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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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My friends were in town the day I returned from Baires. I went to meet them at the Sunday milonga. Naturally we talked about my trip, my experience. At some point I said to my friend: you know what, the more I dance, the more I believe in the way Javier and Andrea teach. Because when I dance with women who have been studying the same way (well enough), I feel that I am free and everything is right, the embrace, the walk, the connection, the feeling and the music that I could express and hear from her…

Perfection does exist. I exclaimed.

I know what you mean. He smiled. But… before you know what’s right, you must know what’s wrong.

I almost bowed to him.

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When I first read MIM’s post , I laughed out so hard that my colleague thought I just hit the jackpot. Too bad the comment was off. Although it is a misguiding and provoking title, what they described in the post was roughly the same experience that I have had. A subject has been long in my mind yet never put into words. I am glad that they’ve taken the heat first.

Their second post explains one of the important technique: pulling your hips back. Another technique, that was not mentioned in their posts, is “Show off your breast” for the woman. Bring the chest up proudly. Together with pulling the hip back slightly, the culo will naturally “stick out”. Most of the female dancers have tight and round behind, firm legs due to the exercise they have been doing for years. I might be called sexist by saying this: the posture is the sexiest and most beautiful thing to watch.

And nobody, at least nobody whom I have learned from, has taught or being heard teaching anyone to “stick her butt out”. The visual is the consequence of the techniques. In some cultures, women are inhibited to show their feminine characters. Naturally, they are less inclined to accept this aesthetic aspect of the posture.

How this posture, despite different views on its aesthetic merit, actually feel on my side of embrace? When it is right, the moment I embrace the woman, I could feel that it is the beginning of a blissful journey. The connection from the moment the embrace completes is far stronger than the connections that I have experienced with other postures. (And I can’t tell you how much I dislike embracing a woman who stand straight and connect from waist up, which is probably the reason that I stop going out here.)

There are more techniques and benefits of this posture, which deserve another post or two to explore. But let me tell you this: I was in heaven almost every time I danced with certain women who have learned this way. I just wish there were more of them this part of the world.

Here is an example:

A few examples of the postures from different dancers:

Last but not the least

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Technique is not important.

Three years ago, when I took my first privates with Javier and Andrea, Javier said to me ” Technique is not important*…. your feeling in tango will one day make you great.” Three year after, in the only two privates that I had the chance to take with them this time, we worked on technique: walking, how to use the arm…

I had assisted Andrea in a couple of her privates, dancing with the ladies. And I had learned so much about woman’s technique and experienced the huge differences before and after the ladies made adjustments in their embraces, walking, and embellishment (for advanced dancer). The sensation of the right embrace, the slight delayed timing of walking, and the little technique of cross was so sensuous, musical and pleasurable.

And I am not talking about the technique of Volcada, Giro, sacada… I am referring to the basic and fundamental technique: walking and embrace. You might be surprised how many people can’t walk two steps straight, and walk long or short evenly. Very often I dance with women who either press their chest with most of their body weight against mine, or try so much to avoid putting any weight that they are escaping from the embrace. Neither way gives me a pleasant feeling. I can’t tell you how much more pleasant a fellow student felt after she made a small adjustment in embrace, after she did what Andrea had taught her. How a strong and powerful short walk without the music made me feel out of this world, after I got the technique of walking.

Technique is very important. It is the catalyst to building and maintaining feeling throughout the dance. It is the essential tool to communicate with each other on a different level. One’s tango experience won’t go very far without proper and sound technique. If you long for the elusive tango bliss, then you should be obsessed with perfecting the technique.

*Technique is not important: when one dances, one should focus on anything but technique. One works on the technique so it becomes natural. Part of the reason that many technique classes aren’t useful is that they teach the technique of leading and following. Instead of that, I was taught and learned the technique that made both feel perfect and free in the dance; that made the woman look and feel beautiful, and the man appreciate the beauty of the woman.

Who with a sane mind wouldn’t want to work on that?

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