talking to me instead of singing to an audience.
D'Agostino is not usually regarded as on a par with Carlos Di Sarli or Osvaldo Pugliese artistically, but his music is very, very good and very popular with dancers all the same. It has been said that his arrangements were always done with good taste (unlike those of some other orchestra leaders, who, between spells of greatness, had lapses now and then). He never tried noticeably hard to be original or clever, yet his music has it all: a strong compas (beat), interesting rhythms, beautiful melodies and that incredible singing by Vargas.
When played at a milonga at the right time, when the dancers are ready for it, Los Dos Angeles (the two angels) can be sublime.
Good music to practice to. Get "Tangos de los Angeles Vol. 1" (and , if you like, the other three in the series) from the "Tango Argentino" series. Buy it locally from Mike Lavocah, cheaply from Zivals, or easily from Amazon. See the links on the right.
You can watch the Angels on youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2203qy8wwE
And here watch Oscar and Mary Ann Casas dance to "Notas de Bandoneón" by D'Agostino/Vargas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzh-accjq1M

Lesson 1: Posture, Embrace and Walk

In our first lesson we worked on the most fundamental aspects of the tango dance: posture, embrace and the walk. A few reminders so you can practice without fear of introducing mistakes:
- The torso is always kept energized (with energy flowing mainly upwards and slightly forward) and straight, with the axis slightly leaning forward to keep the weight centered on the forward part of the foot. Remember reaching for the cookie jar, or imagine you are walking against a strong wind.
- The pelvis and legs are always heavy and relaxed, with energy flowing downwards into the ground. With each step, we relax the free leg's energy and let it "drop" towards the floor as we move our axis on it.
- We step on the beat, meaning our foot connects with the floor on the beat. More on this later on in the course.
- We used the practice hold, i.e. the woman is leaning on the man's chest with her hands, the elbows are kept locked so there is a direct and strong connection between her core and the man's.
- The next step embrace-wise was the open embrace, where we connect via our arms with no torso contact. This is useful for practicing because we reduce the risk of stepping on each other's feet and we also can look down now and then to check our relative positions.
- The close embrace is the real embrace used in tango. It is more important than any "steps" or "figures", so make sure you make it work comfortably.
- Before you start walking together, use weight changes to harmonize your movement together. When you are sure you connect well and you have identified the beat, start walking.
- We always walk in the ronda, meaning we dance in harmony with all other couples on the floor, making sure we don't collide. The ronda flows counterclockwise around the outside of the floor. Do not overtake couples dancing close to the outside boundary.