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Tag: close embrace

Close Embrace

Close Embrace Dancing

This site is all about helping you to create a more desirable Close Embrace Dancing Experience thru our 900 videos and articles (not including all the other stuff) on Tango Topics for you to watch and learn from. It’s not just the videos, but the articles that contain the most of what you need to know to elevate your dance. We’re not trying to sell you videos here, but instead to inform and engage you to educate yourself wherever possible.

Milonguero Turn ‘Trick’.

What is the Milonguero Turn Trick ? First and foremost, the Trick itself isn’t a ‘trick’, it’s more of a…

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Preparing for Buenos Aires – DIASS Edition

Buenos Aires for a lot of people, is their trip to Mecca. It is mythological. It is magical. It is…

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Five Social Figures Variations – DIASS Edition

What is “Dancing In A Small Space” (or ‘DIASS’ as Tango Topics refers to this idea) ! There are two…

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Walking Systems

What are Walking Systems ? These are 18 different ways that we can walk in Argentine Tango. Not the how-we-walk,…

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Dancing In A Small Space – Extended

What is DIASS: EVE ? In short, this is a series of 8 pieces of tango vocabulary that tangotopics has…

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Walking Turns

What is a Walking Turn ? In it's simplest form, it is exactly what it sounds like, a turn where…

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Dancing In A Small Space – Addendum

First, in it’s simplest form, it’s all about the vocabulary and engaging Five pieces of Tango vocabulary. The Five Pieces…

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The Argentine Calesita

What is an Argentine Calesita ? The word “Calesita” roughly translates as Carousel or in English, a ‘Merry-Go-Round’. Anytime the…

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Dancing In A Small Space – Primary

What is a ‘Dancing In A Small Space’ ? There are two parts to the answer to this question: First,…

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Five Social Figures

What are the Five Social Figures ? In its really basic form, it's the 5 things that we do all…

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October 11, 2024
The Argentine Calesita

The Argentine Calesita. Tango consists, surprisingly so, of an almost dizzying array of ‘steps’ that it quite honestly boggles the mind. Really when you stop and you think about it, it’s just 2 feet, well 4 really, and you can’t even begin to imagine what you could do with 4 feet. The possibilities are nearly endless! Which brings us to Today’s Tango Topic: The Argentine Calesita.

Calesita is not a word that you hear all that often, and quite frankly even if you look it up to translate it, you’ll more than likely be more than a little confused. In the annals of Tango Vocabulary this is one of those things that quite literally have to ask, “What on God’s green earth is a Calesita ?”.

The Argentine Calesita is a type of turn. One of the 8 Types that Tango Topics talks about. 1.) The Follower’s Molinete (open embrace, and close embrace). 2.) The Milonguero Turn. 3.) The Rock Step. 4.) The Ocho Cortado (The Linear Form/The Circular Form). 5.) Argentine Media Luna. 6.) Walking Turns. (El Giro de Caminando). 7.) Colgada Turns & Single Axis Turns. and 8.) The Argentine Calesita.

What is an Argentine Calesita ? The word “Calesita” roughly translates as ‘Carousel’ or in English, a ‘Merry-Go-Round’. Anytime you see a ‘sita’ or ‘cita’ ending on a Spanish word, it means that whatever object is being modified is small, or made smaller, tiny. So this is a small carousel or a small ‘Merry-Go-Round’. The Argentine Calesita is basically a small walking turn! It’s nothing more than a variation on a El Giro De Caminando or The Walking Turn with a ‘twist’, there’s always a twist! So what’s the twist ? Instead of the couple walking in a tiny, tight circle, one partner walks in a tight circle around the other. This is Lead vocabulary as well as Follower vocabulary. Meaning that you shouldn’t necessarily get all persnickety that the Follower alone should do this. Many Leads employ this very useful turn as a way to reposition themselves to do something else. It’s a great navigational tool as well. And, obviously, can be used to Interpret the Music. It’s also not that hard, once you get it through your head that you’re not going to employ the Follower’s Molinete or a Milonguero Turn. The reality of this type of motion for the couple is that unless it’s been led before, the Follower will default to their training. The Lead on the other hand, because this is self-led will have issues in different areas.

One More Thing. This stuff is really not that hard to envision but there’s one overriding reason why we actually want to add this into our dance, and it has everything to do with heat. Heat ? Yes, bodily heat. Typically the dance can generate a lot of body warmth and as such, things can get overheated quite easily. So engaging the Argentine Calesita tends to release that heat trap temporarily. Ok, that’s not a real reason but it sounds like one, no ? A good reason that we want to engage the Argentine Calesita is purely a musical one. A good Calesita can be used in any number of ways to accentuate the upbeat, the downbeat, dropping a beat, playing with 8th or 16th notes (almost patter like). This is the primary reason why we use them!

The Free Tip. There is one thing about the Calesita that has not been mentioned above, and it this: 2 or 3 Millimeters of distance is all that it takes to move a Calesita from usable to undesirable. Meaning that it is all too easy to create a Calesita (from a Leading or Following perspective) that is wholly unstable! The entire video shows you how to correct for this problem.

About The Video. This video is 01h:14m:13s in length in 15 Sections. Both lead and follower technique is combined and integrated in the video.

Section 1 – Introduction – 00:01:10
Section 2 – Caveats – 00:05:35
Section 3 – Lead Set Up – 00:07:01
Section 4 – Lead Forward Calecita – 00:02:49
Section 5 – Follower’s Forward Calesita – 00:07:40
Section 6 – with Close Embrace – 00:05:23
Section 7 – with Milonguero/Lazy Ochos – 00:03:47
Section 8 – Calesita with 2 Turns – 00:03:42
Section 9 – Close Up – 00:05:09
Section 10 – Errors – 00:11:42
Section 11 – Footwork – 00:03:11
Section 12-Follower Technique – 00:05:15
Section 13-Lead Back Step Calesita – 00:05:54
Section 14 – Follower Back Step Calesita – 00:05:13
Section 15 – Closure – 00:00:42

July 20, 2017
Walking Turns

The Walking Turn. Right from the start the 2nd or 3rd thing a Lead must learn is how to turn the Follower. Usually, most Leads are taught the sexier turn, learning to lead the Follower’s Molinete to their Lead Giro. It’s a harder turn to learn for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that the Lead must master disassociation first and foremost, and secondarily not to use their arms or hands to push or pull the Follower. That along with the timing of certain aspects of the guidance of the Follower’s Molinete can make it rather challenging. So you would think, given all that, that teachers would eschew teaching the Lead how to generate the Follower’s Molinete in favor of a much simpler turn. Nope. Most teachers go right for the Molinete/Giro combo and skip right past the simplest turn of all: The Walking Turn!

What is a ‘Walking Turn’ ? It’s a turn where the couple walks in a very tight circle within the line of dance. Obviously this type of turn has issues, in that 2 of it’s steps will go AGAINST the line of dance. However, this can be alleviated by ‘cutting’ the corner of the first turning step, thereby curving the turning step towards being even tighter.

There are many benefits to this type of turn even though it isn’t taught that often if at all. One benefit is that the turn allows for the continuation of walking with your partner. Still another benefit is that it also allows one to engage any one of the five of the six ways of walking! Usually this turn is done in Close Embrace, and in Parallel Walking System. However, that doesn’t mean that it has to stay that way. 🙂 It can be a very nice exploration, musically speaking, of Close Embrace walking on 3 tracks or Milonguero Ochos or a host of other things.

The primary reason we use this turn is to add to our repertoire of available turns. We could use the Follower’s Molinete or the Milonguero Turn, or it’s kissin’ cousin, the Calecita. Which, as a side note, is a great addition to the Walking Turn itself. You can go from Calecita to Walking Turn in a continual cycle back and forth. Just a thought. 😉

The Problem: There’s a reason why this turn isn’t taught all that often. Actually 3 reasons. 1.) It is all too easy for The Walking Turn to become a navigational hazard, meaning that the turn can go outside one’s line and lane of dance when executed by a beginner Lead. 2.) It’s not sexy by comparison to the follower’s molinete, but rather it is very functional. And for some reason we like sexy and eschew functional. 🙂 The problem is that the turn itself while being very easy to learn, can be difficult to execute. 3.) Probably the biggest issue is that after about 2 or 3 steps, depending on the size of your steps, you will invariably be facing against the line of dance. And this is a major no-no! And if this something your teacher has not told you about, then fire that teacher immediately! Because this is one of those things that you should have drilled into your head! One never, ever, ever walks or dances against the line of dance!

For these 3 reasons, this is why the turn is almost never taught to beginner leads, because they’ll end up doing all 3 things, thereby freaking out when something doesn’t go right, and thereby screwing up the line of dance which in turn creates a navigational nightmare!

However, with a little judicious study, and some hard work, the turn can be taught, and then executed with a great deal of control and precision, and eventually can become a useful staple of every Lead’s arsenal of turning tools in today’s modern version of Argentine Tango.

The Free Tip: This turn can be used in a tight space, but the turn gives up one of its elegant pieces, it’s not gradual anymore. At the same time, there is no more force in the arms in any way, shape, or form. 🙂 That said, the tightness of the turn, the size of it, can be controlled through foot placement, and rotation of the new standing foot. So wherever that foot lands it wants to rotate towards the inside of the walking circle.

About The Video. This video comes in at 1hr:8m in length in 19 Sections. Both lead and follower technique is combined and integrated in the video.

Section 1 – Introduction – 00:01:00
Section 2 – Set Up: 5 Embraces – 00:01:20
Section 3 – Basic Floorcraft – 00:02:00
Section 4 – Tango Hapitcs – 00:01:02
Section 5 – Without The Lead Back Step – 00:00:37
Section 6 – Set Up – Relationship = Alignment – 00:01:23
Section 7 – Starting The Turn – 00:02:00
Section 8 – The Walking Turn – 00:00:58
Section 9 – The Walking Turn with the 5 Embraces – 00:07:47
Section 10 – Follower Technique – 00:06:11
Section 11 – Lead Technique – 00:01:37
Section 12 – The Relationship – 00:03:21
Section 13 – Footwork: Close-ups – 00:04:59
Section 14 – Why Walking Systems – 00:00:58
Section 15 – Walking Turns with 6 Walking Systems Explained – 00:06:49
Section 16 – Walking Turns with 6 Walking Systems Applied – 00:11:38
Section 17 – Walking Turns – Errors – 00:05:44
Section 18 – Embrace Reminders – 00:04:46
Section 19 – Closure – 00:02:07

July 9, 2017
Crossing Sacada Turn

What is a Crossing Sacada Turn ? In its simplest form, it’s nothing more than a series of Simple Sacadas that are chained together that just so happen to utilize the Follower’s Molinete or ‘Turn’, which employs the Argentine Cross as it’s basis for entry. While the turn can be done without this entry point, it loses it’s ‘elegance’ by without using the Argentine Cross.

To be clear, a ‘Sacada’ is one of 4 types of Tango Displacements (Boleos, Gancho, Wrap/Enganche, and Sacadas), meaning that either the dancer’s leg will displace or their entire body will be displaced or take the place of their partner. A Sacada can be done from open or close embrace, it can be done by either role to the other, and has lots and lots and lots of options (about 501, at last count – not kidding).

A turn, as defined by Tango Topics, can be but is not limited to these ideas in order of precedence: 1.) The Follower’s Molinete to the Lead’s Giro (the Common ‘Turn’). 2.) A Milonguero Turn. 3.) The Ocho Cortado. 4.) The Argentine Rock Step/Turn. 5.) The Calecita. 6.) A Walking Turn. 7.) The Media Luna. and 8.) A Single Axis Turn.

A ‘Crossing’ Sacada Turn ? Is exactly what it sounds like, a turn that has a bunch of Sacadas as part of it. In this particular case, this Sacada Turn uses the Follower’s Molinete, and a very important structure that Tango Topics completely eschews repeatedly, and says that you should never, ever do. This is the ONE time when you do want to do that, however with all things, there’s always a caveat to the caveat. That said, let’s talk about The Crossing Sacada Turn.

The Free Tip. Something to keep in the back of your mind is that while this is a cool piece of vocabulary and you’ll see it executed a lot, there is another version of this that does NOT include the last Sacada. Truthfully we can execute the Sacada Turn without the 3rd Sacada, and everything works just fine, sort of. Doing so, can generate other options and opportunities for us as Leads and Followers. However, one thing that will continually plague you is why the Follower continually turns away from the Lead after the 2nd or 3rd Sacada! There’s a reason for that, and there’s also a solution for it which is why it is important that you watch the video in it’s entirety to see exactly what is generating proper execution of the Sacada Turn! And don’t just rely on your eyes to assume what’s happening here.

About The Video. This video comes in at 34m:02s in length in 13 Sections. This video contains no Follower and/or and very little Lead Technique.

Section 1 – Introduction – 00:00:52
Section 2 – Argentine Cross – The Starting Point – 00:01:32
Section 3 – The Lead’s Cross Behind – 00:02:35
Section 4 – The First Sacada – 00:01:09
Section 5 – The Follower’s Flailing Foot Error – 00:02:17
Section 6 – The Second Sacada – 00:01:32
Section 7 – The Third Sacada – 00:03:10
Section 8 – The First Complete Sacada Turn – 00:01:32
Section 9 – The Turning Brake – 00:04:08 (technique)
Section 10 – Removing The 3rd Sacada – 00:00:58
Section 11 – A Variation On A Theme – 00:03:47
Section 12 – The Close Embrace Version – 00:01:34
Section 13 – With A Metronome/Closure – 00:02:34

December 7, 2017
Single Axis Turns

There are Eight Turns in Argentine Tango that Tango Topics has identified as Commonly used or Social Turns. There are a few others that are outside of the common eight but for the most part, accept for now that there are eight.

Just in case you were curious, the Eight Common Turns are, in order of precedence and commonality: 1.) The Follower’s Molinete/Lead’s Giro. 2.) Milonguero Turn. 3.) Rock Step. 4.) Ocho Cortado. 5.) Calesitas. 6.) Media Luna Turns. 7.) Colgada Turns. 8.) Anti-Molinete.

Today’s Tango Topic deals with one of those common eight turns. This particular turn is an unusual one even though it’s part of the eight. It’s unusual because it’s a variation of a class of turns called “Colgada Turns”, and furthermore it’s also not used all that much, and for good reason. Why ? Because it’s a difficult turn to pull off at first. This one is not for the faint of heart, but once you master it, your coolness factor goes right through the roof. Not to mention you will have also mastered one of Tango’s more difficult aspects that hasn’t been around all that long in the dance: Off-Axis Movements. Tango has traditionally been a couple in Close Embrace type of dance that almost never opens once the Embrace begins. Nor does that Embrace change other than to get closer and closer and closer, and more refined. This type of turn, while done in Close Embrace, creates a version of Close Embrace that from the outside looking in, doesn’t look all that different, but from the inside (the couple’s perspective) feels very different. Today we’re going to explore both sides of the embrace, for both roles, so without further yapping, Tango Topics presents: The Single Axis Turn!

What Is A Single Axis Turn ? It is tango specific language to describe a type of rotation that occurs between Lead and Follow where the word ‘axis’ refers to not the Follower’s Longitudinal Axis (which is the typical axial line that is referenced with the use of the word ‘axis’) nor is it the Lead’s, but rather a shared Longitudinal Axis between the couple. Truth be told, that axial line is always present. It’s generally the point of contact between the couple. However that longitudinal axis almost never gets used in Social Tango. Almost never. Except, and there is always an exception to these things, when the couple or partnership engages in what’s called ‘Apilado‘ (please follow the link for more information if you need a clear definition of this word). When Apilado is engaged, then the couple is dancing, depending on how it’s done, in either a supported way (shared) or unsupported way (forced). In the latter case, the Follower is being forced to fall on top of the Lead or to place all of their weight on the Lead. While there are times when that is desirable, in the case of the Single Axis Turn, that’s not desirable.

Another way of looking at the Single Axis Turn is by understanding that this is a Colgada variation. However, unlike most Colgadas though which tend to be executed in Open Embrace, this variation on a theme is done primarily in Close Embrace! So while it can be done in Open Embrace, and doing so will generate more of a ‘whoosh’ factor (see below) than you would normally like to have in a Single Axis Turn, this is generally a Close Embrace movement that is small, social and fits within the line and lane of dance that you’re in. At no point in time, should a Single Axis Turn exit that line or lane of dance at all. The Single Axis Turn is Floorcraft safe, when done properly.

Another piece of Tango vocabulary that uses very similar methodology and uses the same principle of ‘Apilado’ is the Argentine Volcada. It is also a shared axis movement. The Single Axis Turn is exactly the same in that respect. However, where as in the case of the Volcada, where the couple goes towards each other thereby creating more dependence on each other, in this case, in the case of the Single Axis Turn they go away from each other!

Put simply the Single Axis Turn is a rotation around a shared longitudinal axial line where the couple seemingly in close or open embrace, rotates around this axial line, thereby creating a ‘turn’.

The Free Tip. Just as in the case of the Volcada, where there is a natural ‘kickstand’ for all Volcadas, a safety mechanism that the Follower can invoke, if they’re not supported in the initiation phase of the Volcada…the same thing is true here. That same safety mechanism exists in the Single Axis Turn in exactly the same way in EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

About The Video. This video is 13m:49s in length in 9 sections. Both lead and follower technique are combined and integrated into the video.

Introduction – 00:00:34
Forward Steps – 00:03:09
Follower Technique for Forward Steps – 00:01:26
Further Rotation – 00:00:32
Close Embrace Side Steps – 00:01:47
Follower Technique for Side Steps – 00:00:53
Multiple Single Axis Turns – 00:01:47
The ‘Whoooosh’ Factor – 00:00:42
The Hurrican Turn/End – 00:02:09

February 2, 2017
Milonguero Turn ‘Trick’.

You’re out social dancing, and you’ve been practicing your Milonguero Turns with your favorite partner, and you feel like you’ve got it down, so now it’s time to take it of the lab and put it on the floor and try it with other dancing partners. This, by the way, is not how we want to create a good practice regime. We do have a treatise on what to practice and how to practice. But more on that later in another article. 😉 You’ve accepted a request to dance with someone else, it’s a Di Sarli Tango tanda, and you smile, and you walk to the floor with your partner, engaging a the Lead’s Cabeceo! Stepping onto the floor, and engaging in your partner’s embrace, you settle into each other. Readjust, hopefully employing the “The Readjustment Phase” of the dance, a very important component, and then begin to dance, slowly, patiently, cautiously figuring out each other, rather than throwing every known piece of vocabulary at your partner in the first 30 seconds. Or some crazy cool move that you think is cool but your partner may find somewhat ‘annoying’ at best. Especially dancing to Di Sarli. Tsk, tsk, tsk. It’s around this time near the end of the first musical paragraph that your partner initiates their first turn. If you’re Leading you discover immediately that what your partner heard as a turn was in fact the Follower’s Molinete and not the Milonguero Turn that you intended. If you’re Following at this point, you’re wondering why the Lead keeps turning or why the Lead is squeezing the living daylights out of your back and what that’s all about. As far as you’re concerned you’re doing what the Lead asked invoking a Milonguero Turn by default because you know the rule but they keep squeezing and turning. Uuuugh!

Scenario over!

Today’s Tango Topic deals with that moment right there where there is obviously some confusion, a bit of a hiccup in what would have otherwise been a lovely and near perfect dancing experience.

The Milonguero Turn is one of Tango’s underused but extremely elegant turns. However it comes with a tiny little problem embedded in it. The problem ? Default Behavior and Default Expectation. The Default Behavior ? The Follower’s Molinete as the response to a turn. The Molinete/Giro structure is one of the seven basic moves of Argentine Tango that is used so often and with such ubiquity that we almost don’t even think about it anymore. It’s just that we start turning and magically a Follower’s Molinete occurs. However, as in the case above, what happens when the Lead wants to invoke a Milonguero Turn instead ? A hiccup is what happens and from there things get ugly quickly.

That’s what Today’s Tango Topic is all about. So without further yappment, here’s Today’s Tango Topic on The Milonguero Turn Trick – Personalized.

What is the Milonguero Turn Trick ? First and foremost, the Trick itself isn’t a ‘trick’, it’s more of a reliance on Follower Default behaviors. Secondly, the ‘Trick’ only solves the first major hurdle of the Turn itself – The Follower’s Back Cross.

The problem with the Milonguero Turn, and it is a problem, is the opening step, the Follower’s Back Cross. By default, the Follower will not want to cross behind or back cross, unless this is their default turn or default behavior. Truthfully there are very few Milonguero Turn default based Followers. Usually the Follower has been trained in the Molinete/Giro structure as their default. So the moment that the Lead starts a turn, the Follower thinks and responds with “Molinete”. This is not desirable. While the Molinete is a very sexy turn, it’s not what we’re wanting out of the Follower at all. We ideally want the cleaner, less stressful, Milonguero Turn for a whole bunch of reasons.

Before you go any further you’re going to ask, “Well, if the Lead led it then the Follower should follow what was led!”. True to a degree but then again, you’re dealing with default behavior, and that stuff is insanely difficult to override, most of the time. That’s why this ‘Trick’ exists.

The opening back cross presents a problem: How to generate it ? And that’s where the Milonguero Turn ‘Trick’ comes in. It says, “Fine…the Follower has default behaviors, one of them is to come to collection, still another is not to a leg fly away from them, still another they have a desire to make things as small as possible, less work”. All of these default behaviors can be used to the Lead’s advantage if properly invoked. And that’s what the Milonguero Turn Trick does, it invokes all three of those defaults and overrides the Follower’s desire to Molinete. It supersedes it almost immediately so that the Follower never, ever wants to Molinete!

In its simplest form the Trick is a Simple Sacada, but a fully unrealized one. The reason this is said, is because a Simple Sacada should and would take the place of the Follower, but it doesn’t. In its more complex form, it overrides the Follower’s default behavior to Molinete and replaces it with a back cross.

Remember that the turn trick only solves ONE problem – Initiating the Follower’s Back Cross. It doesn’t solve the entire Milonguero Turn, you still have to learn to lead and follow those things.

Notation: When the “What is … ” section of an article is blue, that means that the article is freely available to registered, users. When the section is yellow, the article is still free, but the video is for paid users. 😉

Why this video exists ? It exists for 3 reasons. 1.) It was part of a longer lesson for this particular student on the Milonguero Turn, and Elements of Turning itself. 2.) To give the student a reminder tutorial for when I wasn’t there. 3.) I taught a Milonguero Turn class rather recently and then discovered this a few days after the class, and realized that this is actually a perfect reminder for anyone that wants to play with the Milonguero Turn on how to build it and what should happen.

Further this video exists with the student’s consent. So don’t get all persnickety that we’re showing you a private lesson without the student’s knowledge. They’re fully aware of the video and fully endorse it.

July 25, 2019
8 Tips To Desirable Tango

First, let’s get some language out of the way, the title of this article is not “BETTER” tango, but “Desirable”. As ‘desirable’ is a more realistic term towards the idea of ‘Social Tango’. Believe it or not, the descriptives actually matter here. Because what call a thing is what it becomes in your mind! So the clearer you are in that descriptive, the more clear it is to making it a reality! So for that reason alone, we don’t call this ‘Eight Tips to Better Tango’. No. We refer to this as Eight Tips to Desirable Tango. Secondly, the idea that there is a destination here, that you’ll arrive at being amazing in your dancing skills is absolute bullshyte. There is no destination. Get that thought right out of your head. There is only ‘desirable’ and ‘not desirable’. Third and lastly along the lines of language, ‘Desirable’ is a MOVING target. Meaning ? That the idea that you will one day be a magical dancer is not reality, the goal posts for desirable is always, always, always changing. Always.

The more that you have danced, the more that you have learned a way to compromise your body into doing X, Y, and Z that contorts, twists, and mauls you so much so and so often that you erroneously believe that this is how the dance is supposed to be. It’s not. Truthfully the dance is so effortless and easeful that it’s almost scary. The example above shows a couple that is walking together, effortlessly, with ease. Mind you that this ease and effortless ability happened because both partners worked on themselves, individually, on their own technique, in order for the walk to appear as effortless and as easeful as it looks and was. However, you have no idea about this, because you’re so used to moving in your contorted way, using muscled force, hanging, pulling, pushing, and wholly unstable that you think, or believe, that what you are doing is what the couple is doing above. It’s not.

This couple is moving together is an illusion of techniques. The Lead’s walking technique. The Follower’s walking technique. Together this creates an illusion of effortlessness. When it fact it’s very practiced and second nature to them. This is not something that they learned in 5 minutes in a class once and then magically were able to reproduce this. No. This effortless easeful movement of the couple happens through years of diligent, personal, painstaking, detailed, sometimes disheartening, hard work. Not 5 minutes, not 5 hours, not 5 weeks, not 5 months, but years.

The fact is that what you’re seeing is the result of that work. The reality is that if you have to push, if you have to pull, if you have to squeeze, if you have to ‘lead’ with your mouth, if you have to use your arms to direct where the follower is going, if you have to hold on to your lead for dear life because you’re falling all over the place, if you have to squeeze the lead’s arms to stabilize you with every step and on every turn or Ocho, if you have to follow or lead by watching their feet, then you know what ? You are more than likely compromising your body, contorting it to be able to ‘dance’. This is not tango. This is contortion and it is not easeful or effortlessness by any stretch of the imagination.

So how do you get to the effortlessness of the dancers above ? Below are 8 Tips to Desirable Tango towards that goal. It is not the only pathway, and this by no means is an exhaustive list of what has to happen, but it is a good starting point. When reading through these points there is something that you absolutely must keep in mind, something that you must not forget: Most of these points (except the musical one) come from a place of self-honesty. The dancers above achieved their level of effortlessness by blatantly and sometimes more often than not by being deeply and harshly self-critical, honest with themselves and their partners, over and over again. Every nuance, every detail, every aspect in exacting precision was scrutinized, reworked, tailored, taken apart and then put back together hundreds of times. If that. It is only through self-honesty and hyper self-awareness that change can occur. It is absolutely crucial towards becoming a dancer that is desirable to dance with. That said, let’s begin….

Desirable Tip #1

Working your foundation. While you have heard this page say and me say, and every teacher say that the foundation of the dance is walking. That’s not entirely true. Yes the dance is a walking dance, but the dance almost never walks in Modern Tango, it turns. It would be more accurate to state that the dance is a turning one. But that’s not what this statement really means. “Working Your Foundation”, refers to creating a stable platform from which you can walk, or turn, or cross. ‘Stable’ in this case means that you do not need to hang, you do not need to pull, you do not need to push. You are completely aware of your own equilibrium, and as a result do not need to touch someone in any way, shape, or form in order to move with them. Think of it this way: When you’re walking anywhere (assuming it’s not icy out) do you need to hold onto someone else to do it ? Probably not. So why would you need to do this when dancing Tango ? Answer ? You don’t. And anyone that tells you any different is either lying through their teeth or has a contorted way of looking at the dance that you probably want nothing to do with. So ‘Working Your Foundation’ is really about stabilizing the three primary steps of the dance from a leading perspective as well as from a following perspective, individually (not together), forward, side, and back, independent of someone else. Working your foundation will give you the ability to control your own body without holding onto someone else, being independent and that in turn will allow you, when you are in the confines of the embrace, to be 10 times more controlled, and that control gives you the effortlessness and ease that you seek.

Desirable Tip #2

The Onion. Tango is like the unending onion. There is no ‘there’, there is always, always, always something to work on even when you think you have mastered X, you must revisit it constantly with drills and exercises. Constantly. Practice is not, and should not be considered, dancing practice with a partner, but rather should be working the base elements of motion itself – which is stepping forward, stepping backwards, stepping to the side – Forward, Side, and Back. Clean up those things, make those things stable, clear, controlled, contained, consistent, without wobbling, without wavering, without needing to hold on to anyone or anything (no balance bars), and then you’re onto something. The drills and exercises are the onion here because you can always delve deeper into greater and greater levels of control and precision. Finite control is what you’re after here as a Lead and as a Follower! You want to be able to deftly control every aspect of any motion regardless of whether or not you are in an embrace or not! And to be clear, this isn’t about speed, truthfully it’s about slowly, very slow, like a 10th of the speed at which you’d normally do something, it is about doing something thoroughly and slowly and carefully, meticulously detailed and precise control. Through drills and exercises you will gain some measure of finite control, and that finite control will allow you to master forward, side, and back under most conditions.

Desirable Tip #3

Learn to Lead AND Follow at the same time. Don’t put it off to wait until you have mastered X. The fact is that you will never master X. So you may as well start sooner, rather than later. Further still, you will acquire the dance that much faster. Some people are put off by this statement and erroneously think or believe that it means giving up the masculinity or femininity of the dance. Not true. My father always used to say to me “Know Your Stuff”. He meant to educate myself, illuminate the dark corners of topic to know it inside and out. So that when challenged I could speak knowledgeably at the dinner table on a topic and not sound like the proverbial village idiot. The same thing is true here. While you may never use the skill, that doesn’t mean that the knowledge can not and will not benefit you on multiple levels. It does and can do exactly that and a whole lot more. Right now you have a way of seeing the dance as sort of a ‘Black Art of Leading’ and a ‘Screwup skill of Following’. What does that mean ? It means that for Followers they’re afraid or fearful of leading because it seems so hard. The fact is that you know more about Leading than the lead does! Why ? Because you’ve been led by every awful lead in the room that squeezes, pulls, and pushes, and you know what that feels like and you don’t want to do it. From a Leading perspective, you lead something and the Follower doesn’t follow it but they’re ‘supposed’ to. The fact is the reason why they don’t follow it is because you’re in denial about what you’ve actually led. If you lead it, they will follow it. It’s that simple. If they’re not Following it, it’s because you aren’t leading what you thought you were. So swapping roles every time you learn something new will help you to understand how and why X, Y, and Z works. Didactically breaking it down to it’s component elements (forward, side, back). This isn’t about steps and patterns and learning it, it’s about learning how the coupleship works in relation to what is and how something is being led and followed. This isn’t new information folks. It’s old information. Most of the better dancers that you will see and have seen have all learned to lead and follow and some of them do it elegant and some not so much but that’s more than you have done. So if they can do it, why can’t you ?

Desirable Tip #4

Drop your ego. It’s getting in the way. The fact is that you are fearful of making mistakes, and looking like you don’t know what you’re doing. Guess what ? Every one knows that you don’t know what you’re doing. So get used to it. Some of those people that you’re trying to impress recognize this. Some of them don’t and they’re judgmental about it. They point, they snicker, and they talk about you behind your back or so you think. The fact is that some of them just don’t give a rats frak about you and what you’re doing. That’s reality. Look, you’re going to make mistakes. Lots of them. As a matter of fact, those mistakes are absolutely crucial to you learning what you need to learn. If you put on airs and try (operative word ‘try’) to always get every thing right, or proper, and try to over lead every single physiological aspect or follow every single motion, you’ll never learn to dance. Never. Making those mistakes are absolutely crucial to you building a ‘database’, if you will, of motion and movement. And the only thing that stops you from building that database is your ego. Get rid of it.

Desirable Tip #5

Learn your music. Seriously. As arcane as Tango music can be, and it can be just that, its also one of the worlds most multi-leveled, multifaceted styles or genres of music ever devised. It’s quite simply the bee’s knees of the music world on multiple levels. This isn’t about knowing the orchestras, or the singers, or knowing the dates, and places of the events those people’s lives. But trust me when I say that that stuff actually helps you. So knowing it is a benefit. As it gives you the insights to the men and their music. No, this is about understanding the structure of the music and how to listen to it. And that starts with not counting beats, ever. There is another way to handle tango music and counting 8’s and beats is not tango music. It’s all about the pauses folks. Learn the pauses and you’ll master tango music in a way that you can’t even begin to imagine. Just as a side note, as a gold+ user of this site would give you access to the necessary tools of hearing the pauses and musical exercises to help you to practice it.

Desirable Tip #6

Tango is a Social dance. Meaning you have to be a social person. If you’re not, then you’re going to have a rather difficult of a time when it comes to meeting people, which will result in getting dances. While it’s true that Tango can help you get out of your shell, to a limited degree. The fact is that Tango can be very isolating due to its focus on technique and the mastery of that technique. So making friends makes that mastery process seem less daunting. So the easiest thing you can do for yourself is to drop whatever you project about yourself to being true, put on a persona (if you have to) of being nice, and pleasant, and then here’s the hard part > start talking to people. Start with an introduction “I’m ….” and then ask who they are and where they’re from. Probably one of the easiest and the more challenging things to do if you’re the shy type, is not seem awkward around the whole reason you’re there, which is to dance. So here’s a simple solution: Talk to people. Ask what they do, where they come from, how they got here, what their day was like, find out about them. Don’t try to look for a dance. The dancing part will happen. Honest. It will. But probably the biggest piece of advice we can give you is to try (operative word in the sentence) to be friendly with everyone you meet. This is far more important that you can imagine it to be. Yes there will be people that for one reason or another will not like you. Don’t let that get in the way of saying “Hello” to everyone and that includes the people that may not like you. It will drive them mad that you’re nice to them. And the reality is that you are being nice to them for a very good and important reason, because this isn’t about being snobby or trying to get on people’s good side. It’s about generating a desirable attitude for yourself, and really the people that you dance with and ultimately the room. The confines of the Milonga can be really awkward, so all you’re really doing is taking the edge off that awkwardness by investigating who these people are, where they come from, how they operate in the world, how they came to be there, and why they’re still there.

Pro Conversation Tip: Do not ask “Sooooo….how long have you been dancing ?”. Not. Major no-no. You can ask who someone studies with, or where they study, or if they study at all. But if you want to open up a tango conversation beyond the who are you and how they got there, here’s a good one: “Who is your favorite orchestra, and why ?”. Now a likely answer to this is going to be Di Sarli, Canaro, and/or Troilo. However, the more seasoned dancer will answer that question, especially the why part, with the era of the named orchestra (the years) and what specifically was going on for that orchestra at the time. Still another question that will open up a tango dialogue, “Of the three dances, which one is your favorite and why ?”. This one will net you a very varied answer and also open up a wide range of possibilities in places to go with it after that. A very common response from Leads depending on where they’re at in their Tango development either Tango, or Vals. For Follower’s you’ll get a qualified “Milonga with the right Lead!”. Still another one that will open a conversational door is “Where do you practice ?”. An obvious one, “What’s a good Milonga to go to and on which night ?”. And if you live in a small town where they’re only one milonga a week, if that, then a good question to ask anywhere is, “How do you like the Music tonight?”. Which will of course open up a long dialogue on the quality of music, the dj, and the floor’s response.

Desirable Tip #7

Practica, Milonga, Marathon, Encuentro. Put simply, all the classes, workshops, and private study with X, Y, and Z are practically useless unless you actually use it. This is what I call the neurology of dancing (leading or following). There’s something that happens to you within the line of dance, where you are under stress to perform X, Y, and Z. Where you have limitations that you must execute within a given limitation. Where you have move within the construct of the line of dance IN TIME TO THE MUSIC so that you don’t hit or collide with tables, chairs, or other couples. And that only comes from actual dancing. You have to try this stuff out, refine it, play with it, change it, modify it, work with it. So while solo practice is good, going to classes is also good, private practice is even better, and videoing that stuff to improve on it is excellent. What you’re really doing is ‘vamping’ until you’re at a Milonga! And dancing within the confines of the Milonga experience is really what you’re after. And even this is a skill unto itself (see my video on Preparing For Buenos Aires or Dancing In A Small Space). But that’s what you’re shooting for. Going out social dancing once a week is nice, 3 or 4 times a week is better! Go to every practica, every milonga, and then travel for marathons, and encuentros as much as you can. Don’t just dance with all the best dancers in the room but everyone. Every dancer can teach you more about every possible condition that you will run into out there in the dancing world. The more that you do this, the more you will understand how to handle X, Y, and Z. More dancing, can create a more well rounded dancer and dancing experience.

Desirable Tip #8

Video Practice. The fact is that mirrors and your ego lie to you every time you dance. You can’t see everything because you’re too busy contorting your body to ‘make’ the dance happen instead of dancing. So you quite honestly can’t see what you need to see in order to make things better. It is for this reason alone (and a whole host of others) that you quite literally must video your private practice dances, and then here’s the hard part – WATCH THEM! What are you looking for when you watch them ? You’re looking for how you leg extends, how your foot lands on the floor, you’re looking for signs of compression, you’re looking for signs of bodily contortion (head tilting towards, or away from your partner), you’re looking at arm positions, hand positions, you’re looking for issues of posture, you’re looking for where and how your foot comes off the floor when it should be on the floor at all times. You’re looking for repetition of vocabulary (the same move over and over again) with no variations. You’re looking for wobbling when you walk, the areas of instability in a turn, you’re looking for the lack of indications of a lead, or the over forcefulness of a lead. You’re looking for all of these things and many more, and probably chief among these is what you are doing (as a Lead or as a Follower) in time to the music. Answer this question, “Is what I am doing in time to the beat, the pauses, and musical phrasing of the music ?” If the answer to any one of those questions is “NO” then you have issues that need to be addressed and I got news for you, it’s not about going back to school to learn to count. It’s about learning how to hear the music properly.

In conclusion, we’re not saying that any one of these things, and the levels of excruciating, and exhaustive details will change what you’re doing. we are saying that they all will! Doing them on a regular basis will start you off in the right direction that you need to have, so that you change your dance into a far more satisfying dancing experience.

The fact is that no one likes to be criticized and singled out for their dancing, and then to have it characterized as ‘awful’. We all like to believe that what we’re doing is perfect and wonderful and amazing. The reality is far from this. To witness this stuff and have it pointed out to us is embarrassing and personally painful. However, the sad fact is that this is exactly what does happen and is happening to you and around you in a myriad of different ways. One of them is people saying “no” your cabeceo or mirada (especially from the better dancers in the room), or you sitting most of the night (and not because you want to sit either), or you not dancing because you don’t want to look like you don’t know what you’re doing. There’s a way around all of that: Study, practice, and take private lessons to up your game because the reality is that you need them. Yes, they can be expensive, especially with the more popular and better teachers but you need their honest and clear feedback. And if you aren’t taking privates and you felt like you haven’t gotten a lot out of them, then look at our Five-Point Guide to Private Lessons. It can really help you to getting the most out of your private lessons with almost any teacher!

December 23, 2016
Contortion

Contortion. You see so many different ideas of dancing tango that it sometimes very hard to differentiate desirable from the undesirable. That unless you teach you’re not going to see these issues and need to be reminded of them, frequently so that you stop co-creating these less than desirable issues.

What is Contortion ? In it’s simplest form, ‘Contortion’ is twisting your body, then placing your body, and further still compressing (squeezing) your partner’s body into you, into a physiologically untenable position, and staying there for the length of a song. Then starting the next song in the tanda from a clean position, and then starting to slide into the contorted position. This is ‘Contortion’.

And ‘yes’, it is an issue. Everyone exhibits some form of contortion. Everyone.

Before we go any further, 2 things are going to happen while you read and/or watch the video above: You’re going to immediately run to the judgement that 1.) The author/teacher is being a perfectionist. 2.) That the author/teacher is being arrogant. Neither are true. These are stark observations offered without judgement. If you see yourself in these things, then so much the better. However, the thing that you should rightfully pay attention to is not the resolution example, which gives you the idea of perfectionism, but the latter part of the video that starts at (07:36).

That said, let’s talk about Contortion.

From A Following Perspective you have 3 primary areas of Contortion that come up for you. 1.) Arm Over The Shoulder. 2.) Side of Body Following. and 3.) Follower ‘Chicken Arm’ Distortion.

Arm Over The Shoulder – This is an outgrowth of wanting more, or deeper physiological contact with the Lead. And while the physiological contact does serve it’s intended purpose, more contact, the problem with it is that it compromises the body to do so. As a result of going over the Lead’s shoulder with yours (as shown) above, you end up raising one shoulder above the other, and thereby curving your spinal column. And as an added bonus you’ll tilt your head into your lead.

Side of Body Following– This missive is factually placing your body in the Lead’s armpit, but only having the physiological contact of about an inch or so of their body. As a result of this kind of Following, all of your vocabulary will become ‘linear’ or ‘oblong’. Example: Turns will no longer be circular, they’ll be ovals! The back step of the molinete (not a milonguero turn) will become almost impossible to do, and you’ll end up in the Lead’s armpit, thereby being behind the L/lead, seemingly never able to catch up to them. 🙁

Follower ‘Chicken Arm’ – The Follower will create a loop with their left arm, placing their left hand on the ribcage of the Lead’s right side about 6 inches down from their armpit, and then bend their elbow out at a 90 degree angle, and here’s the wacky part – then they’ll raise their left shoulder above their right, thereby curving their spine, all in ‘close embrace’.

From a Leading Perspective you also have 3 areas of concern that generate Contortion. 1.) Head Tilt (Away/Towards). 2.) Side of Body Leading. 3.) Lead Chicken Arm.

Head Tilt – While the topic of Dancer Head Tilt has been detailed before, the Head Tilt that is most common here is the Tilt of the head TOWARDS the Follower. As a result the Lead will place physiological pressure on the Follower’s head. This is done without the Lead necessarily being aware that they’re doing this. Sometimes, infrequently this is Head Tilt AWAY as shown at (00:00) so as to ‘accommodate’ the Follower’s Bodily Contortion or because they don’t want to get too close to the Follower’s face or mouth area. It’s too intimate for some Leads.

Side of Body Leading– This lead missive is factually placing the Follower’s body along the side of your body. The physiological contact point is about an inch or two wide, and is a strip of contact on your body from the crease of your right armpit to your hip. As a result of this kind of Leading, all of the Follower’s vocabulary will become ‘linear’ or ‘oblong’. Example: Turns will no longer be circular, they’ll be ovals! The back step of the molinete (not a milonguero turn) will become almost impossible to do, and the Follower will end up behind YOU, seemingly never able to catch up. 🙁

Lead ‘Chicken Arm’ – The Lead holds their left arm out straight, level with their shoulder line, and then bends at the elbow in a 90 degree arc, towards the Follower, then grasps the Follower’s hand.

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From a Dancing Perspective these are 3 most common forms of Body Contortion that happen for both roles. You see this stuff everywhere and think to yourself “Well….if so and so is doing it, it must be ok, right ?”, and at that point you normalize the behaviors and postures of the people around you. At the same time you also have something else working against you, your memory of your last session with your ‘teacher’. At some point during that session (assuming said teacher has their collective act together) said teacher should have noticed (frequently a good portion of them don’t) and then remarked upon (again, they don’t want to hurt your feelings…mind you, it’s your money, ‘feelings’ shouldn’t enter into it!) the fact that you’re embrace, your posture, your body is contorting this way or that. And unless you are reminded about it constantly, you’ll think about it for about 2 steps and then you’ll completely forget about it. And if you’re thinking that you’ll remember this stuff on a Social Dance floor at a Milonga…think again. Stress gets in the way that happening. If you are stressed out how much space you have between yourself and the couple ahead or behind you. Or if you’ve missed something and you’re focused on that…posture, embrace, presence are the last things on your mind. You’re too damned busy freaking right the frak out. Dancing ? HA! Again this isn’t about perfectionism, nor is it about arrogance, this is demonstrable fact, proven time and time and time again.

March 23, 2017
Preparing for Buenos Aires – DIASS Edition

Buenos Aires for a lot of people, is their trip to Mecca. It is mythological. It is magical. It is the next logical step in their evolution. In their mind they have seen the videos of dancing at Salon Canning, or Villa Malcolm (pron: Vee-Jah Mal-cum), or the crowded floor at La Viruta with 300 other people, or seen the Sunday nights at Villa Malcolm, or the ‘practica’ at De Queresa, or Cachirulo, or La Glorieta, or La Catedral, or any of the hundred plus milongas and practicas per week there, and dreamt of what that must be like. And then to actually be there and then they’re hit with the reality of ‘Oh shit!’ I’m dancing in Buenos Aires! It’s right about at that point when they see the quality of dance, and the speed of the rotunda, that several things happen for them. Fear comes to mind, then excitation, and then more fear (for a different reason), and then hoping that you can manage the floor (as a Lead or a Follow). It’s right then that they wished they had studied harder or paid for privates with the visiting Argentine instructor, and they try to remember everything they’ve ever been taught. They conveniently realize that they’ve not spent any time Preparing For Dancing in Buenos Aires.

What is Preparing for Dancing In Buenos Aires ? This video is all about helping you out with a few vocabulary choices that can change your dance in Buenos Aires so that you’re not freaked out by it from either role. This video is an important tool that can, at the very least, prepare you, and help you to enjoy dancing in BsAs more than you would ordinarily. The reason is a really simple one: Experience. This video covers the ‘how-to-prepare’ yourself for dancing in BsAs for both roles. However, it’s really just a precursor to the toy that you really want:

Dancing In A Small Space. It should be noted that while this 5 point guide is on the technical aspects of dancing in Buenos Aires, it should and can also be applied for Dancing in a Small Space (DIASS <-Follow The Link…really). The techniques are exactly the same that is described herein this video. The skillsets laid out herein are not only the same but even more applicable because while you’ll only dance in BsAs once per year (if you’re lucky) and only for a few short weeks (sadly), you’ll definitely visit a crowded milonga anywhere in the world far more often! Learning how to manage the floor, manage your space, introduce simple but clear, and small vocabulary from a Leading and a Following perspective is absolutely crucial to your continued success as a dancer especially in Buenos Aires!

Free Tip – When leading the Follower’s Molinete in Buenos Aires, you do NOT want to “open” or turn away from the Follower. This creates an opening that you can not recover from easily. It creates space or a gap between the couple that is tenuous at best. Followers want to essentially do 2 things. 1.) is to over-rotate a bit on the Back Step of your molinete, and 2.) constantly be repositioning yourself even though a good portion of your leads are not going to allow it to happen. I hate to point this out to you, and not to beat a dead horse but the fact is that all of this stuff is present in this video and more.

Pre-Requisites: So that we’re all clear on this part, note the difficulty rating below, it is not an exaggeration! Do not attempt this stuff unless the following is true: You have mastered 1.) your walk. 2.) your stability. and 3.) your equilibrium. 4.) your turns (either role – milonguero turns as well as the follower’s molinete at minimum).

IF …

a.) you need to stabilize yourself against your partner when walking.
b.) you need to use your hands or arms in any level of tactile compression.
c.) you are in the habit of watching your partner’s feet (but don’t realize it).
d.) you are used to using resistance – compression – rigidity – tension – or force to engage your ideas.

THEN… dancing in small space (DIASS) and/or preparing for bsas will be challenging for you. That’s why it’s a good idea to subscribe to tangotopics.com and clean up these issues ahead of time.

About the Video: Preparing for Buenos Aires is 19m:11s HD in length in 8 sections. This is not a technique video, for the individual techniques discussed in the video, it is highly advisable that you go look to their individual technique sections in the TangoTopics Library that is provided with your subscription. This video is more of a how to make things to work from a Leading & a Following perspective, what to practice before you go, and how to practice them.

Section 1 – Introduction – 00:00:48
Section 2 – Walking Steps – 00:02:46
Section 3 – The Argentine Cross – 00:03:12
Section 4 – Ocho Cortado, Check Steps, and (Pitter) Patter – 00:04:04
Section 5 – Turns – Milonguero and Molinete – 00:03:38
Section 6 – How To Prepare – 00:01:09
Section 7 – Example – 00:00:45
Section 8 – Closing – 00:01:09

December 1, 2016
The Four Parts of Social Milonga

Milonga, and really ‘Social’ Milonga, is a difficult dance to Lead, but an easy one to Follow. Easy, if and only if, the Lead (person, not the action – ‘lead’) has a frakkin’ clue about what they’re doing. If they don’t, you, as the Follower are screwed and not in a good way either! Good Milonga is a step above modern Tango in that it requires both parties to be at their best technique wise. It requires both parties to understand an embrace that is non-compressive, non-restrictive, and have mastered a stable, clean, clear walking platform that does not ‘thud’. There is no need to ‘hang’, ‘pull’, or ‘push’ in any way, shape, or form.

Let’s get a few terms and definitions out of the way before we go any further for the initiated and the uninitiated. The word ‘Milonga‘ has 3 definitions.

1.) It refers to the ‘dance’ party, and social experience that we aspire towards dancing at via classes and workshops and learning the codigos of the dance itself. The whole point of tango is to emulate the Milonga experience as a whole that we would find in Buenos Aires.

2.) It refers to a musical style of music that is typically written as 2/4 time, or at about 80 – 100 beats per minute. There are several versions of Milonga music, not the least of which is Tango-Milonga, Milonga Porteña, Milonga Criolla, and a few others. Candombe is not Milonga, but is frequently confused with Milonga. A poorly trained DJ will add one into a milonga tanda thinking that it’s Milonga music when in fact it’s not.

Further still, a common error is to add a Foxtrot or a Tango Foxtrot, thinking that it’s milonga when it’s not.

3.) Refers to the dance itself, which is a frequently, and mistakenly thought of as a subset of Tango movement, and this is an error. Milonga (not Milonga Porteña or Modern Milonga) begat Tango, and from that Tango as we think of it today grew.

What is ‘Social’ Milonga ? Social Milonga is a Milonga of ease, of least resistance, of effortlessness. It’s what we would dance at the Milonga when Milonga music is played but for a social environment not a performance! Which translates to smaller (very small) movements, and steps. This isn’t about turns, ganchos, volcadas, sacadas, colgadas, death drops, …. no, none of that. Simple, clean, small movement. Rather it’s about linear movements with one’s partner in either close or open embrace (yes Milonga can be done in open embrace), small linear movements that move down the line of dance. Social Milonga should not back up against the line of dance, but rather angle against the line of dance, think of 45º angles so that no one backs up directly into another couple. Social Milonga is small, compact, and doesn’t need to take up a whole lot of space…ever. Horacio Godoy, who is a god of Milonga, is a good example of performance milonga, but it’s still a performance! What he’s doing is nothing short of magical, however…it should be noted that again, it’s a performance and not social dancing. He’s taking up oodles of space, and in the line of dance, you don’t have oodles of space! This is Social Milonga.

Just as a side note: Social Milonga rightfully should never be attempted with a new partner that you’ve never danced with before.

From a Following Perspective, you’re in for a rough ride, because a good portion of your leads don’t have a frakkin’ clue as to what they’re doing when it comes to Milonga. They will either race you around the floor and take a breather in odd places that have no relationship to anything that’s happening in the music, all the while squeezing the living daylights out of you, hoping you won’t notice that they’re not anywhere close to a beat that has any relation to anything that’s happening in the music. Or they’re so timid as to not wanting to step on your toes because they’ve recognized that this is insanely difficult that they back off completely. That’s the bulk of your experience. It’s rare, ever so rare that you have a lead that dances Milonga Lisa with you, and then expands that to Milonga con Traspie, and actually builds a milonga experience on the whole. These leads are rare, but oh such a wonder when you find one. It’s like Christmas morning, Easter day, and a box of chocolates all rolled into one! Fab! At the same time, let’s not kid ourselves…you as the Follower, have to be up for the challenge. Which is to say that your skills in Forward steps, Side Steps, and Back Steps must be absolutely spot on! Repeat after me: “I MOVE ME“. You must be responsible for your own movement. You must listen to what is being led (not waiting but listening) and then engage that movement immediately without fail. If you feel it, you go there, if you don’t feel it, you don’t go there. A good portion of the time, most followers fail these most basic things. And we end up with a less than desirable experience.

From a Leading Perspective, it means that you must have mastered all of the things listed above in addition to understanding and employing ‘Intention’. Why ? Because Milonga is all about the small, tiny movements, not about squeezing the living daylights out of your Followers with your embrace trying to make things small. It’s about leading small, tiny, incremental. It’s not about big, galloping steps…it can be, but isn’t. It’s about the tiny movements between the partners to the accents in the music.

However, the real key to milonga is the Weight Change. Being able to generate it in its myriad of forms without pushing, pulling, using force, and/or compression to accomplish this goal. If you can lead a weight change through opposition or a with-weight change instead of pushing or pulling, you’re onto a better class of leading as a whole.

Leading Milonga, or we should say, “modern” milonga, is a whole different class of leading. And doing it well, is a different kind of Lead (the person, not the action). How’s that ? This is choreographing on-the-fly, they’re making minor adjustments on-the-fly, they’re maintaining the line of dance on-the-fly…are you seeing the trend yet ? > on-the-fly! Is the key component. Mind you this happens in Tango and Vals as well, but there is a difference! The difference is the kinesthetics involved are a whole different class of minimal, minute movement, that is seemingly imperceptible except to the people dancing it, and to the trained eye.

In this version of Milonga the same thing that happens in the 5 Common Social Figures (which is a reduction of vocabulary choices) of Tango, happens in Milonga! Only instead of 5 Common Figures, it boils down to about 4 very specific choices.

1.) A variation of the Baldosa Box.
2.) A very simple and occasional Traspie, with a single Traspie, not multiples but not, and mostly not aligned with the habanera’s El Golpe! (and if you don’t know what that is…follow the link). You might…eeek, learn something.
3.) An occasional scissor step (not a pendulum step). and
4.) Every once in a blue-moon when there is a ‘race’ in the milonga beat and not the habanera, Patter In Milonga is used to accent the race of the beat.

Most of the better Milonga Leads have realized that a simplified Milonga is actually a better way to go than to race around the room which is what typically happens and why the better Followers will say “NO” to a particular Lead/er (follow the link for what that ‘/’ means) repeatedly. The better Milonga Lead will engage this simplified Milonga over and over and over again. It will look somewhat repetitive until you actually dance the Milonga with that Lead and for a time after the shock wears off that you’re dancing Milonga with that Lead it may even feel somewhat repetitive, until you start to listen to the music, and then the genius hits you like a ton of bricks. It’s simplified for a reason, to accent the music itself! Which is to say that you don’t need a vocabulary for good Milonga, what you need is an understanding of Music. And for that you first have to be able to hear the Habanera, and then, and only then can you start to play with the music. Once Habanera awareness occurs, and it will take some time for this to happen, it’s not something that happens overnight. More on this in a bit. Once Habanera awareness occurs, then the refinements of the dance of Milonga start to happen. Sometimes. Some Leads never, ever make this leap of logic > Less Is More. Most of them go in the opposite direction > MORE is BETTER! And this is a mistake. But they don’t and won’t ever realize it for a wide variety of reasons that are too numerous to mention here. Suffice it said, some folks never learn.

And unfortunately this space is too small to incorporate those ideas here. Fortunately for you Tango Topics does possess a Milonga track > Milonga Madness that discusses some, not all, of this stuff. For the rest that isn’t covered in Milonga Madness, we strongly recommend a long series of private lessons with the Author!

From a Dancing Perspective, ‘Social‘ Milonga is insanely difficult to master. It requires all of the above to ‘work’, to ‘function’ with ease. Not an easy task at all. When done properly it’s simply divine. When done poorly…well we’ve all had that happen, and it’s just an absolute disaster. There’s no nice way to put that. More often than not we have all had far too many Milonga tandas that is nothing short of “GAWD PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!”. And a good portion of the time it’s because the embrace needs to be reset and is too restrictive, and/or the Lead (person), needs to actually listen to the beat and then walk (see ? walking, not running) the Follower on that beat…but doesn’t.

The Musical Prerequisite

There is an absolute prerequisite to this milonga business – two things about Tango Music as whole that you, as a Lead, or a Follower must know:

a.) The Musical Pause in Tango Music as a whole! Without understanding this, you’re kinda screwed when it comes to dancing and really milonga as a whole. Oh and if you’re thinking that you can just ‘count’ beats and that will get you to your pauses…no. Fully 40% of Tango music does not contain an 8 count beat. Sometimes its a derivative of 4 yes…but sometimes it’s 4,8,12,16, or 24 beats before you hit an actual rest. So counting is about as useful as a small kitchen appliance unplugged. Why ? Because a good portion of the time, your count will be off for a variety of reasons. 1.) The transfer from shellac to digital (assuming it’s that direct and it almost never is) is probably flawed, scratchy, crackly, and slows down and speeds up. and 2.) Two words for you — TANGO MILONGA, which is to say that that the 2/4 time signature that you’re used to hearing in Milonga Porteña (or Modern Milonga), not so much with that! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Long story short, you want to actually learn to hear the 5 Major Types of Pauses in Tango Music.

b.) The Rhythm of Milonga which should not be confused with beat, melody, nor tempo, which is what a lot of you do. You do actually have to understand the Habanera Rhythm which is the basis of ALL Milongas. Not Candombe, Not Foxtrots…MILONGA! If you don’t know what the Habanera is, and/or think you have a handle on it, you really do want to go look at this definition of the Habanera on TangoTopics. This is the Rhythm that you absolutely must pay attention to because it quite literally forms the backbone of the music itself. If you can’t hear that, if you cannot find it in the music, then we have a problem, and it may require you to actually do a little study. Now to be fair, there are some milongas where the Habanera only appears sporadically, there are some milongas where the Habanera is a variation and you have to hear the variation, there are some milongas where the habanera is so distorted and so off of what you think it might be that it’s almost….ALMOST unrecognizable. However, that’s still no excuse for not practicing, and then working on finding the Habanera and then figuring out WTF to do with it.

That said…

Rather than show you charts and images which are about as helpful as a screen door on a submarine…let’s skip to a class summary by Oliver Koklier and Silvina Valz shot at the 2009 Portland Tango Festival. This is probably one of the best didactic Milonga videos you will need to see…ever. What Oliver & Silvina talk about in under 9 minutes will blow your mind. It’s a simple, clean, and clear, almost religious explanation of what Habanera and really the Milonga Rhythm is and is not, and what you can do with it. In 90 seconds they pretty much nail the Habanera. Quite honestly contained within this video is the basis of almost everything you need to know about a Milonga Rhythm. Once you understand the Rhythm of Milonga (and it is a rhythm, not a beat!) it is only then that we start to talk about what you actually do with it.

Ok, now that you’ve got your pound of free flesh that will only help you so far, now comes the real toy, which when this article was written originally hadn’t actually happened yet. Actually this article was written a year before what we’re about to talk about: Milonga Madness. This is going to sound like a sales pitch for Milonga Madness. It’s not. It’s the fact that we really have studied with a lot of people on this topic, spent years and more money than you can shake a stick at, at how to hear Milonga and then dance Milonga. This is one of the ONLY workshops that we’ve ever attended where we came away with a deeper understanding that Milonga does not need or want to be complex. It is a simple thing that does require you to actually hear the Habanera. Without that, then you’re just racing around the room. So here’s our advice. Go subscribe to Milonga Madness, you won’t be sorry! Truthfully, and we say this with how much we teach and talk about tango, it’s even better than all our own videos! Go SUBSCRIBE! Just scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on the Milonga Madness Button! You’re welcome.

4 Parts of Social Milonga

Part 1.) The Baldosa Box & one of several Baldosa Box Variations
Part 2.) Milonga Traspie and the many many variations
Part 3.) Scissor & Pendulum steps and variations.
Part 4.) Milonga Patter

June 27, 2016