Anyone interested in Webcasts between milongueros in BsAs and dancers in your city?
- Thread starter jantango
- Start date
Angel HI
Well-Known Member
As I said before, I am all for this. May I be included in the PM?. I would love to help.
Mario7
Member
What I would like to see Jan, would be videos that you yourself make with the dancers.
In a private studio with good lighting where they show the subtleties of the embrace and how it is adjusted (if it is) for the different sequences (like walking on the woman's left side)...probably each dancer has their own way of managing the fine points and that would be very interesting, too... just how these personal styles have developed.
These fine details are simply not available to us and it's the grosser dancing styles with open hold and Nuevo that are being pushed as the ideal 'teaching' vehicle.
I've danced recently with women who take 5 hours of class each week from Nuevo teachers and after a year, they can't take two steps in close embrace. It's the close embrace of the dance that is in danger of extinction.
In a private studio with good lighting where they show the subtleties of the embrace and how it is adjusted (if it is) for the different sequences (like walking on the woman's left side)...probably each dancer has their own way of managing the fine points and that would be very interesting, too... just how these personal styles have developed.
These fine details are simply not available to us and it's the grosser dancing styles with open hold and Nuevo that are being pushed as the ideal 'teaching' vehicle.
I've danced recently with women who take 5 hours of class each week from Nuevo teachers and after a year, they can't take two steps in close embrace. It's the close embrace of the dance that is in danger of extinction.
bordertangoman
Well-Known Member
I disagree with your last statement over here ther's plenty of people including myslf who are happy to dance close embrace.; In my experience of teaching most people in the uk have little experience of dancing with a partner in a formal embrace; they need to learn to balance and control their own weight and axis. I can dance and compensate with a follower who is slightly inept because my balance and groundedness has improved over the years, but I would rather the follower be in control of herself before I dance in close embrace with her. I think leaders have a longer battle to lead and become balanced; if they are also to deal with the followers own wobbliness improvement is going to take even longer.
bordertangoman
Well-Known Member
Jan what I think would be really helpful would be a dvd of these milongueros, talking about and demonstrating how they dance and what gives it its character and nuance. Part documentary and part instruction. This would help to balance out "The Tango Lesson" and Saura's ""Tango. And showing in detail how they interpret the music
While that might be true where you are, that's not true in a lot of other places.
Mario7
Member
I asked a popular teacher, who supposedly teaches close embrace in Phila., "why were all the couples at her practica, with visable space between the man and woman and with the man usually sitting back as if bicycling?"..She replied that they are not doing what she teaches...well, she teaches mostly step sequences after (I guess) a class on the embrace to start. Then what happens? In an effort to get the steps 'right' they are seperating so that they have more room and can know what the feet are doing. There is also the cultural bias of the cold NorthEast of the continent where intimate hugging is not done in public. So, what is the result? ..a lot of dancer thinking that they are dancing close embrace and they are NOT.
NO - The result is a lot of dancers trying to dance close embrace AND execute good footwork and not yet able to master both at the same time consistently throughout an entire song. If you are proficient enough to do so, good for you but others still have to learn and practice to achieve that level of competence.
OP: Sounds like a wonderful idea. I would echo some previous comments that it would be most interesting to hear the milongueros speak about those things which they are most interested in passing along.
jantango
Well-Known Member
Meet the Milongueros -- August 13, 2010 in Buenos Aires
If the goal is to dance tango in an embrace, then the practicing should focus on dancing in the embrace rather than worrying about what the feet are doing. Ultimately, the man lead a woman in the embrace.
Neither the webcast nor webcam are feasible. Since there is a free day in the schedule of Milongueando in BsAs set for August 9-15, 2010 in Buenos Aires, I have decided to organize a group of milongueros for a presentation on Friday, August 13 for anyone interested in attending. Those who attend the Milongueando festival are missing two important things: instruction and conversation with milongueros and information about the codes and customs of the milongas. All the steps in the world won't make you a better tango dancer unless you know about the culture of the milongas. I intend to try to fill that gap with a one-day program with the milongueros. Details will be posted on my blog.
If the goal is to dance tango in an embrace, then the practicing should focus on dancing in the embrace rather than worrying about what the feet are doing. Ultimately, the man lead a woman in the embrace.
Neither the webcast nor webcam are feasible. Since there is a free day in the schedule of Milongueando in BsAs set for August 9-15, 2010 in Buenos Aires, I have decided to organize a group of milongueros for a presentation on Friday, August 13 for anyone interested in attending. Those who attend the Milongueando festival are missing two important things: instruction and conversation with milongueros and information about the codes and customs of the milongas. All the steps in the world won't make you a better tango dancer unless you know about the culture of the milongas. I intend to try to fill that gap with a one-day program with the milongueros. Details will be posted on my blog.