“When is it wrong to do LIFTS in Tango ?” – Yvonne Asked.
Answer ? First and foremost, thanks for the question. This stuff doesn’t get talked about enough. Secondly, there are several parts to your question that need to be addressed. Lastly, it should be noted that while I’ve been teaching for almost 20 years, I do have a very particular ideology about a.) appropriateness, b.) skills. And c.) maturity of when and where something should be done and how it should be done. Which is to say, I may be the wrong person to ask about this topic because of my ideology. Meaning you might not like what I have to say on this topic. However, I will respond as I would one of my intensive-level students.
That said, let’s rework your question a bit for clarity: > When is it ‘OK’ to do LIFTS in Tango?
I reworded your question because there are some that will say that the word ‘wrong’ implies that there is a wrongness to it. And that’s not the case. What I tell my students in all things is this: > There is no right or wrong in Tango. There is only Desirable and Less than Desirable. And it’s a spectrum of choices in between. There’s a time and a place for everything.
Which leads us to the WHEN portion of the question: > Early, very early in the Milonga. OR more appropriately, late at night when there are very few dancers. In both instances, there are or should be lots of space to engage the specific vocabulary that will NOT IMPACT the line of dance or disrupt it. Which is to say that one should NEVER, EVER engage in extreme vocabulary (and the LIFT applies here as extreme) within the LINE of DANCE at a CROWDED Milonga. EVER. The possibility for injury is too great, for the parties executing it, to the dancers around the parties. So it’s best to keep a selection of vocabulary confined to the beginning and ending of the Milonga when there are very few people left dancing and there’s LOTS and LOTS of space.
Next, let’s address a few points.
This doesn’t necessarily apply ONLY to LIFTS but to ALL vocabulary that’s outside fo the 5 Social Figures of Argentine Tango (The 6 Ways of Walking, The 8 Types of Ochos, The 8 Types of Turns, The 156 Types of Crosses, and the 8 Types of Cortados). Rightfully, you only want to engage in vocabulary that you have mastered. And ‘Mastered’ is not defined as going to a weekend workshop (cough, cough) and then believing that you have ‘mastered’ the vocabulary from that workshop. No! That’s not how this works. It takes, even under ideal conditions, WEEKS…and that’s being KIND at best to say ‘WEEKS’,to several months for you to ‘master’ a piece of vocabulary. The goal is to make the vocabulary integrated, subconscious, smooth, visually clean and tidy, and most importantly > ‘not forced’. And like all non-standard vocabulary, which has usually been taught under questionable conditions, and with partners that are missing a few pieces of foundational skills, results will vary wildly. Which is why I usually tell my students this >
“Whatever Specialty vocabulary you want to do, should only be done with a partner that one has practiced with and/or danced with repeatedly, who also understands it, and only then when it’s late at night. And then to do it ONCE and then you let it go!”
It should be noted that Specialty vocabulary is just that, special. It is NOT the main meal of the dance. It is accent, spice, highlight. The meal of the dance is WALKING, OCHOS, TURNING, CROSSING. Everything else > Sacada, Volcada, Colgada, Gancho, Boleo, Float, LIFT, Drop, Drift, or Drag is secondary. Which is to say, that you do not do said specialty vocabulary OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER again. Once and you LET IT GO. You use Specialty Vocabulary MUSICALLY not as the staple of the dance. It must FIT. If you cannot make the entire dance out of Walking, Ochos, Turns, and Crosses, then you may want to look at something about what you’re doing and why.
The Repetition Issue. Let’s assume that you have an advancing Lead and barely beginner Follower. And said Lead performs Non-Standard vocabulary on the Follower. As one might reasonably expect the Follower does NOT respond the way that the Lead intended. There’s a slight hesitation in the Follower, and then legs fly here and there. Usually. Mistake #1 > The Lead will repeat the same thing several times, expecting different results. Mistake #2 > Repeat and, on the 2nd or 3rd time, use their arms and hands to direct (force) said Follower. Because when has pushing and pulling someone’s body never caused pain and hurt. Mistake #3 > After the 3rd or 4th trial and failure – The Lead will stop the dance and ‘TRAIN’ the Follower in the line of dance, on the floor, at the milonga, in the expected vocabulary and its response.
All of this is entirely less than desirable. Mostly from the Lead’s actions. Not the Follower’s.
Next we have to address the LIFT and really all specialty vocabulary’s appropriateness factor. Gauge the Milonga event that you’re at and ask > “Is this really the best place to do this ?”. The answer is more than likely “NO”. I get it, you’re all excited and you’re in the moment, and you think the vocabulary FITS what you’re trying to express musically. But one has to consider the venue and whether or not that vocabulary is appropriate for that venue. Some venues don’t care. And others do. I can think of at least a dozen or so off the top of my head where if you pull a LIFT, DRIFT, or DRAG you’re not only going to get a few nasty looks, but more than likely you’ll get thrown out for doing it! So in other words consider VERY carefully in the moment before you do that stuff. VERY CAREFULLY.
It should be noted that a piece of this ideology that is rarely talked about and almost never pointed out as an option at all is the Follower’s Agency. This is a much larger topic that I have touched on before. Agency ? Meaning the Follower has the option NOT to engage in the lead vocabulary if they feel they’re not being taken care of by their Lead, or they feel unsafe for any of a dozen reasons, or they’re just not feeling it. It is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS the choice of the Follower to engage in the lead vocabulary. And it should NEVER BE an obligation or forced. The Follower ALWAYS has a choice. There are some Leads, and I will not name names or point fingers here that believe that the Follower has NO agency whatsoever. They believe that the Follower must do what they’re asked to do. End of subject. There was a time when this was true. Not in today’s Tango world. Nor is it something that I teach. I can’t speak for others in this respect, but for me, I always create space and agency for the Follower. Always. And they ALWAYS have the agency to do X. It is ALWAYS their choice. Always.
Lastly, there are others that don’t adhere to this type of Tango Ideology about vocabulary. They just do because they can and they don’t really care about anything else. They believe that they’re being creative and want to do what they want to do when they want to do it. And the suggested ideology above is what applies to others and not them. They’re special. These are also the same people that are typically disruptive to the line and lane of dance and the ronda as a whole. So take from that what you will.
As always Be careful out there and YMMV.