4028 Close embrace and long steps
Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 10:35:54 EST
From: LGMoseley@AOL.COM
Subject: Close embrace and long steps
This is my solution to Derik's problem with strong
leads and short stepping followers. I'm sending it to
the list because I think many of you will find some
value here. Free bonus at end.
Hola Derik,
Those of us who dance tango in a close embrace know
that most women will match any size step the man
indicates. Some of us have been speculating about why
you cant lead close embrace followers to take long
steps. I think it is directly related to your comment
about being a strong leader.
Even a strong man doesnt have enough leverage to
shove a woman around when she is very close to his
center of gravity and connected to the floor. A strong
lead is unpleasant in an open embrace, but it can be
made to work. (Its like pounding a screw in with a
hammer.) On the other hand, a strong lead is useless
in close embrace.
I have my own way of putting in screws that only
rarely requires a hammer. And my own way of leading
large steps in close embrace that never requires a
strong lead. I bend my knee. Im not saying its the
only way to do it, but it works well for me with most
followers.
Here is a little exercise that you can try by
yourself. Walk across the room twice. Once taking
short steps, and once taking very long steps. Pay
attention to what happens in your body to make the
long steps. You must bend your knees more deeply to
take longer steps. This in turn lowers your center.
Next, try extending your free leg like a follower, as
far as you can as if you are being lead to a giant
step. The more you bend the knee of the weight bearing
leg, the farther you can extend your free leg. So my
pre-lead for a long step is a deep bend in the knee of
the weight bearing leg. Then we move together. I
learned this technique from Susana Miller, the Queen
of long steps in close embrace.
To lead the follower to take a long step in her
molinete, I do the same thing with my center as I do
to lead a long step walking in line. I drop it by
bending my knee. Then I twist my body to send her to a
long step around me.
If the man keeps his center up, he indicates a short
step. If he twists a lot, he indicates a large step.
If he stays up and twists a lot, he leads two
different things at the same time. When dancing open,
a strong lead can force the woman to compensate:
ignore his center, and follow his facing. Even so, to
take that long step, the woman must drop her center,
which creates a disconnection between them. The turn
will not feel smooth to her. When dancing in close
embrace, the womans center is stuck to the mans
center. Regardless of how much he twists, or how hard
he shoves her, she must take short steps if he doesnt
drop his center.
In the US at least, close embrace dancers are
generally taught to maintain their own axis and
balance. They may look like they are leaning on each
other to an untrained eye, but it is an illusion. If
women lean on you when in a close embrace, it might be
because they are following your center, not your
strong lead. In that case, your strong lead is shoving
them off balance, and they are just holding on for
dear life.
I don't understand this worry about long steps. Don't think about them. I
love long steps; to my mind they contain some of the magic of the Tango. If you
lead with your chest, the lady will move back, there will be space for as
long a step as you want, even in close embrace. Most of the Argentinian
teachers that I have had have said "Don't worry about the steps. Get your stance,
embrace, and walking right, and the steps will come on their own". In my
experience, there has been a lot of truth in that.
Of course, if the lady has not got her balance, walking, etc, right, that
may inhibit you. That, though, is another matter. Tango is for two, after all.
Abrazos
Laurie (Laurence)
These are just some of my ideas you might try out, and
maybe add a new tool to your collection. It takes more
than a hammer to dance tango.
Sean
P.S. The free bonus: How do I lead large steps in open
embrace? Answer: I bend my knee.
Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 08:45:57 -0800
From: Igor Polk <ipolk@VIRTUAR.COM>
Subject: Re: Close embrace and long steps
Laurie said:
"In the US at least, close embrace dancers are
generally taught to maintain their own axis and
balance. They may look like they are leaning on each
other to an untrained eye, but it is an illusion. If
women lean on you when in a close embrace, it might be
because they are following your center, not your
strong lead. In that case, your strong lead is shoving
them off balance, and they are just holding on for
dear life."
No. ( "Never say no", yes? )
Many women I dance in San Francisco do actually lean in close embrace as it
supposed to be. It is not an impression. The lean is sometimes significant,
sometimes very small, but it always present.
Yes, there is a group of dancers who make impression of it mostly "keeping
their own balance" which means not leaning. This is another technique. This
is another world.
Yes. Strong lead "is shoving them off the balance". Exactly. But that is why
we lean! To compensate it.
We balance! We balance on a rope! We balance in a lean. It makes every step
a figure. And that is so pleasant!
Happy dancing,
Igor Polk.
PS. The more the lean, the easier to make long steps. Please, do not say
"nonsense", if you havn't mastered it.
