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

[Mr Walker]

Hi bastet

Thank you for your comments...This is the beauty of tango that pulls us all in the fact that we do not agree keeps the dance alive and so personal..We will never all like the same thing or see things in the same light...You have however raised another point about the walk which for me makes it truely tango...and that is we can dance this way with anybody at any level and enjoy it..We could also talk about how the embrace changes as we walk and my partner begins to trust me to the point where we are just one flowing dancing in the music the connection that comes from being free of wondering what move is he gonna through at me next? because the dance comes from the music and my partner and we follow...

 

[bordertangoman]

Hi everybody,





OK, after all now, I would add some pivoting, and thus walked back-8s, but not the (funny double) front-8s shown here



Then walking could be synonymic with fluently in the line of dance, without stops and (full) turns.

Its all beginning to sound like a badly organised party game. I dont think walking is possible on a dnce floor unless its pretty empty or everyone is stepping in roughlu the same time.
Please lock up this thread.

 

[Lui]

I believe quite the opposite is true. If the floor is extremely crowded and there is barely space for ochos, walking is all that’s left - alas with tiny, tiny steps.

For me pure walking consists of stepping forward, backward, closing, rocking steps, double times, pauses and weight changes, no turning whatsoever. However, that’s just my taste. Nevertheless, it’s astonishing what complex movements can be constructed with just that few elements, especially when you play with the rhythm.

Any tango or tango related music can be translated into movement just by walking. You may try it, if you don’t believe me. In fact it’s a good exercise for musical interpretation and not so easy to restrain yourself from the habitual turns. At least it's for me.

After their first tango lesson, all beginners have usually the elements of walking at their disposal. As tandas are not common in Berlin, they might encounter a piece of OtroAires directly after a Canaro of the Golden Age and then stumble across a Milonga of some sort. To cope with that rapid changes, I recommend them to concentrate on just walking. First along the beat, if that works out along one of the underlying rhythms and finally along the melody.

 

[bordertangoman]

I believe quite the opposite is true. If the floor is extremely crowded and there is barely space for ochos, walking is all that’s left - alas with tiny, tiny steps.

For me pure walking consists of stepping forward, backward, closing, rocking steps, double times, pauses and weight changes, no turning whatsoever. However, that’s just my taste. Nevertheless, it’s astonishing what complex movements can be constructed with just that few elements, especially when you play with the rhythm.

Any tango or tango related music can be translated into movement just by walking. You may try it, if you don’t believe me. In fact it’s a good exercise for musical interpretation and not so easy to restrain yourself from the habitual turns. At least it's for me.

y.

THAT's WHy its a badly organised party game; if this is the stuff you are doing then to me its more than walking thats why this is a pointless thread. And if I lead my partner to step and dont step myself is that walking. a rock step isnt walking IMO, but why not a rock-step turn?

 

[opendoor]

... a rock step isnt walking...

That´s why i´m with btm ! But "walking entirely" is a fictional idea, nothing real for the dance floor, nothing for BsAs.

... pure walking to a Biagi piece, alone on the dance floor, only my partner and me ....

 

[dchester]

THAT's WHy its a badly organised party game; if this is the stuff you are doing then to me its more than walking thats why this is a pointless thread. And if I lead my partner to step and dont step myself is that walking. a rock step isnt walking IMO, but why not a rock-step turn?

This is why when the thread first started, I asked if he considered rock steps to be part of walking. His answer was yes, which then enabled me to say that I had done it. In your opinion, are side steps (or back steps) part of walking? For me, when the OP made the question, I took it that he was possibly trying to ask if you ever danced a song without doing any figures.

I agree with Lui, that if things are tight enough, walking and rock steps are mostly all that are available (along with pausing).

 

[dchester]

Hi Walker, I am a bit confused about your comment: I see elegant dancing, and graceful walking. This dancing is exemplary, in this you are right. But they do not walk throughout. They make stops without end, and they turn. And remember, the cross is kind of a stop, too. I think it is very difficult, only to walk. Firstly, TA is a social dance, so other couples affect your dancing. Secondly, it is difficult to vary your dancing when just walking (you can change the sides, the tracks, the system, the tempo, and the direction). And finally, I believe that standing still is tango, too. So I would not subscribe, that to walk an entire song is a good interpretation of the music. And that is, what dancing should achieve.

Cheers
OD

OD, why do you say that the cross is a kind of stop? The cross is often a convenient place to pause, but it certainly can be done without pausing.

 

[Lui]

opendoor,
many milongueros will be amused to find out, that walking isn’t for the milonga or BsAs. At least, they will be on a good day.

 

[Lui]

While my definition of walking is made up to my own taste, I do not consider it random. I would love to have the founds and opportunity for this little experiment:

Gather up a significant number of participants and ask them to walk. I bet all of them will put one foot in front of the other, along a more or less straight line. Than play a little music, obviously not a march, and ask them to walk with the music. The rhythm or the melody will force some to leave their regular pace to the beat. I expect the majority of those will sooner or later exhibit some sort of rocking steps, double times or pauses. I assume only few will use side steps and only an odd group will incorporate turns. I expect this outcome, because if you watch your average city side walk, side steps and turns are a rather uncommon pattern of movement when walking in daily life and much harder to incorporated into your walk.

As I lack the resources this idea will remain an assumption. Maybe it will give inspiration to some one able to try it.

 

[Mario7]

If one watches a lot of YouTube...I could pick out several examples
of walk only performances that .. here's one and there are
others even more purely walking..if even in a performance, how much more appropriate a social dance? lots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE03oH46ZXY
I could find lots of examples.. the title of this post is 'Lot's!'