Proprioception

(pron: Pro-Prio-Sep-Shun) According to Webster’s Dictionary the word ‘Proprioception’ comes from the latin word ‘proprius’ meaning “one’s own” or “individual”, and ‘capio’ or ‘capere’ meaning to take or to grasp. The word itself means a perception of one’s own body in space and time, as in the awareness of one’s body in space and time, as it refers to bodily position in space and time. The easiest way to define this gobblygook word is to say that it is to “sense something or someone without looking at it”, however it is much, much more than that. Muuuuuch more!

Tango Proprioception is a slightly different concept, and takes it’s cue from Proprioception and goes a step (no pun intended) further. Believe it or not we use it a fair amount of time when dancing whether or not we are aware of it or not. We use it to feel where we are in relation to our partners, but (and here’s where it takes on a life of it’s own) we also use to sense where our partners are in space (and time, very important for ‘timing’ of how and when things are done). This is quite factually using your partners body as an extension of your own to sense where things are around you! This is Tango Proprioception

Further still we also use it to sense when our partner has completed a weight change or a they have taken a step. We use it in the embrace where we can clearly feel where something is but not see it. We use it as confirmation that we’re in the right place to execute our next movement. We use a piece of it to determine if we’re on beat (or not, and some of us have a problem with that) and we sense it when we’re not (again some of us have a problem with that part). There are many many practical applications for Tango Proprioception

Make no mistake about this, it is a skill that takes time and practice (not patience) to develop. Further  it must be developed with all due diligence, in much the same way that walking is developed. Why ? The simplest reason is that without it (as a Lead) you will constantly be looking down at your Follower’s feet thereby breaking the postural alignment of the couple! Thereby collapsing the couple in on itself (see “9 Lead No-No’s” – #8 specifically) As a Follower you’ll never be able to trust or rely on your abilities when being led into a series of Sacadas (including back sacadas) for fear of hitting your partner, or Paradas, or Pasadas, or Barridas, or even…the Forward step of your Molinete! A good number of Followers will quite factually open the embrace to watch themselves take a Forward step of the Molinete

Both roles must feel where their partner is in space and time. This is not a Lead thing, nor is it solely a Follower thing that you tell the Follower to do, and they do it. NO! It’s a dancer thing! And so that we are clear here Tango Proprioceptionis not ‘feel’ as in emotion (uuuugh), but ‘feel’ as in tactile sensation! If you do not develop this skill, you are doomed (yes ‘doom’) to continue at your current method of less-than-desirable dancing, and you will constantly wonder why things don’t look the way that they should, most especially after you have spent oodles of money on classes with X or Y, or studied online courses (which don’t talk about the singular importance of this skill – mine do).

One has to ask the question, and it’s a perfectly valid one, is this really Proprioception or is it Exteroception ? It’s entirely Proprio! How’s that ? Exteroception is all about the environment that you find yourself in. Whereas that environment is acting on your body in space and time. Or you are responding to the stimuli of that environment. In this instance, and this is where you might rightfully claim that the descriptor above is about the stimuli of the environment, it is not. The descriptor above (Proprio) is talking about using your partner’s body as an extension of your own. Much like you can ‘feel’ a ring of keys hanging from your finger without seeing them. The environment (Extero) is that there is wind blowing and acting on the keys to swing, however in this case, the key ring itself (Proprio) is what we’re talking about. So ‘no’ dear reader, this is Proprioception and not Exteroception. 😉

So that we’re clear here, this is not about perfectionistic dancing, nor ego, nor arrogance. This is demonstrable fact. Have you ever wondered why certain dancers excel and others seemingly lag when both people started at the same time, under the same teacher, studying exactly the same material in exactly the same way ? There’s a reason for that. One might claim that it’s because people are different. True. But the material is exactly the same. One might argue, to a certain degree, that it’s because they have different body types, and they’re different ages. True to a certain degree. However, there are outliers to these arguments. So there must be another factor here (there are several actually) and Tango Proprioception is one of the key ones that if you fail to master it, you will fail at dancing. Yes you’ll be socially popular without it, but you’re not going to get the dances you want without it…continually! So it is in your best interest to develop this skill, asap. Just as a side note most of the videos on this site talk about Tango Proprioception in some way, shape, or form. 

MORE REMINDERS

Going to El Corte ?

The words "El Corte" translated to English from Spanish literally means ‘Cut, Court, or Edge’. However, in the Tango world the word has another meaning: Nijmegen, The Netherlands. What’s in/at Nijmegen ? A dance studio of certain renown: El Corte! Think of El Corte as one of your GoTo destinations. Assuming you want to experience a quality of dance in an environment that is at once fun, and at the same time entirely engaging on multiple levels. Caveat: You do need to have your sh*t together if you visit, while at the same time you must be willing and open to a whole different way of looking at the dance (again, on multiple levels).

Read More »

The ‘Classy’ Move

Truth be told, the beginner dancer that does this will make themselves, and their dancing partner look absolutely fabulous regardless of how the dance went. What is it ? It’s The ‘Classy’ Move.

Read More »

Moscow For Leads

There’s a row of women sitting in Moscow (usually several rows deep actually). Only these rows…are every Lead’s fantasy! Yup. Truth. Let’s get something straight. The food is awful. It’s usually effing cold anytime after september and before june. Getting in an out of Moscow (Russia) isn’t exactly a piece of cake (for an American), there are hoops to jump through (read that as VISA issues). It is not exactly cheap. And there is rampant crime in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.

Read More »

Good/Bad & Dancer/Teacher

At the beginning of our Tango lives, most people go to a Tango Class to learn how to dance Tango. Some people throw caution to the wind and just go to the Milonga and ‘learn’ on the dance floor sometimes with positive but most of the time with disastrous results. And some people take the route of skipping group classes all together and start with one-on-one sessions to begin their Tango journey.

Read More »

The Follower’s Molinete

Typically referred to as ‘The Molinete’. This is the ubiquitous turn that everyone uses, even though there are 7 more that are equally as useful, it has the default turn for most dancers. The part that you should pay attention to is the second word in that phrase, ‘Follower’. This is Follower specific vocabulary. There is a Lead component to it, which is called a ‘Giro’ (translated from Spanish to English it means “I turn”) , but this is really all about the Follower.

Read More »

Practice with Tango Sticks

At some point along your tango curve, you have wanted 1.) to practice a step, a pattern, or a figure. Or 2.) you have seen something that you want to try out. Or 3.) you’re imagining an idea of how something might work and want to try it. In all three of these instances, you will need a practice partner. You’ll need to schedule their time against yours. And once you’re in the same room with them, balance their issues of how they do X vs. how you engage X. And once that challenge is overcome then it’s getting into the idea of what it is you had in mind to begin with. All told, this could be several hours or days between the idea and the actual doing of it.

Read More »

Alternative

There is another option as it’s referred to in the Tango world, Alternative Tango. Sometimes Alternative Tango is known by it’s other names “Neo” Tango or “Nuevo” Tango (which is a misnomer, as this was name that Astor Piazzolla gave to his musical genre that changed Tango music forever). Frequently “open embrace” is lumped in there as well due to the fact that a good portion of the vocabulary of Alternative Tango seemingly comes via an opening of the embrace.

Read More »

Head Tilt

The tilt or position of one’s head (for lead or follow) is far more important than you might imagine. First and foremost, where the head points the body tends to follow. There’s a reason for this, your equilibrium, contrary to popular belief your balance is not generated in the center of your belly. This ‘myth’ is better known and often repeated as to indicate your ‘core’ muscles. This is a lie.

Read More »

Posture

As has been said, many times, which is exceptionally important, and is frequently mentioned by many dancers almost immediately is: Posture.

Posture for most people boils down to the following two lines:

“Head up!”.

“Elongate your Spinal Column.”

This is a ‘good’ posture for most people.

Sounds easy enough, right ? Just lift your head up, and then ummmm ‘elongate’ your spinal column.

Read More »

10 REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE

There are 4 Levels of Access: Free, Basic, Premium, and Premium+. Free pays nothing but gets a perk just for signing up. 

1.) Free Users get to see 5 of the 125 Different Tango Topics on the site. Plus you get access to the entire Tango Reminders and Tango Ideas sections of the site. These are short form Topic descriptors with a little detail about the topic and the video.

2.) 
Basic and Premium users Save A BOATLOAD of MONEY! Buying this stuff outright is expensive.

3.) Basic, Premium, and Premium+ users get access to the ALL ARTICLES and THE FULL ARTICLE which you can’t see right now.

4.) Basic, Premium, and Premium+ users have way better video resolution: Free = 420p, Basic = 720p, Premium = 1080p and 4K. 

5.) Basic, Premium, and Premium+ users get the ‘Dancing Perspectives’ & ‘The Soup’ sections of the document you just read (Lead, Follow, and Dancing) which are open to you. And that’s where all the good stuff is at. 

6.) Video Downloads! 

7.) Access to the Tango Topics Music Library (22 Curated Golden Age Orchestras)

8.) Access to ‘Tango Del Dia’ – Our Music Education System with access to 14 Days of Music, 30 Days of Music Education, and 30 More Days of Tango Del Dia. 

9.) We explain things, break the vocabulary down in a visual way, from multiple angles, showing feet, hands, and close ups! Yes there’s a lot of talking but we want you to understand what it is that you’re doing and why, not just steps, patterns, and figure

and #10:
No more annoying ads at the bottom of the page, begging you to subscribe! 

Keep something in the back of your mind: What you’re seeing in a youtube video is a couple that is performing for the 15th row for a room full of people. They’re not social dancingWhereas this website is all about ‘Social Tango’  or how to make things function on a social dance floor. Social Dance floor ? Your local milonga! They are showing you flashy moves as a presentation, to show off! But not stopping and talking about how this works which is what you need to see. This website and all of it’s content show you the how and  why you’d want to put that piece of vocabulary there, or how to make things work. This website is all about those things and more!

You could watch Tango YouTube videos and thereby spend your time, trying to infer, and figure out how things may work in that particular situation. Bend your body this way or that, twist and force this position or that. Place your foot here or there and figure it out. This is known as Tango Twister.  Which can be a lot of fun, but more than likely it won’t help you, because you’re missing something: The explanation from an experienced teacher showing you how to properly excute this stuff from a Leading Perspective as well as from a Following Perspective!

The goal of YouTube videos is to get you to study with those teachers in person. The goal of Tango Topics videos allows you to work at your own pace, in the comfort of your own space, so that you can play them over and over again to improve your understanding of the vocabulary or technique being described to therefore better your dancing experience. The goal of classes and workshops is to get you to come back over and over and over again, thereby spending more money with that teacher. This website and the videos under it are here to act as a resource for you to help you to improve your dance. Pay once and you’re done.

Eventually, one way or another you’re going to pay for this lesson, either here and now, or with them. TANSTAAFL! The difference between that lesson and this ? Is that you get to play this lesson over and over and over again. Further still, there are supporting materials (other videos) that help to explain the language and the underlying technique of how and why things work, so you can easily reference those things in the corresponding articles that go with the material, and or any language in the Tango Topics Dictionary. 

DROP ME A MSG HERE

Hide picture