In Today’s Building Block Episode (#3) we have three pieces of tango vocabulary that are used:
1.) Lead & Follow Incremental Steps
2.) The ‘Gooey’ Gancho
3.) The Follower’s Back Sacada.
The first of these elements is used, sparingly, but not as much as they should be. It is probably one of the more musical items that either a Lead or a Follower can engage in that clearly and decisively ‘Interprets’ the Music from their perspective. (Please note the usage of the phrase ‘Interprets the Music’. This is in our concerted opinion a far more useful and helpful way of talking about the umbrella misnomer that is frequently misused: Musicality). In the easiest form, the Incremental Step, is very similar to a Milonga Traspie. The only difference is that the Incremental Step is done outside of the Habanera Rhythm and can be used anywhere. Whereas the Milonga con Traspie is used only inside Milonga, and in specific where we want it to be inside the Habanera, and if we’re being persnickety (and we are) inside El Golpe. And if you don’t know what either the Habanera Rhythm is or what “El Golpe” is, you can see it them both here. The second of these elements is used very infrequently, the Gooey Gancho, and in our opinion not enough, as it is one of the more beautiful forms of the Gancho. But due to the Gancho having been overused and forced onto so many Followers that they rightfully have a distaste of and fear of it, it’s no wonder that it’s not exactly the most popular vocabulary on the block. And lastly, this is the most common form of the Back Sacada, the Follower’s Back Sacada to the Open Side of the Embrace. Usually this piece is done from the Linear Ocho, or the Circular Ocho, but the more common form is from the Follower’s Molinete!
That said, let’s dive into Today’s Tango Topics Building Block.
What is a Tango Building Block ? In many ways, Tango is a lot like a set of Lego™ Building Blocks. With just a few simple blocks you can build very complex and intricate structures. Tango is the same way. With just a few basic moves like forward, side, and back you can build very complex movements that can later be applied in very different ways. That’s what makes Tango so amazing. It’s never the same dance twice even with the same partner and the same music!
A Tango Topic Building Block goes one step further. This isn’t just about showing you a move or a step, pattern, or figure but giving you tools that you can integrate into your dance immediately. Ideas that you hadn’t even thought of or considered.
Frequently when we dance, we get very ‘stuck’ in our repetition of the same piece of vocabulary over and over and over again. This series is designed to give you ideas, options, and opportunities to employ differences to add a bit of spice to your dance using very simple ideas.
Let’s get something out of the way going further: This video series and everything in that follows is not a step, pattern, or figure video series. We’re not going to teach you a series of patterns. We believe that steps don’t really help you. Tango, for lack of a better way of putting it, is a dance that is choreographed on the fly, meaning that it is improvised. While that improvisation has some elements to it that are common (the building blocks) how you put those elements together is where the real artistry is at. Put another way, the dance is not ‘canned’, meaning that it is mapped out precisely in time to the music as though you would choreograph a ballet. That would be a performance. What Tango Topics is offering you is a way to expand your dancing repertoire using the vocabulary you already know today, in ways you hadn’t really thought of, and more importantly for use on a social dance floor.
About The Video. This video is 3 sections and when combined create a singular viewing experience of 31m:07s.
Part 1 (16:55) – Explains the 3 pieces of vocabulary with options and variations. Part 2 (07:05) is with a Metronome to show you how some of these ideas can be set to a time signature. And part 3 (07:37) is with a piece of music. There is no Technique discussed in the video.
For technique please visit the individual topics listed below:
Part 1 – Explanation (00:16:55)
Part 2 – Metronome Tools. (00:07:05)
Part 3 – Music (00:07:37