Teaching Technique and Style (was: Tango Walk)


94 Teaching Technique and Style (was: Tango Walk)	ARTICLE INDEX
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 10:08:18 -0500 From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG> Subject: Teaching Technique and Style (was: Tango Walk) About tango walking, Tom Stermitz wrote: >There are STYLISTIC and FUNDAMENTAL issues. >Whether the foot is turned in or out or whether you land toe first >or heel first are details contradicted directly between one master >teacher or another. Therefore one could assume that they are >STYLISTIC differences, not FUNDAMENTAL ones. I do not see much disagreement here. Rather, my concern is about teachers who teach technique (not just walking) without carefully thinking through the consequences of the technique they are teaching. I have watched many instructional videos and attended many classes in which highly regarded instructors teach a technique that is substantially different from their own practice. When they demonstrate what they are teaching, the technique looks horrible, and I am left wondering whether the technique would even work. Once they begin dancing, they use a completely different technique that makes sense. Thank god, they have abandoned dancing with the horrible technique they teach--even though they insist that everyone in their classes use the technique they are teaching. In such cases, I find myself hoping to avoid the teacher's personal attention. I have seen many other highly regarded instructors demand that everyone develop a style that is a clone of their own. Unless one has agreed to extended study with a particular instructor to achieve the cloned state, I do not see the purpose of such instruction. In my opinion, instructors who insist on teaching style as they travel giving weekend workshops are limiting their reach to beginners and those students who wish to emulate the style that is being taught. As dancers advance, they rapidly lose interest in having their style altered every month by visiting instructors. With best regards, Steve >In my opinion, ideal instruction in tango walking would encourage students >to find a walk in a way that is comfortable for their own physiology and >style of dancing. In that case, the best advice is as Sergio wrote: " >Walking should be practiced on a daily basis till mastered." >... >--Steve de Tejas There are STYLISTIC and FUNDAMENTAL issues. There is also learning DEEPLY over many years, or at least achieving a reasonable approximation of the fundamentals that avoids bad habits. Whether the foot is turned in or out or whether you land toe first or heel first are details contradicted directly between one master teacher or another. Therefore one could assume that they are STYLISTIC differences, not FUNDAMENTAL ones. There are two things that I would describe as fundamental rather than stylistic: - Being GROUNDED and giving a moment of solidity to each stride, rather than floating or lifting. I think of it as walking like an elephant...you know, on the nature TV shows, little puffs of dust coming out in slow motion with each stride. - Weight changes CAOMPLETELY and AT the beat, axis solid into the floor with good balance. No sliding into the beat or arriving slightly late like one might in blues. This may seem like an obvious point. In fact I find it to be subtle, but the more I learn, the more important this single detail becomes. I have noticed that teaching N. Americans to land toe first often leads to the opposite of the grounded, earthy tango feeling, i.e. they have a tendency to float or leap to each step N. Americans tend to be cheerful, happy walkers, so I guess there are some cultural aspects to it. Argentines tend to walk with a more elegant posture. As for the walk of an American coed vs a latin teenager... There is no question that the older dancers in Argentina place a large amount of effort into developing a special walk. This is a deep process that takes years. I don't believe it is possible to get the depth without actually going to Argentina, as it is not a teacher-student issue, but a cultural one. The following teachers (to list a few I have seen) have offered real depth, quality and insights into the walk: - Diego and Zoraida - Susana Miller - Julio Balmaceda -- ----- "To my way of thinking the tango is, above all, rhythm, nerve, force, character...I tried to restore to the tango its masculine quality." -- Juan D'Arienzo (1949) ----- Tom Stermitz - Stermitz@Ragtime.org - 303-725-5963 - https://www.tango.org/dance/EternaTeaching.html Continue to Tango and trains \| ARTICLE INDEX

94 Teaching Technique and Style (was: Tango Walk)