club tango

morgrob

morgrob

New Member
I am not sure if this the correct thread, but does anyone know about club style tango. The place I take lessons is offering it, and it seems cool, but doesn't seem like it would have much use. I can't imagine club like places playing tango music that often, maybe I am wrong. If anyone has any resources online or suggestions for videos, let me know. Thanks!
 
morgrob said:
I am not sure if this the correct thread, but does anyone know about club style tango. The place I take lessons is offering it, and it seems cool, but doesn't seem like it would have much use. I can't imagine club like places playing tango music that often, maybe I am wrong. If anyone has any resources online or suggestions for videos, let me know. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Club style is a translation for what is more commonly called Salon style (a very broad category). In many clubs (or salons, as they say in Argentina) you will find people dancing tango in Buenos Aires, but less so in other places (I don't know where you are from).
 
dchester said:
Club style is a translation for what is more commonly called Salon style (a very broad category). In many clubs (or salons, as they say in Argentina) you will find people dancing tango in Buenos Aires, but less so in other places (I don't know where you are from).
Click to expand...
Hmmm... I suspect the questioner is asking about something different. It sounds like someone's offering classes in "club tango", as in night club.

Or discotheques, as they used to be called in my day.
 
You are right. This would be tango danced in a night club, aka small dance floor / non-traveling. Anyone know anything about this, videos...? Thanks!
 
morgrob said:
You are right. This would be tango danced in a night club, aka small dance floor / non-traveling. Anyone know anything about this, videos...? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Well- I had always understood "club style" or "Confeteria style" tango to refer to the type of tango that was danced in the crowded downtown clubs as opposed to the Salons of the outer neighboorhoods which had more floor space.

If you re learning authentic Argentine tango, then there are plenty of movements that people learn that can be contained and non-traveling.

I tend to think of what American's call "milonguero" style this way. The movements stay small/compact. There is a great deal of focus on being able to make your movements circular without breaking the embrace. So you learn to do giros staying in close embrace, as opposed to the way it is generally taught here where the giro (Grapevine turn) tends to open up and you most likely don't have room for that in a crowded floor.

The other thing that tends to get focused on in "close embrace" (or milonguero) style tango is quick rhytmic changes (like ocho cortado) either as a change of direction or rythmic variation since again, the focus is that you often don't have a lot of room to move and so again that leaves you fewer options and so you accomodate this by making more turning in place movements that don't break the embrace and more rhythm variation within what you do.

Now, that is only how I understand tango for close quarter dancing. That may not be at all what the class is about. Your best bet may be to just contact someone on the flyer and ask.

For all I know it could be someone's adapation for "club" bump and grind dancing with tango type elements like ganchos....so it seems best to me to call and ask the people who are putting the class on.
 
So, I have taken lessons in this club tango now for a couple of weeks, and was just wondering if with my better explanation someone might know something more about this. I have asked the instructor, but he did not really give me a good answer.

The "basic" is kind of a box step.

The man: 1) steps back on his right foot for a S count 2) to the side with left foot S 3) outside partner with right foot and some CBM S 4) forward left Q bring right foot to left Q and then left forward S and then side close on a QQ.

For the middle QQ steps the woman is doing a lock type step.

He has kind of called this a sandwich type tango where the beginning is the same, you add something in the middle and then end all the steps in the same way.

For instance, there have been rocking steps, running / progressive steps, reverse turns and then also forward ochos which we have covered. If no one knows that is fine, just kind of would enjoy reading up more about it online or if there are any videos available. I have not found anything similar yet. I also asked if this was anything similar to Milonga and stuff, he said no, and he showed how those are danced, which are very different than what we are doing. This is more of what he calls a night club style.

Thanks for your help!!!
 
morgrob said:
So, I have taken lessons in this club tango now for a couple of weeks, and was just wondering if with my better explanation someone might know something more about this. I have asked the instructor, but he did not really give me a good answer.

The "basic" is kind of a box step.

The man: 1) steps back on his right foot for a S count 2) to the side with left foot S 3) outside partner with right foot and some CBM S 4) forward left Q bring right foot to left Q and then left forward S and then side close on a QQ.

For the middle QQ steps the woman is doing a lock type step.

He has kind of called this a sandwich type tango where the beginning is the same, you add something in the middle and then end all the steps in the same way.

For instance, there have been rocking steps, running / progressive steps, reverse turns and then also forward ochos which we have covered. If no one knows that is fine, just kind of would enjoy reading up more about it online or if there are any videos available. I have not found anything similar yet. I also asked if this was anything similar to Milonga and stuff, he said no, and he showed how those are danced, which are very different than what we are doing. This is more of what he calls a night club style.

Thanks for your help!!!
Click to expand...

That sounds very much like the eight-count basic step that was commonly used in beginners classes many years ago. Some teachers still use it, but many have decided that there are better ways to teach tango. Since in Argentine tango there really is no basic step, why teach one?

You can find other discussion of it somewhere in this forum.
 
Re: Club style

bastet said:
..had always understood "club style" or "Confeteria style" tango to refer to the type of tango that was danced in the crowded downtown clubs as opposed to the Salons of the outer neighboorhoods which had more floor space.... tend to think of what American's call "milonguero" style this way....
Click to expand...

I´ll second that. Club is Milonguero with figures. The last prophet was Juan Bruno and Alejandro Sanguineti (teaching in Hamburg) claims to be the surviving lineholder of this style.

Ale y Elli (from 2.0 on) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krcJWKOKDNI
 
morgrob said:
I have asked the instructor, but he did not really give me a good answer.
Click to expand...
Ummm... at this point, warning bells are sounding; to me at least...

morgrob said:
The "basic" is kind of a box step.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's the Basic 8 step.

Google "tango basic 8" for more demos.
morgrob said:
I have not found anything similar yet. I also asked if this was anything similar to Milonga and stuff, he said no, and he showed how those are danced, which are very different than what we are doing.
Click to expand...
Milonga (the dance) and Vals are different-but-related dances. I did a little taster class on these last Sunday - here's my class notes, they may help.

morgrob said:
This is more of what he calls a night club style.
Click to expand...
Ummm.

See, I'm still trying to be Mr Benefit Of The Doubt regarding your teacher - but if he persists in calling something "night club style" but not defining that style clearly, then there's obviously a communications gap.

I don't know what "night club style" is. It's possible I'm simply ignorant, of course.

However, if I were to dance tango in a night club, it'd be non-progressive. In fact, it'd probably be a non-progressive salon style. In fact, it'd probably be milonga, to a non-progressive salon style.

But I certainly wouldn't do the Basic 8.
 
opendoor said:
I´ll second that. Club is Milonguero with figures. The last prophet was Juan Bruno and Alejandro Sanguineti (teaching in Hamburg) claims to be the surviving lineholder of this style.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting idea. I had some classes with Juan Bruno and I would not have said he was teaching Milonguero. I would have said very much Salon.
 
Dave Bailey said:
... if he persists in calling something "night club style" but not defining that style clearly, then there's obviously a communications gap.

I don't know what "night club style" is. But I certainly wouldn't do the Basic 8.
Click to expand...
One point of agreement... sounds like this teacher doesn't really know what he is doing.

One point of disagreement... there's nothing wrong with dancing these elements, whether they are called 8CB or not.
 
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