Starting Tango
- Thread starter Albanaich
- Start date
Oh, boy, we're in for a ride!
For me it's too general a question to answer, and much will depend on the quality of the instruction you get, and how they approach the dance and which Argentine Tango they are going to teach.
I love it as much as WCS, (and other dances I do) but people take it a lot more seriously.
Looking forward to our exchanges with you (a guy who can talk physics and guns and can do an arabesque? whew!) .
For me it's too general a question to answer, and much will depend on the quality of the instruction you get, and how they approach the dance and which Argentine Tango they are going to teach.
I love it as much as WCS, (and other dances I do) but people take it a lot more seriously.
Looking forward to our exchanges with you (a guy who can talk physics and guns and can do an arabesque? whew!) .
Welcome Albanaich,
Hope that you find as much in AT as I have... I'm fairly new to the dance myself, about a year and a half in, so I have a recent memory of some of those "early life" challenges you might encounter... feel free to yell if you think I can help or give encouragement, sometimes it might just help to hear "Yeah, that's normal, we all feel like that!" Of course your Swing will bring both helpful aspects and extra challenges I guess, I remember having to eliminate Salsa hip and shoulder "wiggles" myself!
I asked a similar question when I started, http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=20191, and the answers from the experienced folk here were extremely helpful... strangely though I re-read it after a year of dancing and realised it all made perfect sense now and that those were all the things I was now working on a year down the line...
Merry Christmas,
Blue
Hope that you find as much in AT as I have... I'm fairly new to the dance myself, about a year and a half in, so I have a recent memory of some of those "early life" challenges you might encounter... feel free to yell if you think I can help or give encouragement, sometimes it might just help to hear "Yeah, that's normal, we all feel like that!" Of course your Swing will bring both helpful aspects and extra challenges I guess, I remember having to eliminate Salsa hip and shoulder "wiggles" myself!
I asked a similar question when I started, http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=20191, and the answers from the experienced folk here were extremely helpful... strangely though I re-read it after a year of dancing and realised it all made perfect sense now and that those were all the things I was now working on a year down the line...
Merry Christmas,
Blue
Ampster
Active Member
Ooooh, I'm game! Any questions? I specialized in small arms and infantry weps! :banana: (From a different time, and a different life)
newbie
Well-Known Member
Take up MJ or ballroom instead. A.T tends to not remain the second dance very long.
Ampster
Active Member
(BlueSkies, Thank you for referencing this post of yours. I was looking for it and you saved me lots of time)
Albanaich:
I'll tell you the same thing (with a couple new additions) I told BlueSkies. Let me answer you this way...
The metaphysical stuff
The objective of Argentine Tango is not dance for the awe and appreciation of others. The objective is to achieve that connection to whomever you dance with. There will come a time when "Magic" happens––an unbelievably beautiful melding of intent and movement between two people that is marvelously intimate.
This is achieved when all of the elements of AT come together (e.g. walks, hesitations, musicality, line of dance, etc.) without you ever having to think about it. It just happens. This is achieved over time via dedication to the dance.
The technical stuff
• Make sure your teacher is an Argentine Tango specialist. Someone who REALLY dances and understands the magic of Argentine Tango. Not just someone who knows steps.
• Master the basics (e.g walks, basic fundamental AT parameters of movement, rules, and etiquette)
• Learn how to string the basics together in musical interpretation.
• Don't be obsessed with steps. Step memorizers make the worse AT dancers.
• Learn to lead. The art of making your partner do something in synch with you without saying anything. It is the basis of AT
• Be familiar with authentic traditional tango music (NOT ballroom adaptations). I'm talking about the old scratchy stuff. You'll understand eventually. An excerpt from my library
• Be patient. AT requires time to learn. It requires time to be good at. I have lost count of the classmates I have had who wanted to learn everything AT fast. They're all gone from the milongas.
• Treat AT as a brand new dance learning experience. Keep an open mind, don't compare it to what you know now as this will be a brand new journey.
• Be humble. Don't end up like these people: Types of Tangueros: The Good, the Bad, and a myriad of Jerks
Start with that for now.
Albanaich:
I'll tell you the same thing (with a couple new additions) I told BlueSkies. Let me answer you this way...
The metaphysical stuff
The objective of Argentine Tango is not dance for the awe and appreciation of others. The objective is to achieve that connection to whomever you dance with. There will come a time when "Magic" happens––an unbelievably beautiful melding of intent and movement between two people that is marvelously intimate.
This is achieved when all of the elements of AT come together (e.g. walks, hesitations, musicality, line of dance, etc.) without you ever having to think about it. It just happens. This is achieved over time via dedication to the dance.
The technical stuff
• Make sure your teacher is an Argentine Tango specialist. Someone who REALLY dances and understands the magic of Argentine Tango. Not just someone who knows steps.
• Master the basics (e.g walks, basic fundamental AT parameters of movement, rules, and etiquette)
• Learn how to string the basics together in musical interpretation.
• Don't be obsessed with steps. Step memorizers make the worse AT dancers.
• Learn to lead. The art of making your partner do something in synch with you without saying anything. It is the basis of AT
• Be familiar with authentic traditional tango music (NOT ballroom adaptations). I'm talking about the old scratchy stuff. You'll understand eventually. An excerpt from my library
• Be patient. AT requires time to learn. It requires time to be good at. I have lost count of the classmates I have had who wanted to learn everything AT fast. They're all gone from the milongas.
• Treat AT as a brand new dance learning experience. Keep an open mind, don't compare it to what you know now as this will be a brand new journey.
• Be humble. Don't end up like these people: Types of Tangueros: The Good, the Bad, and a myriad of Jerks
Start with that for now.
opendoor
Forum Master
Hi Albanaich, don´t start AT bc you "have been adviced to to do" so. Look out the date of the next Milonga (Tango dance night) in the next big city, buy a ticket, get submersed in that special atmosphere, and ask an experient follower to dance with you AT for the first time. And, please, post a report, here !
Well. . . .that post caused a stir. . . .
Firstly Steve, its not just guns, physics and dance we have in common. I'm a Limnologist by training, (though that's a long time ago) and have been known to spot Schistocephalus in a can of Tuna (Yuk!!!) - it put me of canned fish for a LONG time. . . .
Thanks from the rest of you. . . .I've already booked classes, and have a very experienced Tango follower who wants to get me started - we do Swing together and she's being trying to coax me into Tango.
I think she'd like me as a lead - but there is a huge gap in experience between us and I don't see how it can work.
My Swing teacher (who also does Tango) said I'd adapt to Tango quickly because I'm by nature a very improvisational dancer, I can't memorize steps, but I do make them up as I go along. I find it very difficult learning by numbers - for me dance is all about feeling the rhythm and listening to the phrasing.
Is this right? I've tried Ballroom and although it helped me a lot with posture I found trying to memorize steps really hard work.
I start on the 13th January. I'll give you fed back then.
Shoes - I'm thinking of sueding up a pair of spilt sole Bloch sneakers (I hate regular dance shoes) will that work? I usually wear sueded Skateboard shoes for Swing.
Firstly Steve, its not just guns, physics and dance we have in common. I'm a Limnologist by training, (though that's a long time ago) and have been known to spot Schistocephalus in a can of Tuna (Yuk!!!) - it put me of canned fish for a LONG time. . . .
Thanks from the rest of you. . . .I've already booked classes, and have a very experienced Tango follower who wants to get me started - we do Swing together and she's being trying to coax me into Tango.
I think she'd like me as a lead - but there is a huge gap in experience between us and I don't see how it can work.
My Swing teacher (who also does Tango) said I'd adapt to Tango quickly because I'm by nature a very improvisational dancer, I can't memorize steps, but I do make them up as I go along. I find it very difficult learning by numbers - for me dance is all about feeling the rhythm and listening to the phrasing.
Is this right? I've tried Ballroom and although it helped me a lot with posture I found trying to memorize steps really hard work.
I start on the 13th January. I'll give you fed back then.
Shoes - I'm thinking of sueding up a pair of spilt sole Bloch sneakers (I hate regular dance shoes) will that work? I usually wear sueded Skateboard shoes for Swing.
opendoor
Forum Master
.. had to find Schistosomes in water snails, that kept me away from that stuff too for a long time
kieronneedscake
New Member
Hi Albanaich. If you're in the vicinity of Edinburgh, then you've got some very competent teachers at your disposal.
You'll learn fast with the assistance of a skilled partner, but make no mistake - there's no substitute for hours on the dance floor. You will have to swallow some pride for the next year or so. Fortunately for you, tango can be enjoyable regardless of skill differential as long as you pay attention to the music and your partner's wellbeing.
Get stuck in!
From my experiences in dancing with people who start tango coming from swing there is one main thing that tends to trip them up - they use a push/pull dynamic and respond to pressure with counter pressure. In tango the energy feels more even, with the arms being pretty much just an extension of the chest, and the usually the response to pressure should be to yield. My perspective is as a leader - so i am not sure how useful this will be for you, but this might be one of the structural differences to look out for.
Gssh
Gssh
opendoor
Forum Master
Try Hamburg, you are welcome !
Gssh - that sounds reasonable. And I am a guy so generally I lead, (though just before Christmas we had a scary, scary, 'fun' class in which the teacher allowed us to practise dips and drops on us blogs). Albanaich is Scots gaelic for Scotsmen.
It sounds reasonable because that's how someone would be taught to respond in Swing - but I've also done ballroom, so I know what a ballroom lead is like, which I suspect is more similar to the Tango.
so generally I lead, (though just before Christmas we had a scary, scary, 'fun' class in which the teacher allowed us to practise dips and drops on us blogs). Albanaich is Scots gaelic for Scotsmen.It sounds reasonable because that's how someone would be taught to respond in Swing - but I've also done ballroom, so I know what a ballroom lead is like, which I suspect is more similar to the Tango.