Foot Technique for Followers

I recently visited a practica in a small community where at least half of the followers present were dancing with weight on the balls of their feet exclusively (never using their heels at all). I'm not sure if this was due to someone teaching this poor technique or if they had just picked up the habit and the instructor/s there hadn't noticed. Many of these followers were dancing in flats (I assume this was because they were thinking that the heels were causing them foot pain and wanted some relief during the practica). The shoes are bad enough (I don't see how followers wear them at all) but they have heels for a reason: the heels are meant to be used to help support your weight while walking backwards by helping you maintain your balance and axis (thus taking maybe forty percent of the pressure off of the delicate metatarsals of the supporting foot).

Here is an exercise that everyone should try in order to demonstrate why this is such a bad practice: Stand naturally with your feet together and shift your weight forward so that your weight is totally on the balls of the feet, transfer weight to one side so that your weight is totally on the ball of one foot...now extend the free leg back as if you are going to take a back step without transferring any weight to the free leg without using the heel, now try a forward extension without transfering any weight (I think that almost everyone will have real difficulty doing this). Now bring the feet together and shift your weight back so that your weight is evenly distributed along the entire length of one foot from heel to toes, now...once again extend the free leg backwards in preparation for a back step, now try the front extension...Isn't this much easier to accomplish with proper technique?!

Leaders need to be aware of this and bring the followers weight onto the ball of her feet before leading pivots (very easily done, and this will happen without much conscious thought after the technique is practiced properly for awhile).

One of the followers at this practica has been dancing longer than I have, and I have to say that she danced quite well (although I could tell right away that something was wrong when I danced with her). When I explained my position she told me that her reason for doing this was that she had been caught with her weight back on her heels many times, and she was trying to avoid this by keeping her weight forward. (see the note to leaders above).

I hope this helps someone, does anyone have any thoughts or reactions after trying the demonstration above? I would love to hear from you.

Exercise for Good Tango Posture

This is a great exercise for posture improvement, concentrating on the shoulders (95% of non professional dancers need improvement in this area).




Give it a shot, it's really almost painless. (One of the things Tango dancers notice most about people is their posture, this holds true when deciding who to dance with...just saying).

The goal is too eliminate hyperkyphosis (excessive outward curvature of the spine in the thorax region) this is why I encourage people to open their rib cage upward.

It is also important to keep your head centered "on top of" your axis rather than "in front of",or "behind" your axis.

I do not agree with her idea that the hips should be tucked in! ( for examples of proper posture please search Youtube for videos of the most accomplished tango followers or leaders...i.e. Marina Montes, Geraldine Rojas,...etc...     I believe that the hips should be held back slightly to create a space between partners hips and feet and allow for a bent standing leg rather than locked knees and no room at the hips and below (please notice that the hips should be held back slightly, this does not imply any bending at the waist, rather it allows for and accentuates the natural curve of the spine.




For more on posture see
Tango Posture Imagery

and Movement Invites Movement (blog)

Grounding Exercise

A few years ago I had a private lesson with Luiza Paes, and she wanted my partner at the time and I to be more grounded here is what she told us to do...

Get four pieces of paper towel about 4X4 inches put them on the floor under the toes of your feet, now dance a without loosing the pieces of paper...this is harder than it seems but really smoothes the dance out (plus the game was a lot of fun and I've won more than a few friendly wagers with it to boot)

I've had other maestros use different methods to try and teach the same ideas, never loosing contact with the ground.

I read somewhere that a good milonguero never shows the soles of his feet, I've found this to be less than 100% true but I have noticed that the really great dancers (especially of the Villa Urquiza style) always seem to keep contact with the ground most of the time. In that style they will lift thier heels but normally they will maintain contact with the toe as they walk.

Makes for a very smooth and elegant looking and feeling dance!

A very good example of a well grounded couple.

Following (note to self)

(These are notes to myself and will require some experimentation through trail and error)

I danced with several awesome followers this weekend and I am trying to analyze what it was that made those dancers so Delicious while the memory of them is still in my mind!

When following transfer weight smoothly rolling from toe to heel (when walking backwards)inside of foot to center of foot (when doing side steps) heel to toe (when walking forward)try to keep the foot almost horizontal right before landing when taking front or backward steps.

Try and feel the length of stride that your leader is intending, if he is going to do a traspie or syncopa step it will be shorter due to the amount of time it takes to make the step. Better to be a little bit longer than he intended than too short, this will murder the leaders back after one song because he cannot keep his own axis and must also keep you from tripping over yourself.

Always remain grounded, never fall into the step.

Don't take too long of a step or you will not feel grounded at all to your leader and you my hurt someone that you are unaware of, that the leader is aware of.

Don't block your leader on the open side by keeping your arm too stiff, this is gentle embrace, Not an inflexible frame.

Stiff tight legs are hard and nasty and don't feel good to dance with, and will block a lot of possibilities. Relaxed legs are soft and feel wonderful to dance with and they will react to the lead in the way that the leader intends.

Better to be a little behind the beat than ahead of the beat.

Keep a good spiral in the body by remaining relaxed everywhere, feel your core muscles stretching rather than tightening.

Keep your own axis unless the leader takes you off of it by stretching or compressing the embrace, at that point use these counter acting forces to maintain an equilibrium these forces when applied must balance each other out or the whole thing will go off axis, it would be very embarrassing to fall over (trust your leader and make sure that he can trust you not to apply more force than is given) your leader is not there to help you keep your balance unless he takes you off of it nor are you there to help him keep his.

When taking a step be confident that you are doing what you felt (you probably are) and make a good quality step, getting your weight at least over your hip joint, if it feels as if the leader is trying to dance the Phrase, go with it smoothly, a jerky stuttering step is usually not what we are going for.

(If anyone sees something that is completely wrong with the things I have written please let me know so that I don't get too far in the wrong direction)