Another Find From "Tango and Chaos"

From the chapter section: "Cracking the Code"

I finally decided it’s because tango dancers outside of Argentina just aren’t connected to the music. (The milongueros would say they don’t have the music “inside”.) We found that while some of the best foreigners may be dancing to the cadences of tango, they don’t really use the cadences creatively. And more importantly, they tend to do random sequences of patterns and figures. It's as if they're pulling them off the shelf one after another, instead of responding to the music.
The result is that they aren’t really “expressing” the music—at least not in the way of the best Argentines. This poor link between the movement and the music, especially when it’s combined with imprecise technique, makes milongas outside of BsAs feel out of focus. So, ironically, while people outside of Argentina tend to do a lot of big movements and expend a lot of physical energy, their selection of steps has a randomness that tends to cancel out the energy of the milonga. And the result feels chato.


    ME:   So what can we do? Load them is a bus and drive the 5,000 miles?

FOR PABLO - ONLY PABLO Lesson 2

I CLIMBED THE MOUNTAIN

My lungs opened and closed like Baffa’s bandoneon  -close to my heart in a rhythmical circle
     In and out - in and out.
Ever so slightly my eyes lifted-  slowly focusing on the space around me.
      With a straight forward gaze I became aware of the expanse away from me and the expanse above.
 I watched the tempo of the clouds with my chest high - at last my weight settled into the pleasure of the  peak.
     After the forever climb, both ankles relaxed and both heels held firmly into the solid ground.
Me, older, but there I stood, in my freedom
      breathing softly into the comfort of silence          
My hand  reached  quietly for the shoulder of my partner, my leader.
      No need to pull him to me as we communicated with little contact.
Only once a strong breeze turned my torso and my hip into the sky.
     Every muscle felt the sound of the wind- sweet music in the air.
In determined steps, one foot in front of the other, I conquered the mountain.
      It was if I were dancing a, perhaps, tango.

         Karen Lucey     April 29, 2013

Patience- TAKE YOUR TIME MR. MIKE

Augusto shows gentle patience at every lesson. The mix of learners makes me wonder how he manages all the levels of dance, or a class with many many more men than women or at times the opposite. Today the couples were fairly evenly mixed, though a new older man was there for his first lesson and a very aggressive woman was there telling  the men how to lead.  What he always emphasizes for me is this:
     Every step is a tango. Come to your axis before the next step. Feel the music and the beat. "TAKE YOUR TIME MR. MIKE."
     Every step has a communication between the man and woman before the next step.  This can be a breath, a lift to signal time for an adorno, a deeper relax of the knee to signal a longer step, or more disassociation to start the woman moving before the step. I write all this down to remember the things to take back to PA for our weekly milongas and newly added practicas on Wednesdays. As always, hooked on the tango.

Mystery Teacher Stares at my Ankles

Freedom in the dance has come my way.  A wonderful dancer and teacher here in Buenos Aires has given us a private lesson in a little studio with mirrored walls and a smiling assistant. He ends up on the floor with his eyes at ankle level. "What do I think about the way I move my ankles?", he asks.
My ankles? Well, they talk about my posture, my head, my knees/legs/hips/shoulders/chest and on and on but NOT my ankles.
The wonderful teacher has me roll around on my feet and relax my ankles in place and then in the steps. I feel my whole body changing- feeling more relaxed and balanced.
Next I work on keeping my axis at all moments when I move. This only works if I use more weight on my heel when I walk. It takes a little practice, but I feel the vertical axis at every point in my step. Mike loves what this gives him as MY LEADER. We move around so freely. Now I work on keeping my head level. Yes it does organize my body. I train my eyes to always look above my eye level to look out at the space where I am dancing.
           "Be aware of the space", he suggests gently.
 Again the wonderful teacher has given me another way to find the freedom I crave  and need in the dance. The mysteries of tango unravel. We only walk forward with an added rock step, 2 more forward steps and a side step if it fits the mood and the music I can't wait to return for Tango Lesson 2.

From Susana Miller on her Facebook Page

Susana Miller Tango

March 30 near Buenos Aires

    A dancer’s steps are stories that the man tells the woman’s body. They
  are stories that become autobiographical, maturing over time as the
  man’s technique develops.
 
     As in art, tango always speaks to the soul of those that dance it, and
  like all art, it transforms everyday life into an extraordinary
...  creative work.

     The diversity of one’s steps increases the richness of these stories,
  provided they are told with the energy, emotion and mystery required of
  any good story. A comfortable embrace and a fluid walk will make for an
  enjoyable dance. However, there is added value to an enriched
  repertoire. A varied menu of steps is a dancer’s hidden treasure. Each
  step is a story in itself, much like those of “A Thousand and One
  Nights,” unfolding one by one, night after night, into the other’s body
  in a conversation that is profoundly intimate.

                                - Susana Miller