OK I'm chiming in late for this one, but it seems like there's a consensus: Whatever your style is, don't be a menace on the dance floor!
I blogged about something similar a while back (DF won't let me link) about moves that should be retired from the dance floor. Now, while, I think any step or sequence can have a good pedagogical value, especially in teaching body mechanics (as so many people pointed out), the problem arises when such steps are overused, turning the dancer executing them imperfectly into a floor hazard (not mention looking like a tool!).
In that blog, I reasoned that since tango is about dancing for your partner rather than for an audience, whether a move should be led or not should be gauged against that metric. "Oh this move was interesting, comfortable and went with the music!" vs. "Oh everyone look at me I can lead a triple gancho! Seven times in a row!". By that reasoning, I concluded that even showy, space-hogging steps can have a redeeming value beyond their showiness; the sensation that they give to your partner. So volcadas and colgadas (assuming they go with the music and there is room to do them) might be just fine; whereas I view steps like back sacadas as completely superfluous, because they have the same effect on the follower as a regular forward or side sacada, even though they can be done in relatively close embrace and not take up a lot of space. They're really just for show.
At the end of the day, feeling the music and really dancing to it is the most important thing. The steps that we do should work towards that goal; they should be a tool towards having an ephemeral tango experience and sharing it with your dance partner, not a goal in and of themselves.
I blogged about something similar a while back (DF won't let me link) about moves that should be retired from the dance floor. Now, while, I think any step or sequence can have a good pedagogical value, especially in teaching body mechanics (as so many people pointed out), the problem arises when such steps are overused, turning the dancer executing them imperfectly into a floor hazard (not mention looking like a tool!).
In that blog, I reasoned that since tango is about dancing for your partner rather than for an audience, whether a move should be led or not should be gauged against that metric. "Oh this move was interesting, comfortable and went with the music!" vs. "Oh everyone look at me I can lead a triple gancho! Seven times in a row!". By that reasoning, I concluded that even showy, space-hogging steps can have a redeeming value beyond their showiness; the sensation that they give to your partner. So volcadas and colgadas (assuming they go with the music and there is room to do them) might be just fine; whereas I view steps like back sacadas as completely superfluous, because they have the same effect on the follower as a regular forward or side sacada, even though they can be done in relatively close embrace and not take up a lot of space. They're really just for show.
At the end of the day, feeling the music and really dancing to it is the most important thing. The steps that we do should work towards that goal; they should be a tool towards having an ephemeral tango experience and sharing it with your dance partner, not a goal in and of themselves.
) almost never seem to grasp that concept. If nothing else, it's good business sense.
