technique – Tango Topics

The Cross – Getting In Front

Miles Tangos — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 13:59:43 +0000

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 from Ochos, it’s the one thing that they’re pressed to do without any training aside from the Lead/er (Controlling Lead hence the ‘/er’ part) that quite literally tells them what […]

Lazy Follower Foot

Miles Tangos — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 01:13:46 +0000

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.

The Four Parts of Social Milonga

Miles Tangos — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 13:08:23 +0000

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.

Lead Technique 2019

Miles Tangos — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 14:00:15 +0000

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’.

Follower Technique 2019

Miles Tangos — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 13:30:33 +0000

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...

Follower Back Sacada

Miles Tangos — Thu, 12 May 2016 00:42:11 +0000

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 requisite detail of the HOW you set up a Follower Back Sacada or more importantly the underlaying technique that is frequently not discussed at all. With that in mind, let’s […]

Four Common Ganchos

Miles Tangos — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 19:13:33 +0000

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.

Sacada Triangle Methodology

Miles Tangos — Sat, 14 May 2016 06:42:46 +0000

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 can be explained in one simple sentence – It’s an illusion! The illusion is an intersection of walking techniques. The Lead’s walk intersecting the Follower’s. It’s walking, nothing more than […]

THUD!

Miles Tangos — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 10:27:07 +0000

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.

Engaging The Embrace

Miles Tangos — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 14:00:37 +0000

Leads you have a role and a job, several, and one of them is creating an embrace structure that is comfortable for the Follower while at the same time creates the iconic visual that is a Tango embrace, that allows for maximum effect with minimal input. Put another way, you have 3 primary goals: 1.) Navigation. 2.) Architecture. and 3.) Music. Under the category of Architecture we have 2 sub-categories. 2a.) Form. and 2b.) Vocabulary. Think of 2a as what we look like (the visual), and think of 2b as what you do with 2a in time to 3, while employing 1. And all of that starts with - Engaging The Embrace.