Yeah, that's any milonga outside a metropolis! But what a great funeral wake!
Movies About Tango
- Thread starter DanceMentor
- Start date
Not always, but mostly. Consider some form of 'grapevine' (linear 'giro') by one partner, or both, in milonga traspie as opposed to milonga lisa. Usually as part of some performance, but if there's space...
Mr. Moustachio
Active Member
Tango de salon did not permit ganchos, whereas tango de pista does.
Going to milongas is like going to funerals
the scene depicts normal milonga atmosphere and vibes.I wasn’t part of cursing the 8CB. Less instructors use it than more. Also there is a variance in how instructors use it. However I have never seen an instructor tell students that this is a sequence then can use to dance. It is explained as a tool which incorporates most of the movements that student will need - back step, side step, forward step, parallel to cross change, resolution, and cross. Ofcourse it doesn’t include the ochos and ocho Cortado. I do see that if you take basic elements that are in 8CB, add ochos and ocho Cortado to it, you have given beginner students enough tools to dance and practice. First at practica. Then at milongas. While I can believe there are people who might mistakenly think that 8CB is basic tango step, at least I haven’t come across them. Not the beginner students. Not the instructors. When people ask me what is basic tango step, my reply is there isn’t one, but if you really want to define a basic it is a single step walk. It can be in any direction.Does he really begins his dance with f..g 8CB, we cursed in other thread recently?
Coming to the protagonist of the movie dancing the sequence, I don’t mind it and never noticed it. He did it well to the music. Strictly speaking after the cross he keeps stepping forward and that would be like executing first 5 or 6 of 8CB. Then he keeps stepping forward. I think equivalence can be drawn between 7 and 8 (resolution steps) of 8CB being with a side step, where as he executes the same with the forward steps. So there can be an argument made that in spirit he did 8CB sequence while literally the last few steps changed.
I don’t think there is any problem dancing a part or whole of 8CB, if you can dance it rather than repeating it as a sequence.
I wasn’t saying it is a style or correct style. As I have repeated often, I don’t believe in styles as a defined thing. You can have your combination of embrace (close/open/wide open), position (square or parallel vs V), axis (shared or your own), and lean (related to axis). Whether you open up or keep the dance close is another matter of choice. We all develop our choices, which becomes a habit, which then reflect in our dancing. Ergo individual style!
May be. That’s one opinion. If you are performing and audience is watching, the opening makes sense for both aesthetics and effect.
Of course. But, as we see as people romance about 'connection' with another person for a tanda, and the deeper meanings of tango, someone IS watching, even on the social dancefloor.
TTanguero
Forum Master
So what? My responsibility is to my partner, the music, and the other couples on the floor – not to an audience.
As I said in a FB discussion started by Yelizaveta Nersesova, there was a time I thought I needed to look good in order to get dances. But I quickly realised how much followers talk to each other about leaders, and found that (as long as you don't look awful) it's irrelevant.
You want someone to accept your invitation to dance? You want to choose that 'someone' who's, let's say, appropriate (height, body build, dance skills...) for your take on that tanda. As you say, you then move into the sphere of social connections with an overflowing [mental] dance card but, as you said:
As the adage goes: Dance as if no one is watching. But take some lessons because they are.
I agree 'looks' aren't everything, but there's no need to look awful hanging on to some close embrace 'rule' just because you're enjoying that 'connection'. The Argentinians of Villa Urquiza (and other barrios!) managed both looking good, having that connection with their dance partner (if they reciprocate), and being responsible to other dancers (ah, floorcraft!). But, that's a choice. There are other 'styles'. You can enjoy your own 'style'.
In the context of the movie - other dancers were keeping the space clear, the camera was looking at the couple - it doesn't move - the couple move back into the space, the talk on the table was about their focus on the couple. But, or course, no one is 'looking' 
Then there's that 'invitation' scene at the milonga in 'The Tango Lesson'. What are they talking about at the table? And then what prompts the other invites. Totally unrealistic, of course.
Then there's that 'invitation' scene at the milonga in 'The Tango Lesson'. What are they talking about at the table? And then what prompts the other invites. Totally unrealistic, of course.
TTanguero
Forum Master
Yes – and my point is that most followers are not focused on how your dance looks. (As it happens, my early teachers were such that my footwork is pretty neat, and as I like to dance in sustained CE then you could argue that some followers want to dance with me because they see me doing that, but I'm simply saying that I don't focus on how my dance looks from the outside while I'm dancing, and wouldn't advise anyone else to either.)
Of course you don't focus on 'looks', but good, precise, technique has consequences - in feel and looks. And, of course, 'looks' have something to do with how those early dancers dressed, and how we dress now. 'Looks' are not the primary emphasis and objective, but you can't deny their impact - especially in the visual realm of movies.
Does he really begins his dance with f..g 8CB, we cursed in other thread recently?
It's a film, understandable decision to open with a sequence that anyone who'd been to a beginner tango class would likely recognise.
opendoor
Forum Master
My concept of style is quite different. On the one hand, there's a collection of externally recognizable traits, such as posture, orientation, and vocabulary. Then there's the personal aspect, that means one has learned from recognized representatives of the style, who in turn were taught by the founders. The style adept is interested in anecdotes, scandals, and intrigues. Musical education is also part of style. I've often reported here that in Villa Urquiza there is a preference for Pugliese, and people aren't so keen on dancing to d'Arienzo. You see, style is a complex construct, Bailango.
opendoor
Forum Master
But this is your personal philosophy. For me, it was exactly the other way around. For me tango is self-realization. Mostly the outside perspective defines the position in the pecking order of your male colleagues. And followers rather value uprightness, dissociation and musicality. Sorry, but statements like yours make me think of a rather unpleasant subpopulation of tango dancers who are needy and seek close physical contact, but can only achieve this through dance.