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Friday, October 21, 2011

Shoes Too Tight? Ok, somebody try this and tell us if it works.

They say that 90% of women buy their shoes too small.


If you read the comments they also describe a method using a blow dryer.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Lost Shoe!

Just an idea...Write your contact information in your shoes with permanent marker.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Willingness Vs. Eagerness

What kind of partner do you want to be...What kind of partner do you want to share this experience with?

What is the difference between someone who is willing to go on a date with you and someone who is eager to go on a date with you?

Who would you hire a person willing to do a job or someone eager to join your team?

Who is going to learn to play the guitar faster, the eager student or the one willing to give it a try?

Enthusiasm makes all the difference!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Creepy Dudes At the Milonga

These guys run off followers and freak everyone out, yet followers still dance with them...why?

Don't dance with them!

If you suspect that people think that you are one (no one wants to dance with you, even though you have been dancing for years)...you just might be...Change your ways or Go Away, you are not welcome!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Drill That Will Improve Your Tango (For Leaders and Followers)

On a floor that will allow pivoting put down a large X with tape (the X should be about two meters square).

Put a small staight backed chair on the X, centered, with one leg of the chair on each of the lines of the X (you may have to adjust the tape to ensure that each of the legs of the chair are on a line).

Imagine a circle around the chair about one foot from the legs of the chair.

Start the music.

Now do Giros around the chair keeping your shoulders facing the chair at all times and stepping only on the tape X (at the places where it would intersect with an imaginary circle a few inches out side of the chair) Keep your chin up (don't tilt your head toward the floor) Remember that both shoulders MUST face the chair squarely at ALL times (pivot your hips only), and you must step only on the tape.

Occasionally change the direction of the turns only after a front step or back step by pivoting and doing two front  or back steps one after the other. (circular front, or back ochos)

For some people it may help to do front steps at the front of the chair, side steps at the sides of the chair, and back steps at the back of the chair. (This will help ingrain the Front, Side, Back, Side Front...norm for doing turns)

You must do hundreds and hundreds of molientes alone to get them to work without effort so you might as well get started.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Practice

Practice Makes Permanent
Find out what you should be practicing (take a private lesson and ask specifically what you should practice, alone or with someone)
Make sure you are doing it correctly (get checked out and make sure you are executing the exercise correctly)
Do Not just do something over and over, right or wrong, you will have to unlearn it later (this is far more difficult)
Be willing to give up your preconceptions (if you were driving somewhere and found out that you were going in the wrong direction it might be wise to turn around or change course but sometimes it is better to push reset and start again.)

Monday, May 16, 2011

When Cabeceo Goes Wrong

There are those people out there who are aware of the practice of Cabeceo yet do not know the rules or purpose of the tradition.

Awhile back I was at a milonga and a woman there (that I had danced with previously) kept staring at me even though I had made it perfectly clear that I was not going to dance with her that evening by not returning her gaze. I was with a woman and really just wanted to dance a few tandas with her and a few of the better dancers in the room without actively seeking out partners (especially partners that are horrible to dance with). Her stare was unceasing and at the point of becoming stalking, eventually she changed seats and sat at a table directly in front of me about ten feet away and turned her head to directly stare at me (I could not avoid seeing her obnoxious eyes burning a hole in my brain).

After a time I just looked over at her and said "No!".

Still she continued...

The results of her actions are as follows...Her evening was ruined...my evening was ruined...my dates evening was ruined...the people at nearby tables thinks that I am some kind of snob...my relationship with the woman I was with was strained...I left the milonga early...this woman is bad mouthing me throughout the community...If she shows up at an event, I want to leave..I will never dance with this woman, ever.

I do dance with new dancers, and even with dancers that have been dancing for years and just don't get it, but I am not obligated to dance with rude women, nor will I.

The great thing about Cabeceo is that even if someone turns someone down it's not counted as a rejection nor is it personal because no one was forced to tell someone that they do not want to dance with the other, and further it remains between the two people involved and is not a permanent rejection...only temporary.

It makes no sense to want to share a sensual intimate dance with someone who is uninterested in doing the same with you.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Body Spiral, Three Tracks, Turns, and Pivots.

There are normally three positions for walking:  outside partner left, directly in front of partner, outside partner right.

Use body spiral for effective lead prepositioning and pivot tension in your own body.  This is true for both parallel and crossed systems.

The following video is provided for to illustrate spinal movement discussed in this post (turn the sound down or ignore it).


Lumbar Spine Inter-vertebral Movement Rotation... by MedilawTV

Anytime you are doing a front or back ocho correctly (separately or during a giro) or while using contra body position during the walk while in either outside position your body is in spiral tension (torso down tension) and is set to lead a turn effectively or to pivot on axis.

You may also place your body in spiral tension as a leader by prepositioning your feet and hips to create spiral energy for pivots or lead energy for turns. (floor up tension).

Some possibilities you may consider:
preposition yourself outside left for turns to the right
preposition yourself outside right for turns to the left
pretension the spiral energy in your body to lead a turn by taking a crossing back step close to your own axis on the side of the direction of the turn that you intend to lead.

Remember that the followers back step is common to both linear and circular movement and is a good place to transition between the two (in to and out of the turn), this has the effect of letting the follower know what the next two steps of the turn will be following the normal  (back, side,  front,  side...) way of turning while going in to a turn.

Example;  while walking forward, from the leaders prospective, if the leader positions himself outside of the followers right side when the follower takes a back step with her left he may step forward with his right (contra body position right) and lead a side step and then a front step circularly around him in a counterclockwise direction using his torso only (the follower feels the need to take a front step because she has just taken a back step followed by a side step so naturally she will want to take a front step) .  At this point the leaders body is in spiral tension so that he may pivot to continue the turn or possibly lead a front ocho to change the direction of the turn to a clockwise direction (leaders body is already in the proper spiral tension to do so).

Thursday, January 6, 2011

'Musica! Apilado (posture)!, Cadencia (cadence)!, and Energia (energy)!'~Tete

One year ago he passed...let's not forget the lessons he gave us!

The saddest thing to see is tango danced without soul.

Thanks to Leonard Krause, and to Tangotales.com  for this great post from 2008.