2696 ll Detailed Report Pt. 1
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 20:43:44 -0400
From: Miamidances@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: ll Detailed Report Pt. 1
Hola interested teachers,
This is at the request of Michael and other teachers from the list. If your not interested just hit your delete button, this is long. If you disagree with my concept, please do it in a polite way and we can have a discussion. I will not participate in a flame war. The only time Ive intentionally participated in the flame wars in the past, was when someone lied and insulted Juan Carlos Copes after the third USTC Tango Fantasy event.
When I dance Tango, Ballroom, Latin, Swing, Hustle or any of the other dances that I have participated in the last 30 years, its the music, the people and the space around me that decides what Ib m going to do. After you have paid the price of practice, dancing does become natural, it just happens.
30 years ago we had written manuals, that was the only we could learn advanced material. One step could take 2 to 3 hours to figure out. There were no videos.
Being a certified ballroom dancer I do believe in the necessity of what some would call steps. I prefer to call them elements of movement, forward basic, promenade walk, parallel walks, side basic, crossover breaks, open breaks, parallel breaks, back spot turn, cross body lead, box step, promenade twinkles parallel twinkles, these are some of the foundational elements that when combined together create dance steps.
1. I love Susana Millers warm up with the focus of creating the energy to be ready to learn to dance. I do a similar warm up to get people ready to learn to dance.
a. Rolling the head
b. Shoulders ect. ect.ect.
2. After a good warm-up, technique exercises focusing on what I call the three points of balance, top of the head, lined up above the waist and the feet directly below, no leaning forward or backward. Some call it being centered or grounded
3. How to keep you three points of balance when transferring weight from one foot to the other foot, sideways, forward, and backward by themselves without partners.
4. Then students need to learn how to walk forward on the heel of the foot, and backward extending the leg with the toe pointed backwards so the man or woman cannot step on his/her toes, and how to walk forward with ball of the foot hitting first. First without music, eventually it is necessary to be able to do both types of footwork.
5. After they walk without music and are starting to gain better balance I add walking forward and back with music looking in the mirror and seeing for themselves that they are walking in a straight line with their legs gently brushing together.
Ive watched many instructors having the students walking around the dance floor, following line of dance, in time to the music. The students cant see their feet unless they look down. I prefer them looking in the mirrors and seeing what their feet are doing, while walking in time to the music. In my intermediate classes we then go on to more advanced exercises, what Ive just described is for beginners. All of our students went back to the beginning and stated over because of the close embrace. Nobody bitched they thanked us.
6. I like to have the woman place her hands on the mans chest where he cannot use his arms, using small side steps transferring complete weight from side to side teaching the men how to find what foot the woman is on, how to make the woman change weight from one foot to the other, then walking forward and backward together without music.
7. Next I have them walk around LOD using the womans hands on the chest ,then add in time to the music.
This is part one, I think that the last post was to long so I doing this in two parts.
Best of Dancing to all
Randy
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 17:51:39 -0700
From: Jean-Marie Herve Michel <jhmichel@STANFORD.EDU>
Subject: Re: ll Detailed Report Pt. 1
People around you can and should have major influence on your choice, but
NOT a determining one.
I love tango and I KNOW that i ahve a whole lot more to learn. BUT i
cannot let shall we call him Steve Wayne tell me what milonga that i wll
go too. I will leran and listen and along with my partenr decide.
There are many ways to do things but the minute we let one dancer coorce
anther into a milonga that they did not choose well...
Quoting Miamidances@AOL.COM:
> Hola interested teachers,
>
> This is at the request of Michael and other teachers from the list. If
> your not interested just hit your delete button, this is long. If you
> disagree with my concept, please do it in a polite way and we can have a
> discussion. I will not participate in a flame war. The only time Ive
> intentionally participated in the flame wars in the past, was when
> someone lied and insulted Juan Carlos Copes after the third USTC Tango
> Fantasy event.
>
> When I dance Tango, Ballroom, Latin, Swing, Hustle or any of the other
> dances that I have participated in the last 30 years, its the music, the
> people and the space around me that decides what Ib m going to do.
After
> you have paid the price of practice, dancing does become natural, it
just
> happens.
>
> 30 years ago we had written manuals, that was the only we could learn
> advanced material. One step could take 2 to 3 hours to figure out. There
> were no videos.
>
> Being a certified ballroom dancer I do believe in the necessity of what
> some would call steps. I prefer to call them elements of movement,
> forward basic, promenade walk, parallel walks, side basic, crossover
> breaks, open breaks, parallel breaks, back spot turn, cross body lead,
> box step, promenade twinkles parallel twinkles, these are some of the
> foundational elements that when combined together create dance steps.
>
> 1. I love Susana Millers warm up with the focus of creating the energy
> to be ready to learn to dance. I do a similar warm up to get people
ready
> to learn to dance.
> a. Rolling the head
> b. Shoulders ect. ect.ect.
>
> 2. After a good warm-up, technique exercises focusing on what I call
the
> three points of balance, top of the head, lined up above the waist and
> the feet directly below, no leaning forward or backward. Some call it
> being centered or grounded
>
> 3. How to keep you three points of balance when transferring weight
from
> one foot to the other foot, sideways, forward, and backward by
themselves
> without partners.
>
> 4. Then students need to learn how to walk forward on the heel of the
> foot, and backward extending the leg with the toe pointed backwards so
> the man or woman cannot step on his/her toes, and how to walk forward
> with ball of the foot hitting first. First without music, eventually it
> is necessary to be able to do both types of footwork.
>
> 5. After they walk without music and are starting to gain better
balance
> I add walking forward and back with music looking in the mirror and
> seeing for themselves that they are walking in a straight line with
their
> legs gently brushing together.
>
> Ive watched many instructors having the students walking around the
dance
> floor, following line of dance, in time to the music. The students cant
> see their feet unless they look down. I prefer them looking in the
> mirrors and seeing what their feet are doing, while walking in time to
> the music. In my intermediate classes we then go on to more advanced
> exercises, what Ive just described is for beginners. All of our students
> went back to the beginning and stated over because of the close embrace.
> Nobody bitched they thanked us.
>
> 6. I like to have the woman place her hands on the mans chest where he
> cannot use his arms, using small side steps transferring complete weight
> from side to side teaching the men how to find what foot the woman is
on,
> how to make the woman change weight from one foot to the other, then
> walking forward and backward together without music.
>
> 7. Next I have them walk around LOD using the womans hands on the chest
> ,then add in time to the music.
>
> This is part one, I think that the last post was to long so I doing this
> in two parts.
>
> Best of Dancing to all
>
> Randy
>
