Styles anyone

[Peaches]

Pray, excuse my former post. I forgot the most important rule on the internet: never react to the postings of a Troll.
Which I did right now again. ;-)

Yours,

Melina

LOL. Now you're gettin' the drift of things.

 

[Subliminal]

Pray, excuse my former post. I forgot the most important rule on the internet: never react to the postings of a Troll.
Which I did right now again. ;-)

Yours,

Melina

Thanks for posting Melina.

And yeah, that's a good rule.

 

[Zoopsia59]

Oh yes, and: we do not train. EVER! Our style developed in accordance to what we teach. We teach walking every week, thus we walk a lot. We don't teach ganchos more than once a year, thus we don't dance Ganchos. We prepare classes by discussing contents, we listen to music, we dance at Milongas, but we never train. I wish we would, because we could surely profit from it!

Could you clarify what you mean by "train"? Do you mean practice with each other or receive coaching from others?

I know you requested that people reply to your blog, but I really would rather not go multiple places to reply to something posted here. (that's the danger of posting to a forum.. people might want to continue the discussion with you and might expect to do so where the discussion originated )

Glad you decided to contribute!

 

[chanchan]

A demonstration is for the purpose of showing others your dance and what you teach. The audience is social dancers, so therefore, they don't need to see choreography for stage. What is wrong with dancing the same way you would in a milonga?

Tango is not theatre, it's not fiction, the wrong thing is faking...

There is no reason why they should pretend to enter in a ronda which doesn't exists, or sidestep to avoid an imaginary couple in front of them, or avoid pauses that cause problems to a non-existing couple behind, or avoid do a boleo which in this case could only hurt some fly, or stay in a lane that is not there.

I suggest you look at the demos by Beto Ayala and Amanda Lucero on Youtube. He dances the same way on an empty as he does at a milonga. Beto follows the line of dance.

I looked at his videos, Beto does a lot back and side steps, and movements against the CCW flow that could potentially be dangerous in a crowded milonga IF some couple is behind or at his side, but we can't judge if we don't know how many people are supposed to be in this imaginary milonga, and how are they positioned.

Actually, there is no step in tango that you can do without paying attention to people around you.

 

[Dave Bailey]

A demonstration is for the purpose of showing others your dance and what you teach. The audience is social dancers, so therefore, they don't need to see choreography for stage. What is wrong with dancing the same way you would in a milonga?

Because demonstrations are by definition not social dancing, they're show dancing.

The problem is not that couples - everywhere - dance show tango in shows. The problem is that a lot of people who watch demonstrations don't understand the difference between show and social dancing.

Possibly, there's some way for teachers to explain this concept. However, I think any effort spent in saying this will be a waste of breath. People - especially the ones who are likely to suffer the above confusion - don't listen to what teachers say, they watch what teachers do.

I never judge a teacher based on their show performance; there's no point, really. I mostly find show performances boring.

Ganchos are inappropriate for the social floor. They are a figure created for stage performance. Why do you bother to teach them once a year?

Ganchos require discipline - in fact, probably more so than many other moves. They're a valid move within Tango. Why not teach them?

 

[Nathan]

Ganchos require discipline - in fact, probably more so than many other moves. They're a valid move within Tango. Why not teach them?

Walking properly requires more discipline than ganchos!

Anyway, they are an overused adornment. Find me a place in the music to use one and I'll show you a more fitting movement to express it.

 

[Peaches]

Walking properly requires more discipline than ganchos!

Anyway, they are an overused adornment. Find me a place in the music to use one and I'll show you a more fitting movement to express it.

Which is your opinion--nothing more, nothing less. YOU may feel that there is always something "better" than a gancho to express the music, but that doesn't mean that everyone feels that way.

 

[Subliminal]

Ganchos require discipline - in fact, probably more so than many other moves. They're a valid move within Tango. Why not teach them?

I would also say that there are plenty of social appropriate ganchos as well. If you have room to do a giro, you can do a gancho that takes up the same space.

 

[Zoopsia59]

Actually, there is no step in tango that you can do without paying attention to people around you.

:rocker:

 

[tangomonkey]

I would also say that there are plenty of social appropriate ganchos as well. If you have room to do a giro, you can do a gancho that takes up the same space.

This is a good point, Sub. It comes down to what people claim is tango or not tango, according to their personal beliefs. As long as dancers respect other dancers on the floo,r all is OK, IMHO.

 

[Dave Bailey]

Walking properly requires more discipline than ganchos!

Ganchos work on technique (obviously, free leg moverment and embellishment) which walking doesn't - or at least not so much.

Anyway, they are an overused adornment.

I agree with this. So what?

Why does that mean they should not be taught?

 

[Angel HI]

The problem is that a lot of people who watch demonstrations don't understand the difference between show and social dancing.

People... don't listen to what teachers say, they watch what teachers do.

ODG!! Would it be inapropos to bold these and make them stickys at the top of the forum?

I never judge a teacher based on their show performance

Bravo, again. Interesting that one of our performances (danced some time ago, actually) seems to be a crowd fav, but I thought that I looked like crap. Yet, I certainly know what I'm talking about when I teach.

 

[Zoopsia59]

Ganchos require discipline ... Why not teach them?

I agree. Ironically, Ganchos teach people to keep their foot on the floor.

People who have received proper instruction on ganchos know that the foot stays on the floor until something impedes the movement of the leg and then it hooks. People who haven't received instruction on ganchos try to raise the leg because they see an opening and then try to lift and shoot the leg through it, making contact with the leader's leg (or not) only at the END of the move. They try to mimic a movement they've seen without understanding the concepts that drive it.

So teaching ganchos to followers reinforces two very important principles:
Keep your foot on the floor until you can't
and
You don't need to LOOK to know what to do.

I imagine there are some corresponding principles that leaders learn from ganchos as well. And I also agree with a poster above who said that they don't need to take up any room. In fact, a gancho is far less likely to hit another couple than a boleo.

 

[ant]

I agree. Ironically, Ganchos teach people to keep their foot on the floor.

I imagine there are some corresponding principles that leaders learn from ganchos as well.

I think timing, an understanding of changing central axies in circular movement and discipline of movement in the upper body... plus others.

I think the problem with ganchos is that they are difficult to do properly and it is that which gives them a bad name.

 

[Melina + Detlef]

Hiya,

just a short mesage, as I do not have a lot of time:

with "train" I mean practice. We never practice. We should. But we do not. We dance at Milongas. Or prepare classes. ;-)

Good day.

Melina