One Degree of Flexibility

The human knee joint has one degree of flexibility, that is to say that it only bends in one direction (straight back from the way that the foot is pointed).  It does not rotate without injury (ask my "ski knee").

This is the reason that I advocate keeping your feet parallel with each other and with the direction of travel (in a line or curve) during the tango walk as if you were walking with skis strapped to your feet) it is also important that the steps be straight back or forward, as if you were stepping on the tracks made by two such skis...or on two small railroad tracks running beside each other (this idea works better than the ski track analogy when you think of the tracks during a turn)(pivot completely to achieve this) (in other words one should never cross their own center when walking even in a turn) , as opposed to stepping back or forward onto one such track as if stepping on  a balance beam.  Consider this... if your foot is turned out and you place weight on the ball of your foot (as followers should do initially while transferring weight to the extended leg during a back step) the axis of your body is now at the outside of the leg rather than the inside because of the turnout.

There is a lot of talk about use of  "Natural Foot Turnout". This technique sends a conflicting signal to the brain because the foot is pointed in a different direction than the line of travel (this applies to followers as well as leaders).  It also sends  improper feedback to the leader as to the direction that your knee will bend and the direction that your body wants to go naturally (without using extra muscles to achieve the walk).  Ones foot should always be pointed in the expected, or the led direction of travel (don't worry followers navigation is the responsibility of the leader and he will correct it with a pivot if needed but that's one more thing for him to think about
...if you catch my drift) (read as... I have enough to think about without having to steer a shopping cart with a wobbly wheel) .

Try this exercise:
Take a back step using "Foot Turnout" (if the feet were side by side they would form a "\/") transfer your weight to the extended foot completely (do not hold a twist in your core or hip) and then bring the feet side by side and completely relax your body...chances are (if you followed the directions for the exercise) you will end up facing in a new direction (the same direction that the weighted foot is pointed).
Now try the same back step keeping the feet parallel and pointed with the direction of travel (||) (you will remain with the direction of travel when the feet are together).

Another exercise:
Stand with the feet completely parallel to each other... place weight completely on one leg and bend the unweighted leg at the knee...It will point straight behind you.
Now stand with feet together heels touching and let the feet form a "\/" (foot turnout),  When you bend the unweighted leg at the knee it will not point straight back, but rather...it will point across your center line (a little extra weight  to counteract against in you struggle to maintain your axis) Can you feel the bend in you spine that this creates?

One more:
Stand with heels together and exaggerate turnout (make the angle maybe 120 degrees or more), now put all of your weight on the ball of one foot (keeping the heels together), transfer all of your weight to the ball of the free leg and notice how far that your center must move to accomplish the transfer.  Now try the same thing with no turnout,  this will require far less movement of your center to achieve the same weight transfer (believe me, this is a good thing).

 Leaders may (and should) use this principle to navigate, by positioning their feet in the intended direction of their next move or perpendicular to the intended direction of the follower (in the case of a side step...they should also preposition their feet if necessary to present the back of the knee in a certain orientation (think ganchos, liner boleos, back boleos, leg wraps, etc...).   I personally use prepositioning to the maximum extent possible and only pivot on my own axis when necessary, or for effect.(planeos, needles, enrrosques,changes of directions...etc...).   As a side note I will use a lead for pivot to the follower, she must continue to pivot as long as the lead to pivot is still being given by the leader (thus making over rotation possible), and complete the pivot before the moving leg passes the weighted leg (because when the moving leg passes the weighted leg the pivot stops...) Try it.

Feel free to express your own point of view with a comment.

Traffic Jams

While leading I will try and stay halfway between the couple in front of me and the couple behind me in the line of dance with varying degrees of success, here's why...

Traffic Jam Illustration

Remaining halfway between two couples works when the line of dance is moving fast, slow, or even if it is stop and go.

The main causes for traffic jams in the line of dance are; leaders who follow too close behind the couple in front of them (tailgating), leaders who lag too far behind the couple in front of them (people doing patterns instead of truly improvising).

If the leader behind me is too close I will sometimes switch lanes (if there is room to do so) and let him follow the couple in front of me too close, then switch back to fall in behind the tailgater (there is almost always a lot of room behind this dork).

Stay Off the Paint, Fool!

While dancing at the recent Denver festival there was one leader at almost every Milonga I attended that really got my attention. This guy was a menace and I don't know who he is, or where he is from but he, single handedly, disturbed the entire dance floor every time he danced.

Obviously he was fairly new and I hold nothing against beginners (after all everyone is one for a time) but this guy didn't have a clue about floor craft. It's pretty clear that he was never told that if you are in a lane you will (for the most part) be (more or less) behind another couple on the dance floor. He was between lanes every single time that I saw him, and It took about five minutes to figure out that he was a hazard to shipping.

This leader was looking for a clear path and to him I think that meant look for empty space in front of you, WRONG.

The clear path indicates that you are between lanes. Someone on a motorcycle can move through street traffic pretty quick if they drive on the paint, but sooner or later they will be maimed or killed for their arrogance (if only the penalties were the same in Tango).

The Line of Dance!

From one of my favoite Milongas, Cachirulo, @444 Miapu, BAires.

(I would have added, please keep the line of dance moving)

A Different Approach to Learning

A few years ago a friend of mine (Just someone I used to dance with, not an instructor) commented that by learning open embrace I could fix a problem I was working on at the time with my posture and balance, guess what, it worked.
Everything I know about dancing close embrace I learned from dancing open embrace.
Everything I know about dancing open embrace I learned from dancing close embrace.
Everything I know about improvising I learned through patterns and emulating others.
Everything I know about dancing fast I learn by dancing slowly (very slowly).

On a different note,I watched a video produced by a very famous pair of brothers (the Maers) many years ago about learning to downhill ski, they had an interesting teaching technique. Basically because sking (and Tango) is an engramic activity (your brain learns to do it eventually without much conscience thought) it is very difficult to explain how it should feel, they thought it was a good idea to purposely do something "the wrong way" so that your body could learn by comparison what doing it the right way feels like (very easy vs. very hard, natural vs. unnatural, smooth vs. jerky, balanced vs.wobbly)

I have found this to be a very effective learning/teaching method.

Floorcraft for Followers

Followers Floorcraft? YES!

On a crowded floor, or when following a leader you are unfamiliar with your feet should remain close to the floor during any boleo to avoid injuring someone during such conditions.

It brings to mind an incident that happened while I was dancing at a milonga in Buenos Aires where I led a very small close circlular boleo, and my follower did a rather large whipping switchblade like thing that caused the follower from the couple in front of us to let out a blood curdling scream (More for effect than becuse of real pain I think). Talk about an embarassing moment.

I'll never do that again, no matter how good I think my follower is! (or will I?)

Floorcraft is the responsibilty of both dancers.

Denver Memorial Day Weekend Tango Festival 2009

Another Awesome Festival in Denver as Always!

I only attended six milongas and no classes, which is good because when I started out I only anticipated attending two, thanks to a couple of good friends I was able to stay two extra nights. (I really want to attend Daniel Trenner's classes but it just wasn't happening this trip).

Friday afternoon I arrived in time to catch the last hour or so of the afternoon milonga, really only danced four tandas and got to see a few friends I haven't seen for awhile. The energy was good.

That night at the Mercury also was fantastic, as Extasis was playing (always a treat). I especially enjoyed the more danceable tandas (thats a hint, if anyone is listening). I did get two compliments on my musicality (I guess some people have a hard time dancing to Pugliese). The floor was not as crowded as it has been in the past, really it was just right, similar feeling to the crowds in BA. Floor craft was a bit loose but not really bad at all.

The Alternative Milonga Saturday afternoon, This is always one of my favorite milongas In Denver. The music was right on, and everyone seemed to be having a great time (smiles clear across the dance floor). I did see a video of myself dancing during this milonga and was somewhat disappointed with my posture when I am dancing in open embrace with a shorter follower, as I have said before video does not lie so I have some work to do (whats new!).

The Elegant Milonga Saturday night, is it just me or does this milonga always feel a little stiff until about midnight (maybe it's just coming down from the high of the Alternative milonga earlier in the day), still I had many great tandas with old friends and new, I really don't remember sitting for longer than two or three tandas all evening (a man has to have a glass of wine and socialize from time to time). Tara finally kicked us out at three thirty.

Sunday Afternoon Milonga at Cheeseman Park Pavilion, this is arguably one of the best settings for an outdoor milonga and picnic that I have attended, despite heavy rain earlier during the day, everything went off without a hitch. Photographers were a bit of a navigation hazard as they were not one bit shy about getting right out there in the thick of things (I would like to get a look at those photos, and videos!). Several people choose not to attend this milonga (fear of rain I guess) man did they miss a treat, it seemed like almost everyone that was there was dancing most of the time (I'm guessing around three hundred people) after eating I danced almost every tanda.

Sunday evening, SLEEP ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Awaking in time to catch the last four and a half hours of the All Night Milonga (in retrospect this might just be the best way to do this milonga, much better than going early and dropping into bed dead at 6:30Am) the best vibe happens during the wee hours anyway! After the music stopped and the applause died down, I got some of the best hugs I've had all year.

Ain't Tango great!

Cabeceo, the trip to BA really taught me a great deal about how to get dances with the followers I want to dance with (don't hesitate, just do it or miss out), and navigating in difficult situations.

I only had two gripes, both about other leaders at this festival;
1. Leaders who will not move. (you can never trust someone who is completely terrified in traffic).
2. Leaders who are only interested in long slow figure demonstration for a nonexistent audience, with a complete disregard for the music and others on the dance floor.

Stay in Your Lane A--hole!

A guy In Boulder bumped in to me twice on Saturday, once he was trying to pass me on my right(I prefer to dance in the outside lane if it is moving), once he was trying to pass me on my left.

The floor wasn't even that crowded.

What a dick!

I can't go faster than the guy in front of me Dipshit, and there is no way you can fit in half a lane without colliding with someone.

Why would anyone dance with someone like that?