Kiss/Embrace Analogy

Kissing can be an art in itself. There are a number of people in this world that can rock your world with only a kiss. Unfortunately there are also many people in this world that, well, they suck at kissing.

How do you tell someone that they kiss like a fish/your grand mother/a nun/your dog fido/a blow up doll/a maniquin/a barbie doll/a slice of liver/a sponge/a bowl of raw calamari...etc...

You don't! you just don't kiss them EVER AGAIN.(luckily there are people in this world who have the grace and understanding to put up with some bad kissing long enough to help the guilty party overcome their ignorance, but there are limits!)

OK, This is a Very Good Post (not mine)

This is aimed at (from me) those followers whom give their leaders a very stiff (arm wrestler like) stiff as a board right arm, expecting them (or me, more importantly) to push or pull them through what they should be doing on their own, and leaders/teachers whom teach this damned foolishness.

On either side of the embrace (open or closed side)the arms should be like antennae, that is to say they are there only to give either partner extra information about what the other partner is trying to communicate or how they have received the other half of the communication. A competent leader should be able to lead almost anything (with the exception of off axis turns, colgadas volcadas and soltadas) without arms.

I for one was guilty of leading with the "killer right arm" for a very long time, And I apologize to the many, many, many women that I tortured with this awful practice a few years back (you know who you are). I learned the error of my ways because I was willing to accept instruction from a couple of very competent instructors (Luiza Paes, Deb Scalar).

As a side note I met the male half of this couple (Movement Invites Movement) in Buenos Aires when the two of us were seated at the same table at Nino Bien, I never got a chance to dance with the female half of the partnership, however I will say that they were dancing Tango in the style of Buenos Aires (this is a compliment).

movementinvitesmovement.wordpress.com
Click the link to find out what the hell I'm talking about.

Deeper Connection

In order to truly communicate through Tango we must pretend that Tango is the only language that we have in common.

The Floor at The Merc.

There is a Tango venue in Denver CO. Called the Mercury Cafe,(It is also are home for many other dance forms, Swing etc...)Go upstairs on almost any Friday night to find a world class Milonga. It is located at 22nd and Colorado in downtown Denver CO.



The thing is the floor up there has many hills and valleys (the locals call them Moguls,Denver is known for it's proximity to some of the best skiing in North America).



What's strange about dancing there is that sometimes the floor disappears right out from under your feet no matter how grounded you are,( the floor probably has three or four inch {maybe 7 centimeter} hills)here and there. It makes a person wonder how long it will take for the building to succumb to gravity.

Another thing about the Merc is that the floor is not rectangular but rather like a rectangle with one corner chopped off, this makes floor craft there somewhat a challenge (people on the inside lanes tend to disregard the five, rather than four sided shape of the outside lane, making it very necessary for a leader to pay very close attention to what is happening in that part of the floor. Think about it, the outside lane turns and the people in the inside lanes forget that it does.

Still people go there from all over the world and wouldn't have it any other way.

Naturaltango Festival Photos by Young Kim Studios (link)

http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/youngkimstudio/gallery-collection/Natural-Tango-Festival-2009/P00002AB9HKKk66Y

Another Experience in Following

Last night at the weekly Tango lesson in my small city I had another chance to assume the role of follower. Here are a couple of observations;

I found it fairly easy to follow a couple of volcadas, they weren't very extreme still I found it to be much easier than I had imagined (and much easier to follow than it is to lead, I know this because when I was trying to learn this as a leader a couple of years ago it took me a very long time to get)

In order to follow the enganchada (which is what I call a back cross lead with a small hooked shape from the back, a good way to set up for a backward volcada) a very clear lead was necessary, my instructor was leading several in a row and the first one was easy to get, but after that the lead didn't seem as clear. So when leading this one must make sure to follow through, and make sure that the follower is with you.

What a Way to Go

Nick Jones and Amy Anderson VERY FUNNY!

I think I saw this guy dancing in Buenos Aires.

An Experience In Following

Awhile back I was experimenting as a follower in a workshop, here are a couple of observations;

1. A couple of the leaders did not give me enough time to do what they had led me to do.

2. One leader had no concept of what the embrace should be (I was solely dancing in an open embrace)

3. More than one of the leaders led from very high in their chest. (I am fairly tall and can only imagine how difficult it would be to follow this type of lead if I were of shorter stature) Leading from the solar plexus would gives a much easier lead to follow.

4. Almost all of the leaders in this particular class had almost no disassociation in their bodies, ie; they did not move their upper bodies independently of their lower bodies,(fused spines?) these leaders were very unsuccessful in leading anything other than linear movement.

5. Most of them almost never looked at their partner (me in this case) this makes it very difficult to connect while dancing in open embrace.

6. Musically all but one did not have a clue.

Granted this was a class dealing with fundamentals, and as such the experience level was fairly low,(especially mine as a follower) still I am beginning to feel the pain of the followers out there and HOPEFULLY learning a thing or two.

Gum Chewing

At a recent workshop with Evan Griffiths one of the exercises was to vary the amount of concentration between your partner and yourself.

The woman I was paired with was chewing gum the entire exercise, this to me indicated that she was only going through the motions and really didn't care to connect with me (or anyone) at all.

I've danced with this woman before and never really felt a good connection, and I've watched her dance with others and noticed that her dance lacked something no matter who she was dancing with. Now I know the rest of the story.

I guess my grade school teacher was right, gum chewing is very inconsiderate, especially while dancing Tango(or making love).

Live Orquesta Tipica!!!! (or Bill Takes a Musical Tour of Heaven)

Orquesta Tipica D'Irelandia

Last night at the Merc. I think I died and went to heaven!

Five Bandoneons

Five violins

Bass

Piano

Vocals

and even a Trumpet, played one of the people responsible for my own tango Journey, Scott Betts.

(there may have been even more instruments than this, but I was blinded by the incredible sound)

After the live music an incredible DJ, John Miller.

and an amazing, outrageous, performance by Nick and Amy that had me rolling on the floor!

Nick really knows how to throw a party!

This festival is going to be one of the best in the country, I can tell already!