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Don’t look the other way (turn your head to your left).

Look at me, though I might not be a handsome man in your eyes.

And please, please, don’t tilt your head.

Either way you feel like running away.

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Standing leg dances to the beat, free leg dances to the melody.

and a reminder: dance with the chest.

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Because that’s the only suitable way.

From maestro Jorge Dispari. If you are interested in, watch the clip. My Spanish is very limited, so I could only quote the subtitle.

It is not very often for us to hear such an honest talk. A lot of teachers try to sell you the glamorous side of tango; try to make you someone who you are not, a star, a performance dancer, an “artist”. Otherwise, they are afraid that they would not be commercially successful. And a lot of student are drew to tango, because it is sexy, it is fashionable… they want to learn the form, without the trouble of understanding its culture, its essence. Like in martial arts, however, one doesn’t go too far learning just the form. Any art without soul isn’t good art. Anybody can teach how to move, very few can tell why.

Here is a performance by them, dance (or should I say walk) to D’Arienzo. No sacada, no boleo, no volgada, not even a giro. Simply walk…

PS. Have a wonderful holiday, fellow tanguero(a)s!!!

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One Sunday afternoon, a few years ago, I sat with a friend of mine at Salon Canning. Instead of an international circus ring like any given night, Sunday afternoon milonga at Salon Canning was quite different. Most of the dancers were locals, middle age and older. Plenty of space to dance, and tables to sit before 8pm. My friend came to practice with his portena dance partner. I was there because i was on a milonga hopping spree. (I’d attended four milongas that Sunday.)

While we were not dancing, we shared a table, ordered cafe con leche and chatted. At some point, he made an interesting comment:

Those who dance very well are all abnormal. (Oookay… I smiled) Look at these people (he pointed to the floor to the Porteno(a)s). They come here once or twice a week, dance with the same people to the same music and they go home. They don’t spend thousands to take classes or practice for hours a day. They are normal people who have a normal life.

It is not difficult to become a decent social dancer, if you feel comfortable to embrace someone, have the normal ability to walk, can follow the music reasonably well. That’s all. Sometimes you don’t even need all that. Have you seen a couple in love dancing? Even they are total beginners, not a class under their belts and they bump knees, step on each other’s feet, embrace (hug) awkwardly, they could still connect to each other. I often say, you don’t have to move a step to dance tango, if you understand, you could express everything within the embrace.

The problem begins when we start learning how to dance…

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do not collect and wait. Can’t tell you how annoying that movement feels in the embrace. Open up the crotch. Please, please, do not close it.

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