Thanks. That was a pretty good article. I really liked the dialog about the hug.
What makes a Teacher?
- Thread starter UKDancer
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Thanks. That was a pretty good article. I really liked the dialog about the hug.
Always thought I could understand a little bit of english, but this article was hermetically sealed from my understanding
So can you tell me with your own words, what was on with the hug thing?
Importance of connection in tango.
If there is no real hug/embrace than dance is fake.
About putting how hug should look, not how felt.
Some of the statements were basically saying that the hug is what makes Tango so special, unique, and mysterious. No other dance has a "real" hug. The core (main/most important part) of connection/communication is the hug.Always thought I could understand a little bit of english, but this article was hermetically sealed from my understanding
So can you tell me with your own words, what was on with the hug thing?
Also, that teaching the hug, by telling people what specific arm, shoulder, elbow, positions is not good teaching, as it can result in a "fake" hug, rather than a real hug. Teachers should not be making the embrace so rigid, and should not be placing mandates (restrictions, constraints, limitations) on it. These things (rigidities) have nothing to do with the embrace of tango. The embrace is not about geometry, it is about feeling.
BTW, here is the article in Spanish, in case you prefer that language.
http://www.lptango.com.ar/index.php...5:poker-de-damas&catid=4:entrevistas&Itemid=2
About feeling of embrace/hug rather than look of it.
bordertangoman
Well-Known Member
I would go further; I understand what Besio says as the embrace needs to be authentic; ie made with genuine feeling (by this I mean emotional intent rather than anything physical) toward the person you are dancing with.....
"As much as a hug a hug real and not "built" and "arm position" ... And that is one of the problems we have in the latest tango. Because sometimes a hug is false. Can be open or closed but it must be true. So high shoulder, elbow to another height, hand-so, and all those things so strict that sometimes taught are rigidities that have nothing to do with the embrace of the tango, which is mostly first and Instead, embrace "real" thing in human beings, not geometry".
could be another thread starter:
sometimes a hug is false
well probably most of the time..with ladies I dont know..I would probably need ten years in a Tibetan monastery to develop enough compassion to feel warmth to all the ladies I dance with.
Peaches
Well-Known Member
Never mind the fact that some people give $#*!!y hugs...
You can say "the embrace should be just like a real hug"...until someone takes that and ends up with a really crappy embrace. Then...well...what's wrong? Well, you're arm is in the wrong position, you're squishing, you're hurting, you're not letting them move...try moving your arm up, let your forearm be parallel to the floor/along her bra strap, cradle with your hand, blah blah blah. And, lo and behold, you're back to describing an arm position.
Both types of descriptions have their merits. It depends on the person trying to learn, and just what exactly you're trying to convey.
You can say "the embrace should be just like a real hug"...until someone takes that and ends up with a really crappy embrace. Then...well...what's wrong? Well, you're arm is in the wrong position, you're squishing, you're hurting, you're not letting them move...try moving your arm up, let your forearm be parallel to the floor/along her bra strap, cradle with your hand, blah blah blah. And, lo and behold, you're back to describing an arm position.
Both types of descriptions have their merits. It depends on the person trying to learn, and just what exactly you're trying to convey.
bordertangoman
Well-Known Member
I was taught to do a friends' hug. You must be comfortable in the hug.
If hug is not comfortable than is not a hug.
but if you were taught, then its not a real hug, that was their point.
@Peaches; quite right; comfort is equally important, as is not destroying your partner's balance..
I don't think their point was that a proper hug can't or shouldn't be taught... many people come into tango not knowing how to give a good hug, and those people need to learn how to do that before they can really dance tango. I think what they were saying is that a lot of people are teaching it as a frame to be manipulated as a tool for causing various effects, rather than a hug which is meant to express feelings.
I think the point they were trying to make, is that one can't define an arm position and expect that to be the correct answer for everyone. You may be able to describe what you like to feel from a hug (and that likely will be correct for you), but that same positioning may not work for others.
IMO, the main message they were saying, is that teachers should not be locked into one specific positioning for everyone. Of course, they clearly were emphasizing that it should feel good, (and thus were not emphasizing the look of the embrace).
I am very glad how I was taught, and numerous after dance don't go embraces proved that.
Over time I learned how to embrace various partners so we could feel comfortable.
I got more comfortable and my embrace improved. :grin:
There are various ways how to embrace somebody.
There were some followers that the embrace was so natural, with some it took time so we could find out our embrace.
bordertangoman
Well-Known Member
okay can you back up your first assertion with text;
i think if you come from a culture that knows how to hug then you can hug and if you dont you dont; whether this applies to a tango embraceand whether it can be taught; and I dont think a hug is about expressing feelings (plural) which is a narcississtic approach. I think what they are saying its about entering the dance with a sense of humanity towards one partner.(see my first quote) I think this is one reason that people misread tango; the passion most people see is theatrical;it is the language used by many dancers in many forms, (eg ballet contemporary)((and is turning into cliche))
the translation seems to have been word for word Spanish to English, without understanding of grammatical diffrences let alone nuances of meaning..
What do you think a hug is about, then?