Have you ever walked an entire song at a milonga??

There is a thread started by David Bailey i believe..About the rise and fall in the walk..So i thought i would put this question out there.Have you ever walked an entire song at a milonga? To see if there are many leaders who do this...or have tried it.

Mr Walker said:

There is a thread started by David Bailey i believe..About the rise and fall in the walk..So i thought i would put this question out there.Have you ever walked an entire song at a milonga? To see if there are many leaders who do this...or have tried it.

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I haven’t but we had a couple in the area that only walked. First time you see them you think Wow that guy can really walk good but after a couple of years you don’t pay much attention to him because it’s pretty boring to watch. Thank God he finally added a few figures to his repertoire he is an excellent dancer.

Yes. Several times, I have spent an entire tanda doing nothing but walking.

While I appreciate a good walk (and these were decent-to-very good, by my standards), and enjoy the opportunity to really focus on my walk and really stretch my legs (it does feel really nice), it rapidly becomes a very boring way to spend 12-15 minutes. A figure now and again, or even walking to something other than just the beats, or a few side steps thrown in for variety, would have been very very welcome.

Someone else around here (Zoo? Me? Bastet?) made the comment one time that, while a leader doesn't have to lead all kinds of figures to make things interesting, or lead very complex things, interesting and interpretive is good. Simple is not the same thing as boring.

Yes, a few times. Usually it was the last song of an exceptionally nice tanda. Warming up with the the first song, all kinds of fun things for the second things, and after realizing that our connection was just amazing and everything was just flowing the last song just walking to smooth the experience out and really enjoy the music and the connection.

Gssh

Mr Walker said:

Have you ever walked an entire song at a milonga? To see if there are many leaders who do this...or have tried it.

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An entire song? Yes. But, it is interspersed with lots of syncopation, pauses, tempo changes, adornos, all in-tune with, and depending on the music.

Walking an entire milonga, Not quite.

Ampster said:

An entire song? Yes. But, it is interspersed with lots of syncopation, pauses, tempo changes, adornos, all in-tune with, and depending on the music.

Walking an entire milonga, Not quite.

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At a festival I attend regularly one of the most popular if not the most popular leader just walks the entire time, in the manner Ampster has described above. This festival lasts anything from 1 week to 10 days. When we talk about AT afterwards, he says the connection he feels when dancing is what it is all about for him. When he started learning, moves and incorporating them in his dance were important but he dropped that idea some years ago.

Personally I have found as I have began to understand AT more and my connection in close embrace has become more comfortable, I am walking more than I ever imagined. I think I have now walked an entire song in the manner descibed by Amp out of choice and when I first started AT I didn't think this would be possible for me.

If I haven't already... Welcome, Mr Walker, to the DF. To your post.....

Ampster said:

An entire song? Yes. But, it is interspersed with lots of syncopation, pauses, tempo changes, adornos, all in-tune with, and depending on the music.

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Peaches said:

Simple is not the same thing as boring.

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No more needs to be said, really.

Mr Walker said:

There is a thread started by David Bailey i believe..About the rise and fall in the walk..So i thought i would put this question out there.Have you ever walked an entire song at a milonga? To see if there are many leaders who do this...or have tried it.

Click to expand...

Many, many times. Even only choosing a small 1 metre squared space out of the arena in the corner and not dancing out of it.

Mr Walker said:

Have you ever walked an entire song at a milonga?

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Many times. More often than not the first tango I dance in an evening will just be walking. It helps me to relax, to shift my focus onto dancing, find my embrace and posture and to connect with my partner - it sort of "sets the tone" for the evening. If I'm having trouble getting into "tango mode" then I'll walk for the entire first tanda I dance - that's normally necessary after I've driven too fast to the milonga.

Angel HI said:

If I haven't already... Welcome, Mr Walker, to the DF.

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Thank you for your welcome Angel...

Ampster said:

An entire song? Yes. But, it is interspersed with lots of syncopation, pauses, tempo changes, adornos, all in-tune with, and depending on the music.

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And thank you Ampster for the more complete description i was looking for...

For me i love the way it makes my partner feel..As i play with the music this dance becomes our secret...And i can feel with every step her trust in me grows till we are one and from this place she dances her dance knowing i will not step until she is ready...Yes to onlookers it may look boring but to us hopefully we know what we did....

Mr Walker said:

There is a thread started by David Bailey i believe..About the rise and fall in the walk..So i thought i would put this question out there.Have you ever walked an entire song at a milonga? To see if there are many leaders who do this...or have tried it.

Click to expand...

I've had the pleasure of being walked a few times. The first time I exhausted at a milonga, frustrated and feeling completely inept. I'd only been dancing a couple of months and everyone in the room seemed to be lightyears ahead of me. After a couple of really rough tandas, I was ready to give up. A tanguero I knew, who used to teach, approached me and asked me to dance. I told him I was feeling a bit defeated and wasn't sure I was going to follow very well. He said, 'that's okay, we'll just walk.'

And walk we did. I don't mean he marched me around the floor, but instead he walked, rocked, traspie'd - no pivots, only very soft turns. He was so musical and made me feel musical. I relaxed and floated around the floor for 10 minutes. It wasn't just that he has a beautiful walk (he does) but that he cared very much for making the dance comfortable for me. As Ampster would say, he "dialed in".

Since then I've had the opportunity to dance with several excellent walkers and I don't even notice until the end that we were "only" walking. It's so musical and connected - that everything else just slips away

Are rock steps considered part of walking? If so, then yes.

When I take unexperienced follower i definitely only walk.
But play with changing weights, and melody, and rhythm.
And walk only so we can establish connection.

walking = master class

Ampster said:

Yes .. with lots of syncopation, pauses, tempo changes, adornos, ...

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Walking is the Tango´s premier class. I only have to add to Ampster´s list, walking on both sides, and in both step systems.

So there is a great potential for variations in it. But, seriously, I don´t keep it up a whole night long.... , really.

OD

Well it depends on your definition of walking doesnt it? ;-)

Maybe maybe not. I cant remember to be honest... ;-)