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

[Mr Walker]

Hi dchester and thank you for asking this question...I consider the rock step walking.....

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.

I asked this question because other leaders have said in conversation they feel under preasure to perform and do complex things because this is what other dancers are doing...

 

[Ampster]

I asked this question because other leaders have said in conversation they feel under preasure to perform and do complex things because this is what other dancers are doing...

Inexperienced, or Beginner's thoughts

These are my thoughts on the subject--> Click here: "The intricacy of simplicity"

 

[mkjohnson]

Ampster, thanks for that link - that's one of my favorite posts of yours.

 

[Mr Walker]

Inexperienced, or Beginner's thoughts..

this came up from both typres of dancers at different times...
part of it comes from the fact that i never dance like that.(always doing tricks)

These are my thoughts on the subject--> Click here: "The intricacy of simplicity"

Thank you Ampster for reminding me about your post and supplying a link...beautifully written and ever so clear...

And thank you also mkjohnson it is always a pleasure to read your words..

 

[Mr Walker]

Inexperienced, or Beginner's thoughts

These are my thoughts on the subject--> Click here: "The intricacy of simplicity"

Ampster thank you for adding this link...i've read it before i read it again..and it still moves me..

As for your question this conversation came up from both types of dancers the inexperienced asked because they felt they could not offer the follower and exciting dance full of this and that...The experienced dancers who dance with this style was more of a question for me as in why do you dance so compact...or why do you dance small..

Hi Mari...thank you for your earlier post...

 

[bafonso]

This is a good idea. I'll keep it in mind.

 

[bastet]

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.

sorry- been at (still in Portland) Tangofest...I agree, but it's complicated...simple doesn't imply boring...walking can be changed in so many ways through syncopations and dynamic that it becomes interesting. Walking all the time, at the same rate,, with no changes in speed, timing or delivery...that's like singing one note for an entire song...

 

[Mr Walker]

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

Thank you Mari a wonderful post from a followers point of view. Afew followers have mentioned before that they wished more leaders just took the time to walk them..let them settle into the music connect with them instead of dancing hard and fast...

 

[Angel HI]

A few followers have mentioned before that they wished more leaders just took the time to walk them..let them settle into the music connect with them ...

We hear this OVER AND OVER AD NAUSEUM! Why, then, do guys vehemently insist on not listening, and continue to force BS on the follows, then come here and complain about people not liking their dancing?

Leads, listen up. Here it is again.....

A few followers have mentioned before that they wished more leaders just took the time to walk them..let them settle into the music connect with them ...

 

[AndaBien]

"Have you ever walked..." Definitely. I think it takes an experienced dancer to realize how much nuance and expression can be put into a very simple movement. I have tried to plumb those depths and it has improved my dancing. My best dances are the least complicated.

I've also done tangos with no turns: including ochos but not including molinetes. I asked my partner if she realized we had never turned around completely and she said no.

(added) A very good way to generate creativity is to apply constraints to whatever is being done.

 

[Peaches]

A slight hijack, but related...

On my way to the train station this morning to pick up the work laptop from my coworker, I was listening to "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. That song makes me want to dance AT. Specifically, it makes me want to walk. And that got me to thinking about this thead, and what good walking feels like.

So, what does good walking feel like to you? Either you, or what you feel from a partner.

When I'm liking how my walk feels, I think the most overwhelming feeling is one of loose hip joints. I don't know how else to describe it, other than my entire hip region feeling extremely relaxed and loose. There's also a feeling of a bit of sway through my upper body--how much depends a lot on the person I'm dancing with (if the guy is dancing stiff as a board, swaying with my torso just feels off). And there's the most wonderful stretch through my whole body when I take a step.

When I'm walking forward, it feels a bit different to me. At least the attitude feels different. Which is to say, walking forward to me is all about attitude. Hips swaying...feet being shown off...strutting. Very sexy feeling.

So how about you all?

 

[Heather2007]

We hear this OVER AND OVER AD NAUSEUM! Why, then, do guys vehemently insist on not listening, and continue to force BS on the follows, then come here and complain about people not liking their dancing?

Leads, listen up. Here it is again.....

And in RED. Ha, ha, ha. I guess walking-just-walking just isn't showey-offey enough...but...I'll take this argument all the way back to the class. The teachers.

 

[dchester]

We hear this OVER AND OVER AD NAUSEUM! Why, then, do guys vehemently insist on not listening, and continue to force BS on the follows, then come here and complain about people not liking their dancing?

Leads, listen up. Here it is again.....

One possibility is that he said a FEW followers said this, as opposed to most. I've also have a few followers tell me that I dance rather simple. I've had a few tell me that I dance very fast. I've had a few tell me that my turns are very good. I've had a few tell me that vals in my best dance, while I've had others tell me that milonga is my best dance, while others say that a slow (dramatic) tango is my best dance. The feedback is not always consistent. The trick (IMO) is to understand that all followers do not want the same exact thing (and the same follower might want different things at different times).

 

[mkjohnson]

<rant>

I also assumed that any follower would prefer a walk that felt connected to them, and to the music, than a dance with a leader that just seemed to be showing off steps. At the last milonga, I was corrected. Another follower told me about an advanced visiting dancer who was just incredible and I should dance with him if I got the opportunity. Not 10 minutes later he asked me to dance. He did have some very fancy moves. But I felt like decoration - like I wasn't even needed in his dance equation. I couldn't keep up but he didn't seem to notice. We bumped two other couples - he didn't notice that either.

After I sat down, I watched him dance the exact same (albeit very artistic and musical) dance with every follower he led. No matter the music - no matter her skill level or ability to keep up. Yet follower after follower told me how wonderful he was - in the same breath as telling me how hard it was to follow him as he wove in and out of the line of dance. This isn't to say that every follower was impressed by this gentleman. There were several of us exchanging questioning (and exasperated) looks as we watched the line of dance separate to make room for him.

No wonder leaders feel the pressure to increase their repertoire of steps. If followers reward dancers like that, what else should they think?

</rant>

 

[Subliminal]

On my way to the train station this morning to pick up the work laptop from my coworker, I was listening to "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. That song makes me want to dance AT.

Heh. Now all I can think about is how I'd emphasize the gunshots in the chorus.

So, what does good walking feel like to you? Either you, or what you feel from a partner.

Hmm. I would have to say, when I'm feeling good, my walking feels powerful and gliding. I have a friend that told me when I'm at my best it feels like I'm open and expanding, and she can't help but be carried along. With my back walk, I try to feel magnetic and, uh, alluring. Such that the follower wants to come to me. It works sometimes.

When the follower has good walking. I can feel the sway of her body from her toes, up her legs, through her hips, and into her torso, and back down again. Very cool.