Leading. Often the first thing we see when looking at Argentine Tango is the Tango Lead. It’s that sharp, clear, clean visual that strikes us almost immediately. We see the the visual of someone leading, and it’s this confusion, appreciation, amusement, bewilderment and just down right awe (in some cases) of a ‘wow’.
What is ‘Follower Technique‘? In its simplest form, it is a series of skills that when put together create a ‘dancing platform’ for the Follower. This is a platform that the Follower builds into their body through painstaking, detailed, carefully crafted motions that consists of…
Realistically there are a few sources of information about this stuff, but honestly most of them are done in a performance OR are missing the
What is ‘Lazy Follower Foot’ ? It is a state where from a Forward step, the Follower’s back foot that’s coming into collection, is either dragged without care or unconsciously collects. The foot itself, seemingly hangs off the ankle, and is summarily ‘dragged’ into collection. This doesn’t happen from the Back or Side step, that’s the ‘Dangling’ Foot error, that’s a whole different ball of wax, but the solution is exactly the same as shown in today’s video! Put simply it is a Lazy Follower’s Foot.
Gancho. The word in Spanish translates to the English word, roughly, as ‘Hook’. From an Argentine Tango perspective it has a very specific meaning. You’ve seen these things hundreds of times, and while the vocabulary itself has a connotation as being somewhat ‘cheesy’, and only done by beginner leads who don’t know any better, the reality is a that it is a venerable piece of Tango vocabulary that do have a valid place off the main trunk of the Tango history tree. The story goes that while the Gancho existed long before Norberto “El Pulpo” Esbrez came along, his contribution to its storied history is where creativity meets innovation, specifically with regards to ‘elasticity’ and the Enganche. He is/was credited with pioneering and exploration the ‘invasion’ of the standing leg, the response of the free leg, as well as the space in between the opening of a step, and quite factually (if not literally), the intersection of these ideas.
The Sacada is probably one of Tango’s more interesting pieces of Tango vocabulary. Mostly because it looks really cool and complicated. And yet it’s complexity
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.
For most Followers, that haven’t been properly trained, they are rushed into an Argentine Cross right from the start of their Tango dancing lives. Aside
What is "THUD!" ? In the simplest way we know how to describe this stuff, "THUD" is an uncontrolled, unsightly, and ungainly foot heavy and overly weighted placement of the dancers foot, which results in a sound that resembles a rumbling of the floorboards under your feet when you jump up and down: THUD! It occurs because the dancer in question has generated a heavy step, an impacted step, that they don’t realize that they’re doing it.
What is Intention Based Dancing? In its simplest form ‘Intention’ is really about not using pressure, tension, or force, with one’s arms, or hands in any way, shape, or form to communicate an idea, a thought, or a movement. But rather the idea of ‘Intention’ is to intend to do something. To propose, to invite, to advice, to guide, to profer…these are all statements that we, as dancers, are asking our Partners to engage X.
Why Should You Signup ? The simplest reason is that you won’t find this stuff anywhere else. It’s a different kind of tango education. It will help you to understand what you want, how to do it, and why you want to do things with Intention in mind. It will show you how to listen to the music, and how to create different types of vocabulary, as well as how to engage in the milonga environment. This site is all about showing you a better pathway towards a type of tango that reinforces the ideas of Social Tango thru Intention Based Dancing.
