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But I am even more excited about something I have set up to learn something really new and different. Those of you in the SF area may know of an event called Tangoed Up in Blues (love that name!). It's a fusion of tango with blues dance. Blues dance is a slow, sensual swing-based dance. There's very little of it happening on the East Coast where I am, but the guy who teaches it will be in my neck of the woods in a couple days, so I set up a private with me and a friend.
If you want to see what this new tango fusion looks like, check this out, it's amazing.
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Originally Posted by Heather2007
This sounds fab. Lets hope he/it wings its way here. Again, report back (anyone) who attends.
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Not to take anything away from my wonderful experience with Mariano and Paula - but I had an even more amazing time in my private with Mihai, the guy who teaches blues/tango fusion. Again, if you haven't seen the video (link above), please check it out, it's beautiful.
My partner and I spent two hours with Mihai. First hour was learning blues dancing and the second hour we put it together with tango. In just two hours, we really got a good sense of what to do. Not saying we can move like him on his video, but we got the basis for it. He showed how to transition well between blues and tango moves by pausing and changing one's posture (more upright for tango, more down for blues). And we worked on musicality - smaller or more amplified movements at different points in the song.
Mihai's teaching abilities are among the best I have ever seen. He tells you exactly which muscles to move - and he can look at you and immediately tell what you are doing right or wrong, and point to the exact spot where you might need to change your movement. His understanding of body mechanics is amazing.
Equally great was Mihai's leading and sense of connection. He explained how, when each move finishes there is a 'click' meaning the moment where you clearly finish the move and are ready to go to the next one. He didn't mean actually stopping at the end of each move; it's a split second kind of thing. He also worked with me on how to feel a lead more sensitively from his hand on my back. He even led me to do body rolls that way, by moving his fingers in sequence, kind of like the keys on a saxophone. (Insert quip here about playing a woman like an instrument!
) You can see him do it (with someone else) on
this video.
Most important, when he dances, he is fully present. He's there for his partner in a way that very few are. I felt completely safe and relaxed dancing with him. I wish he was on the East Coast so I could do his "Tangoed Up in Blues" nights. Any of you in the SF area, it's the first Saturday of the month, more info
here.
BTW he calls blues dancing "tango with hips". I like that!