4513 Connection, how do you teach it?
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 12:31:05 -0700
From: "Igor Polk" <ipolk@virtuar.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Connection, how do you teach it?
To: <tango-l@mit.edu>
Connection, how do you teach it?
Since many dancers agree that connection is the most important for open as
well as close embrace, I guess it is a useful topic. Can you give me some
reference to a useful material? It does not have to be an argentine tango
dance.
How do you teach connection, especially in open embrace?
Igor.
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 09:11:20 -1200
From: "Michael" <tangomaniac@cavtel.net>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Connection, how do you teach it?
To: "Igor Polk" <ipolk@virtuar.com>, <tango-l@mit.edu>
Cc: tangomaniac@cavtel.net
Igor asked:
How do you teach connection, especially in open embrace?
I don't have a clue how teach connection in open embrace. I
can help with close. Both partners have to be relaxed. (Most
dancers think they are relaxed, but they aren't. They have
adjusted to their tension.) How can you tell when a couple
is tense. Look at the couple's arms on the open side
(woman's right arm, man's left arm.) If the arms are fully
extended upward or outward, there is tension in the arm
because only tense muscles could put the arms in those
positions.
I suggest you tell the partners to connect at the chest
without embracing. Tell them to close their eyes and feel
their breathing or their partner's breathing. Both of them
should have their eyes shut. Then I would tell one of them
to start walking without music (eyes open), one step at a
time so that both partners can feel movement and the weight
change.
After the walking for about 10 minutes, I suggest you put on
a slow DiSarli and have them just walk to the music, no
figures.
With the need to do figures eliminated, the couple can
listen to each other without worrying what's coming next,
I'm afraid I'm going to miss the lead, etc.
Michael Ditkoff
Washington, DC
New York Tango Festival next week.
Unfortunately, karma sutra isn't on the program. Maybe it's
not too late to change the program.
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 15:03:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Trini y Sean \(PATangoS\)" <patangos@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Connection, how do you teach it?
Before one learns to connect, one must learn how to listen.
In one of the first workshops I took with Jaimes Friedgen
in Ann Arbor, he did an interesting class in which he
instructed the women to think of a step. The men would try
to interpret the step. So when the woman thought of a
step, her body would unconsciously move in a certain way.
The man?s job was to pick up on those cues. No, it isn?t
easy.
It reminded me of the Alexander Technique mind-body
connection: The body moves in the way the mind thinks, and
vice versa. My most memorable dance was just that way. I
would just think of something (as a follower) and my
partner would just lead it.
Jaimes is one of the extremely few dancers I know of that
have a great connection in open, one that can be as deep as
a close embrace connection. But he also invites the
connection from the woman. In the dances I have had with
him, it was if he was asking me "what would you like to do
next?" It was this connection that brought me back to
open-embrace.
Trini de Pittsburgh
--- Igor Polk <ipolk@virtuar.com> wrote:
> Connection, how do you teach it?
>
> Since many dancers agree that connection is the most
> important for open as
> well as close embrace, I guess it is a useful topic. Can
> you give me some
> reference to a useful material? It does not have to be an
> argentine tango
> dance.
>
> How do you teach connection, especially in open embrace?
>
> Igor.
>
>
PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh's most popular social dance.
https://www.pitt.edu/~mcph/PATangoWeb.htm
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 02:26:21 +0200
From: andy <andy.ungureanu@t-online.de>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Connection, how do you teach it?
To: tango-l@mit.edu
Igor Polk schrieb:
> Connection, how do you teach it?
>
> Since many dancers agree that connection is the most important for open as
> well as close embrace, I guess it is a useful topic. Can you give me some
> reference to a useful material? It does not have to be an argentine tango
> dance.
>
> How do you teach connection, especially in open embrace?
>
let them dance without using arms but keeping a light ball or a balloon
between their chests. For open embrace a big balloon ;-), for close
embrace a cloth. With a big balloon they can even use the arms, there is
anyway not too much power with extended arms.
If the balloon stay round, the right pressure is found, if it bursts it
was too much, if they loose it, there was no connection.
Andy
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 20:32:06 -0400
From: "Michael" <tangomaniac@cavtel.net>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Connection, how do you teach it?
To: "andy" <andy.ungureanu@t-online.de>, <tango-l@mit.edu>
Cc: Michael <tangomaniac@cavtel.net>
Andy wrote (on teaching connection):
let them dance without using arms but keeping a light ball or a balloon between their chests. For open embrace a big balloon ;-), If the balloon stay round, the right pressure is found, if it bursts it was too much, if they loose it, there was no connection.
Better yet, make that a water balloon. That will definitely concentrate the senses.
Michael Ditkoff
Washington, DC
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 11:47:01 -0400
From: "tangosmith@cox.net" <tangosmith@cox.net>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Connection, how do you teach it?
To: ipolk@virtuar.com, tango-l@mit.edu
Igor,
As with many of the topics that are brought up here, and certainly before
it can be taught, the first problem is to define what connection is.
To me, connection is related to the quality of the non-verbal conversation
that occurs between partners during a dance (it can and should occur in any
dance). I?m not sure that connection itself is a skill as much as the
result that comes from mastering certain other skills. I can think of
three skills that contribute to connection: (1) frame, (2) lead/follow
techniques, and (3) musicality. Some of the exercises others have
suggested are techniques to teach these skills. These skills prepare the
dancer for the conversation.
I think there is one other quality required for good connection, what
actors refer to as being ?in the moment.? It may be interesting to see how
that is taught in acting classes. I?m certain that proactive "listening"
to your partner is a huge part of it. Someone said that listening should
be 90 percent of communication. I?m sure this applies even more so to
non-verbal communications. The exercise on trying to detect the most
subtle physical cues from partners is probably good for this.
Connection should be an important quality of any dance, not just close
embrace tango. It just happens to be more critical in close embrace or the
partners are much more likely to step on each other or have a terrible
dance at a minimum. One way to look at it is that to dance close embrace
tango, we are forced to learn connection. In other dances, the connection
may not be critical for a passable dance, and is therefore often used as
the excuse for dancers not applying themselves to the required skills for
an excellent dance.
I believe that what does set close embrace tango apart, besides how
critical connection is to even a passable dance, is that the conversation
that results from the connection has a higher level of sensuality. But of
course, this is a quality of all good tango, not just close embrace. And
like connection, while it is generally easier to achieve that sensuality
with bodies pressed closely together, it certainly can be achieved with
some degree of separation also. It just takes a little more .......
Since it seems essential to good tango, perhaps we should consider how to
better teach/learn sensuality!
WBSmith
-----------------
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 12:31:05 -0700
To: tango-l@mit.edu
Subject: [Tango-L] Connection, how do you teach it?
Connection, how do you teach it?
Since many dancers agree that connection is the most important for open as
well as close embrace, I guess it is a useful topic. Can you give me some
reference to a useful material? It does not have to be an argentine tango
dance.
How do you teach connection, especially in open embrace?
Igor.
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
https://mail2web.com/ .
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 09:54:38 -0700
From: "Igor Polk" <ipolk@virtuar.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Connection, how do you teach it?
To: <tangosmith@cox.net>, <tango-l@mit.edu>
"the first problem is to define what connection is. " -- WBSmith
You are probably right. We ( I am not afraid to say "we" in this case, am
I?) know that something called "connection" exists and is important. But
what is it?
Michael gave a very good method in close embrace, thank you!:
https://pythia.uoregon.edu/%7Ellynch/Tango-L/2006/msg02428.html
Trini was talking about very interesting method of application of listening:
https://pythia.uoregon.edu/%7Ellynch/Tango-L/2006/msg02430.html - I am sure
it works!
And Andy was talking how to establish a connection with a balloon ( with the
help of a balloon, sorry :) )
https://pythia.uoregon.edu/%7Ellynch/Tango-L/2006/msg02434.html - Thank you
for reminding! This is a good method, I've seen something like this before.
I made myself a working definition of connection. Probably it is not the
same like other people think, that is why I brought up this issue. And this
little discussion already was helpful ( as any exchange of e-mails should
be, right? )
The connection is a mean, a physical mean of communication. It is a channel
of transmission of all signals. There are many parts in this but one is
present: a good physical contact: not too strong, and not too soft. Another
one is mental effort to keep the connection, at least until it is perfected.
It is the requirement for sensuality: otherwise how can you feel it? It is a
requirement for musicality: otherwise how can you dance it? It is a
requirement for "listening" or following: otherwise how can you hear it?
Good connection allows to feel the partner and without that there is no
couple dancing. Loose connection disrupts everything. Too strong connection
suppresses everything.
But I have difficulty how to explain it to others in open embrace
specifically.
Any more opinions?
Igor.
-----Original Message-----
From: tangosmith@cox.net [mailto:tangosmith@cox.net]
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 7:47 AM
To: ipolk@virtuar.com; tango-l@mit.edu
Subject: RE: [Tango-L] Connection, how do you teach it?
Igor,
As with many of the topics that are brought up here, and certainly before
it can be taught, the first problem is to define what connection is.
...
WBSmith
