3310  Colgadas again

Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2005 22:02:44 +1300
From: Melroy <melroyr@XTRA.CO.NZ>
Subject: Colgadas again

Hi, just to clarify the my post on the sweep into a colgada.
I generally use this entry coming from something that already has a bit of
momentum, say a giro or partial giro:

- The follower crosses back onto her right foot and just before she opens
with her left foot the leader places his right foot to the follower's left,
allowing it (his right foot) to be swept as she opens -
The colgada can come here if you want.

Of course it doesn't have to come from a sweep at all, I just thought I'd
yak about one little approach while the topic was up. The one coming from a
sacada, already mentioned, is very nice too.
I think of Julio Balmaceda when I think of colgadas, damn!

Beats politics.
Mel.

(and why don't they serve matte at mcdonalds anyway!)

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 14:37:58 -0500
From: Michael <tangomaniac@CAVTEL.NET>
Subject: Colgadas Again-- and yet again

I'm home recuperating from Washington, DC's Tango Marathon. First, congratulations to Anne Sophie for pulling it off. The Friday night =
milonga at the restored Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo was marvelous. Over 250 people without many collisions, a sign of big space. Next, why =
was it a marathon? If you went to all the milongas, you danced 26.2 miles!! Frankly, with some women, I lost track of the mileage. Some sent =
me to the moon -- and back. They know who they are.

After reading so many postings about colgadas, I took the Sunday class with Marisa Van Andel and Oliver Koch. I take full responsibility for =
not clearly expressing what they taught. (They were quite good in their explanations; much better than my execution.)

The entry is the man stepping side left and the woman side right. The man puts his foot between the woman's feet. Both partners are on their =
right foot, i.e. on cross feet. The man has to create a counterbalance to releasing the woman away from him. I find this extremely difficult =
because it goes against everything I've been taught about keeping the woman close. They offered an alternative to the colgadas impaired =
dancers where the couples don't lean backwards from each other, but sideways. Think of a metronome. It goes left and then right. Imagine two =
metronomes 180 degrees out of synch. When one goes to the right, the other goes to the left. In terms of partners, the man (on his right =
foot), leans to his right but his frame opens to the left. He sends the woman away from him. The woman leans to HER right and opens her frame to =
offer counterbalance to the man's weight. As the couples come towards each other, (creating momentum) the man rotates his shoulders to the =
right, redirecting the momentum, causing the couple to pivot. (I prefer the word "pivot" because "spin" implies a lot of momentum.) After the =
momentum slows the couple down, the man puts steps onto his left foot to stop the turning and set up the exit.

The key to make it work (based on my rudimentary understanding, not withstanding I took physics in high school XX years ago) the couple =
share the SAME pivot point (their right foot), the man sending the woman away and then pulling her towards himself and rotating his shoulders to =
cause the pivot.

I leave it others to give a better explanation.

Michael Ditkoff
Taking Dramamine from suffering with motion sickness in Washington, DC